After three weeks of a highly publicized trial between the former spouses, the testimony of Johnny Depp’s agent marked the day on Monday. Jack Whigham, who has represented the star since October 2016, testified via video. In suburban Washington court, he claimed the actor hasn’t signed a deal with Hollywood studios since an op-ed by his ex-wife, Amber Heard, accusing him of domestic abuse.
In December 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement, the actress had published an editorial in the Washington Post, in which she described herself as a victim of domestic violence, without however quoting her former husband. Johnny Depp, who denies ever raising a hand on a woman, sued her for defamation. Accusing him of having ruined his reputation and his career, he claims 50 million dollars in damages. She counter-attacked, and claims 100 million dollars.
These staggering sums are equal to the old fees of the hero of “Edward Scissorhands”. According to his agent, the actor received 8 million dollars for the movie “City of Lies”, 10 million for “Murder on the Orient-Express” and 13.5 million for the second installment of “Fantastic Beasts” in 2017. That year, the fees for films shot by Johnny Depp often exceeded 30 million dollars.
In 2018, he “wanted to take some time for himself”, and shot “only” two independent films in the fall, detailed Jack Whigham: “The Professor” for 3.5 million and “Waiting the Barbarians” for one million. But “an agreement had been reached” for him to take over the role of Jack Sparrow in the sixth installment of “Pirates of the Caribbean”, for 22.5 million dollars.
A deal with Disney already in bad shape before the charges
According to the agent, Amber Heard’s accusations were “catastrophic” for Johnny Depp. “After the editorial, it became impossible to get a contract with a studio,” he said. As for the filming of the film “Minamata”, scheduled for early 2019, “it was very hard to maintain it: the budget had to be cut, in particular Johnny’s fee”, which received “only” three million, said the agent.
It was his last film, because, in 2019, Disney studios “took another direction” for the Pirates of the Caribbean saga. Despite contacts with the producers, “I could not save” this very “lucrative” role, said his agent. Questioned by Amber Heard’s lawyers, he however conceded that the agreement “was in bad shape” in the fall of 2018, therefore before the publication of the editorial.
In April, the British tabloid The Sun had already accused Johnny Depp of being “a violent husband”. The actor sued his publishers and lost in a lawsuit that exposed his drug and alcohol abuse.