I Was A ‘Crash Test Dummy For MeToo’

In a sprawling interview with The Times U.K., Johnny Depp claimed he was a “crash test dummy for #MeToo,” reflecting on his protracted legal battle with actress and ex-wife Amber Heard.

“My comeback? Honestly? I didn’t go anywhere,” he said. “If I had the chance to split I would never come back.”

The Pirates of the Caribbean star, who classified his ousting from Hollywood as a “boycott,” praised the San Sebastián International Film Festival for sticking with him through “all the hit pieces, the bullsh–.” In 2021, the fest awarded him the prestigious Donostia, its highest accolade, and last year, his second directorial effort, Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness, garnered a long-standing ovation by the crowd.

“No, I have no regrets about anything — because, truly, what can we do about last week’s dinner? Not a f—ing thing,” he said of the much-publicized court trial with Heard.

In 2022, Depp and Heard engaged in a contentious court battle during which a jury unanimously found he was defamed. After Heard filed an appeal of the verdict, the two announced separately that the case had been settled with the money paid by Heard going to charity. The case stemmed from a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which Heard said she was a survivor of domestic violence without mentioning Depp’s name. Throughout the media circus that ensued during the live-streamed trial, Heard — who wields considerably less power as a woman who is not as well-known nor cherished as veteran Depp — was largely raked over the coals both online and by Depp’s fans who lined the doors outside the courtroom, receiving death threats. Studies conducted by a research firm also indicated the overwhelming hatred she experienced on social media was not entirely human-generated.

The Virginia battle also followed a separate libel case in the U.K. over The Sun‘s calling Depp a “wife beater.” The judge sided with the publication in 2020, after which Depp was asked to resign from Warner Bros.’ Fantastic Beasts franchise, with the judge finding that the “great majority of alleged assaults of Ms. Heard by Mr. Depp have been proved.”

When asked why he pursued the public trial in the U.S., Depp answered: “Look, it had gone far enough. 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 f—ing 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 I don’t have to memorize lines, if you’re just speaking the truth? Roll the dice.”

He continued, “Look, none of this was going to be easy, but I didn’t care. I thought, ‘I’ll fight until the bitter f—ing end.’ And if I end up pumping gas? That’s all right. I’ve done that before.”

Depp also claimed his experience predated #MeToo, and that’s why people failed to support him. However, activist Tarana Burke’s hashtag and movement were founded in 2006, later moving to the entertainment industry space circa 2017, the same year the New York Times and The New Yorker published exposés on now-disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein.

“I’ll tell you what hurts. There are people, and I’m thinking of three, who did me dirty. Those people were at my kids’ parties. Throwing them in the air. And, look, I understand people who could not stand up [for me] because the most frightening thing to them was making the right choice,” he said. “I was pre-#MeToo. I was like a crash test dummy for #MeToo. It was before Harvey Weinstein. And I sponged it, took it all in. And so I wanted from the hundreds of people I’ve met in that industry to see who was playing it safe. Better go woke!”

Since 2022, the actor hasn’t really gone gently into that good night — hence the disagreement with the term “comeback.” That year, he made a surprise appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards; later on, he embarked on a 2023 European tour with band Hollywood Vampires and was seen in Savage X Fenty’s fashion show. More recently, he is set to reunite with Pirates of the Caribbean co-star Penelope Cruz in Lionsgate’s upcoming Day Drinker, also featuring Madelyn Cline. Additionally, filming for Terry Gilliam’s Carnival: At the End of Days, opposite Adam Driver, Jeff Bridges and Jason Momoa was scheduled to commence in April.