'Waiting for the Barbarians': Will Johnny Depp's libel case taint the success of his upcoming comeback film?
Johnny Depp is busy fighting what experts have labeled the "libel of the decade" against The Sun for calling him a "wife-beater" in an April 2018 article. The case, expected to drag out for at least another week, would see its culmination coinciding with the release of Depp's highly anticipated comeback to the screen since playing the titular villain in 'Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald'.
That Depp was still being cast in major roles while his name made headlines under Amber Heard's domestic violence allegations against him was something most critics were left baffled with. But now, even with Depp's star power, the highly drawn-out case has revealed details about both parties murky enough to turn more than just a few heads. And that makes one wonder whether these details sashayed across the internet will impact Depp's box office status.
The simple reason to cause such an alarm is the nature of the allegations Heard has made against Depp. Despite Heard having been outed as an alleged domestic abuser as well, the allegations she has made in the past few weeks about Depp holding her "hostage", threatening to actually "kill" her, and hysterical gestures such as defecating on their hotel bed are simply too explicit to overlook.
When Heard had filed for divorce, she had cited physical and verbal abuse from Depp as a reason. She had also filed a restraining order against Depp but retracted it after he paid her $7 million. Their joint statement to the public read that their “relationship was intensely passionate and at times volatile but always bound by love”. The divorce was finalized in 2017. However, just a year later, Heard released an op-ed for The Washington Post detailing her harrowing recount of abuse she suffered at the hands of Depp. The actor countered her move by slamming a defamation case against the op-ed.
Right now, however, Depp is in the midst of his battle against NGN and the writer of The Sun's 2018 headline: Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be 'genuinely happy' casting wife-beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film? The Sun believes they are justified in their terminology and have 14 separate accounts of alleged domestic violence by Depp against Heard in their defense.
But since Depp's defamation suit is against both NGN and the writer, the defense has to prove he abused his ex-wife, not Depp prove his innocence. And in order for NGN to win, Justice Nicol, the judge in the libel case, needs "overwhelming evidence" that Depp abused Heard causing severe damage, and this has prompted Heard to testify some disturbing details about her marriage to the actor.
It started recently, with Heard testifying for the libel trial. This comes after Heard has been heard on record mocking Depp claiming she too, physically abused him, and claims of her past relationships where she was the abusive one have also been made. Depp has shared how Heard allegedly chopped off his finger mid altercation, and over a legal call, Heard was heard mocking Depp for calling abuse because he's a man and nobody would believe him. However, in the last one month, Heard has released a comprehensive list of allegations and incidents citing Depp's abuse which sum up the various accounts she has spoken of in the past.
Heard's allegations, as previously reported by MEA WorldWide (MEAWW), begin with claiming Depp has a "unique ability to use his charisma to convey a certain impression of reality" and "he is very good at manipulating people". She added: "He would blame all his actions on a self-created third party instead of himself, which he often called 'the monster'." Her witness statement continued: "When Johnny puts his attention on you, with all his intensity and darkness, it is unlike anything I've ever experienced. When I say he was dark, he had a violent and dark way of speaking: the way he talked about our relationship being 'dead or alive' and telling me that death was the only way out of the relationship."
Heard called visiting Depp in Australia during their marriage a "three-day hostage situation". In March 2015, while he was filming 'Pirates of the Caribbean', Heard claims Depp exhibited "extreme acts" of "psychological, physical, emotional and other forms of violence". She calls her visit "the worst thing I have ever been through. I was left with an injured lip and nose, and cuts on my arms." Heard added that Depp grabbed her neck, shoved her against the fridge, tore off her nightgown, and pushed her against a bar. "He was pressing so hard on my neck I couldn't breathe. I was trying to tell him that I couldn't breathe. I remember thinking he was going to kill me at that moment," she said.
About the finger incident, she testified how she "didn't actually see the finger being cut off, but I was worried that it had happened the night before. I figured it might have happened when he was smashing the phone on the wall by the fridge." Heard also added how Depp allegedly accused her of having an affair with almost every co-star she worked with. "He accused me of having affairs with each of my co-stars, movie after movie: Eddie Redmayne, James Franco, Jim Sturgess, Kevin Costner, Liam Hemsworth, Billy-Bob Thornton, Channing Tatum; even women co-stars like Kelly Garner. He also accused me of having affairs with stars I auditioned with, like Leonardo DiCaprio. He would taunt me about it — especially when he was drunk or high — and had derogatory nicknames for every one of my male co-stars he considered a sexual threat. For example, Leonardo DiCaprio was 'pumpkin-head'. Channing Tatum was 'potato-head'."
One of those instances led to an argument about their pre-nup, right before their 2015 wedding. "There was an argument in a hotel room in Tokyo that resulted in Johnny kneeling on my back and hitting me on the back of the head," Heard said, adding: "But then Johnny was also accusing me of having an affair with a co-star and that is what led to the actual argument." She claimed "I never had been, I never was (after Depp's money) and mentioned how she 'sometimes lost my cool' and only violent in 'self-defence'. Depp's lawyer was also able to snub Heard's claims of being injured from Depp throwing her phone at her face or the penthouse where the fight broke out.
More recently, Depp appeared in court claiming that the true clash between the couple arrived after a cleaner found feces in their LA hotel bed. Heard claims it should have been the couple's dogs, but Depp profusely dismissed those claims. He shared how they were celebrating Heard's 30th birthday at the hotel but he was late to the party— earning Heard's displeasure who then started a massive fight and had probably left it as a parting gift for him. He also alleged it could have been one of her 'cohorts' who had attended the party. Heard's past claims have also cited incidents where Depp has allegedly urinated outside their house in a drunken state. But after the defecation incident, reports surrounding Depp finding it funny and texting jokes about the incident has also raised a few eyebrows.
Heard also claimed Depp said she should be raped by Mexican and Black men, called her "attention w**re". It only brings to mind how Depp had allegedly texted one of Heard's associates following the "wife-beater" article that Heard was "begging for total global humiliation... She’s gonna get it." With Heard outing these evidences amidst major social media backlash whether her side of the story will be able to attract a few more believers isn't sure.
She sure was dropped from the 'Aquaman' sequel after major protests and petitions began going around, once her abusive past was outed too. The case has seen waves crashing in the form of followers oscillating from one side to the other. And considering Depp's comeback movie drops around the same time it will be legally proven whether he actually abused Heard or not, the fate of the turn out doesn't quite seem in his favour. But then again, a very dedicated chunk of his fans are fiercely loyal, even though early reviews of the film aren't all that hopeful.
'Waiting for the Barbarians' will be available on demand over VoD and digital theatres from Friday, August 7.