Controversy to Cannes: Johnny Depp’s Return Highlights Contrasting Careers with Amber Heard

One year after the controversial defamation trial that captivated millions of viewers worldwide, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are determined to rewrite their stories and move forward with their lives and careers. For Depp, that next chapter includes a starry return to the Cannes Film Festival on May 16. Here, we take a look at their next steps on and off the screen.

But first: a recap of the legal matters

In June 2022, a Fairfax County, Va., jury found that Heard defamed Depp in a Washington Post op-ed. While Depp was not named in the op-ed, which discussed domestic abuse, the jury found in his favor on all counts, awarding him $15 million in damages (later reduced to $10,350,000 due to Virginia's statutory punitive damages cap of $350,000). The jury awarded Heard $2 million in damages in her defamation countersuit.

Depp's career now

Depp has embarked on various creative ventures since winning the high-profile trial, including an appearance in Rihanna's Savage x Fenty special on Amazon Prime, a music tour with his late friend, guitarist Jeff Beck, and a highly successful art exhibition, where his collection of silk-screen prints, all portraits of fellow performers, sold for $3.5 million. More recently, reports emerged that the actor inked a record-breaking $20 million contract extension with Dior Sauvage, marking the most lucrative men's fragrance deal in history.

His latest film, Jeanne du Barry, holds the honor of opening the Cannes Film Festival, where Depp plans to walk the red carpet and participate in a press conference. The premiere marks his most significant step forward as an actor since the trial. Jeanne du Barry is a French historical drama written, directed, and produced by multihyphenate Maïwenn, who stars as the titular mistress of Depp's King Louis XV. 

"Johnny is thrilled to return to the Palais to open this year’s festival but is even more excited to be back in Cannes with such a spectacular and nuanced film," a source close to Depp tells The Messenger. "He’s looking forward to seeing everyone on the Croisette this week to showcase a project that’s very close to his heart."

The inclusion of Depp's film was not without controversy. Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Fremaux defended the decision, saying in an interview with Variety, "If Johnny Depp had been banned from working, it would have been different, but that's not the case. We only know one thing, it's the justice system, and I think he won the legal case. But the movie isn't about Johnny Depp."

In addition to the premiere, sales will open at the Cannes market for Depp's first directorial endeavor in 25 years, Modi. Following the life of famed Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani (played by Riccardo Scamarcio), the film also stars Al Pacino and begins filming in the fall.

After Cannes, Depp will join stars like Eric Clapton and Rod Stewart to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London as part of a Jeff Beck tribute concert. He'll continue with his music throughout the rest of the summer, touring Europe with his band The Hollywood Vampires, which includes Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry and Alice Cooper, among others. 

Despite the packed lineup, some industry experts caution against labeling this as a full comeback just yet. "I don't think he immediately goes back on the Harry Potter franchise or goes immediately back onto Pirates of the Caribbean," a development executive who has worked on several Depp projects told Vanity Fair last year shortly after the trial concluded. "The jury and the public seem to be on his side, so it's less controversial than many of these other celebrities who've been guilty of #MeToo accusations because he did win the case largely."

Heard's career now

Meanwhile, Heard has kept a low profile since the trial, finding solace and privacy in Madrid, Spain, where she relocated with her 2-year-old daughter, Oonagh Paige. The duo has been spotted exploring the city and spending quality time together.

Despite rumors she could leave her Hollywood career behind, Heard will at least return to the big screen this December in the sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. She's set to reprise her role as Mera, a part that, according to her trial testimony, she had to "fight really hard" to keep following her split from Depp. Heard testified that she was removed from acting jobs and beauty sponsorships because a "sophisticated PR machine" behind Depp conspired to label her a liar in the press.

In court, Walter Hamada, president of DC Films at Warner Bros., refuted Heard's assertion that her role in Aquaman 2 was significantly "pared down" after Depp's alleged "smear campaign" against her. He did concede that there were behind-the-scenes discussions about possibly recasting Heard due to an "issue of chemistry" with Aquaman actor Jason Momoa. There has also been considerable fan pressure to remove Heard from the movie, with online petitions-- which were viewed as driven largely by Depp supporters -- garnering over 4.5 million signatures.

Another movie Heard began filming before the trial, In the Fire, does not yet have a release date. Directed by Conor Allyn, the supernatural thriller stars Heard and Spanish actor Eduardo Noriega. Set on a farm in Colombia in the 1890s, the duo play a couple whose autistic son is accused of being possessed by demonic forces, according to Variety. 

Depp and Heard still have a long way to go to reclaim the career heights they enjoyed before their acrimonious split in 2016, five years after they met on the set of Rum Diary. Despite facing allegations of domestic abuse, which were laid out in graphic detail during testimony, Depp's trial win laid a foundation to build upon, paving the way for new projects. His Dior contract offers strong evidence brands still view him as a valuable spokesperson, and his Cannes premiere will be closely watched by industry insiders, decision-makers, and consumers. 

Heard, on the other hand, faces different challenges. In addition to losing the highly emotional case, she found herself on the receiving end of a torrent of online vitriol. In a statement announcing her decision to settle her appeal of the case, Heard wrote on Instagram, "I defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed. The vilification I have faced on social media is an amplified version of the ways in which women are re-victimized when they come forward." She added that throughout the widely viewed trial, "I was exposed to a type of humiliation that I simply cannot re-live."

A research firm specializing in detecting and tracking bots and trolls on social media released a report after the trial which stated that the targeted hate campaign against Heard amounted to “one of the worst cases of platform manipulation and flagrant abuse from a group of Twitter accounts.”

Hollywood took notice of the damage the trial caused to Heard's reputation, with one insider opining to Entertainment Weekly during the trial that "It's not like anyone is saying, 'I want to be in the Amber Heard business.' Nobody's saying that right now." Regardless, it's her choice where she goes from here as she builds a new life (and possibly the next stage of her career) on new shores.