Who's Tracey Jacobs? Johnny Depp asked her to shut down film with Amber Heard's nude scenes
Johnny Depp's former agent testified on Thursday, May 19, that the actor asked her to kill a version of the 2018 film 'London Fields' because it had nude scenes featuring Amber Heard, whom he was then married to. Tracey Jacobs said that although Depp was not a difficult client, their working relationship began getting complicated because of his behavior.
"Showing up late to set consistently, on virtually every movie," Jacobs said of Depp's behavior on the sets. "I would get yelled at. I would never say to him, 'You're a difficult client.' I would never say that. But I would tell him you've got to stop this, this is hurting you. And it did."
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Jacobs said that Depp romanticized drug culture and had "fundamental issues with anger" which only worsened over time. She recalled a specific incident where Depp sent her an all-caps email, angrily demanding that 'London Fields' be shut down over nude scenes that featured Heard. A screenshot of the email was shown to the jury, being presented in court on Thursday.
In the email, Depp told Jacobs that 'London Fields' would be debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and that she must contact the producers and ask them to cut nude scenes featuring Heard. "It is in Amber's contract that there will be no nudity and her f*****g agents are weak and insipid," Depp said in the email. "Will you please call these motherf*****s and you and Jake get on this immediately?"
In a follow-up email, Depp added: "It must be shut down or I will sue them eighteen ways from f*****g Sunday. These people are nobodies in this business and they should be made to understand that we will ruin them instantly."
Who is Tracey Jacobs?
Tracey Jacobs, who represented Depp for 30 years, is reportedly one of the top agents in Hollywood associated with the United Talent Agency (UTA). She has represented some of the most popular Hollywood stars since joining UTA as a partner in 1998.
Jacobs was appointed to the UTA Board of Directors back in 2008. She went on to become the first woman to hold the position at a major talent agency. She is an advocate for The Art of Elysium, a non-profit organization, and has been a supporter of various animal charities.
Jacobs signed Depp shortly after he played the role of Tom Hanson on the Fox series '21 Jump Street'. She also signed prominent stars like Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim Robbins, Jennifer Lopez, Megan Mullally, and Simon Pegg, among others. Her association with Depp came to an end after Depp left UTA and signed with CAA in 2016.
Jacobs was one of the many witnesses the jury heard on May 19. For instance, actress Ellen Barkin testified that her ex-flame Depp, who was often drunk, once threw a wine bottle at her. “He was drunk a lot of the time,” Barkin said about Depp in a recorded deposition played for the jury. “He was a red wine drinker.”
Another witness was Johnny Depp’s former psychiatrist Alan Blaustein, who testified that the actor expressed “frustration” with Amber Heard during their marriage. Depp allegedly compared Heard with his abusive mom and called her a 'pain in the a**." In a deposition, Dr Alan Blaustein said that Depp struggles to stay sober as his relationship with Heard began falling apart. “He used drugs to cope with psychic wounds,” Blaustein said in a recording of his testimony played in court.
