Johnny Depp called himself a “crash test dummy for #MeToo” in a sprawling new interview with The Sunday Times as he sets out to promote the U.K. theatrical release of his latest directorial effort “Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness.” Depp was referring to the allegations first leveled at him in 2016 by ex-wife Amber Heard, who accused him of domestic violence when she filed for divorce.
Heard’s allegations notably fed into two trials that garnered global attention. Depp brought a libel lawsuit again The Sun in 2018 after the publication referred to him as a “wife beater.” The trial kicked off in summer 2020 and ended with the court determining that the characterization of Depp as a “wife beater” was “substantially true.” Later the year, Depp exited Warner Bros.’ “Fantastic Beasts” franchise after saying the studio asked him to resign from the role in the aftermath of the trial.
A second and even more highly-publicized took place in the U.S. in 2022 after Depp sued Heard in 2019 for defamation over an op-ed she wrote the The Washington Post in which she referred to herself as “a figure representing domestic abuse.” The 2022 trial was live-streamed on YouTube and became an online sensation. The jury ultimately ruled that Heard did defame Depp in the op-ed, while also ruling Depp defamed Heard in the course of fighting back against her charges. Over the course of the trial, shocking details about Depp and Heard’s personal life were revealed.
“Look, it had gone far enough,” Depp told The Sunday Times about the viral 2022 trial. “I knew I’d have to semi-eviscerate myself. Everyone was saying, ‘It’ll go away!’ But I can’t trust that. What will go away? The fiction pawned around the fucking globe? No it won’t. If I don’t try to represent the truth it will be like I’ve actually committed the acts I am accused of. And my kids will have to live with it. Their kids. Kids that I’ve met in hospitals. So the night before the trial in Virginia I didn’t feel nervous. If you don’t have to memorize lines, if you’re just speaking the truth? Roll the dice.”
Depp said he survived “all the hit pieces, the bullshit” that accompanied the trial, adding: “Look, none of this was going be easy, but I didn’t care. I thought, ‘I’ll fight until the bitter fucking end.’ And if I end up pumping gas? That’s all right. I’ve done that before.”
A few years after the end of the U.S. trial, Depp is now getting the chance to come back to Hollywood by starring opposite “Blow” co-star Penelope Cruz in the Lionsgate action comedy “Day Drinker.” He told the Times about his life: “I have no regrets about anything — because, truly, what can we do about last week’s dinner? Not a fucking thing.”
“Day Drinker” is schedule to release in theaters sometime in 2026.
