Johnny Depp once felt “boycotted” by Hollywood — and now sees little need for it, he said Wednesday at the Cannes Film Festival.
The actor’s comments came a day after the world premiere of “Jeanne du Barry,” which is Depp’s first movie since his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard concluded in May of last year.
“Did I feel boycotted by Hollywood? You’d have to not have a pulse to feel like, ‘No. None of this is happening. It’s a weird joke,’” Depp said at a press conference. “When you’re asked to resign from a film you’re doing because of something that is merely a function of vowels and consonants floating in the air, yes, you feel boycotted.”
Depp sued Heard for defamation over a 2018 op-ed for the Washington Post in which she called herself “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” Last year’s trial ended with a Virginia jury saying Depp should receive more than $10 million in damages, while Heard was awarded $2 million in a counterclaim.
In December, Heard announced she would settle the case but said doing so was “not an act of concession.”
“I don’t feel boycotted by Hollywood, because I don’t think about Hollywood,” said Depp, whose inclusion at Cannes received pushback from Heard supporters.
“I don’t have much further need for Hollywood, myself,” he added. “It’s a strange, funny time where everybody would love to be able to be themselves, but they can’t. They must fall in line with the person in front of them. If you want to live that life, I wish you the best.”