After Johnny Depp and Amber Heard‘s acrimonious split reached the bitterest of conclusions three years ago when they faced off in court, it was fair to say there was no real winner.
Heard was found to have defamed Depp with references to ‘sexual violence’ and ‘domestic abuse’ in a 2018 Washington Post column and ordered to pay her ex-husband $10million in damages.
The televised trial in 2022 turned into a circus with Heard decried by some as a conniving liar and Depp the saintly victim, while her supporters argued it was a dark day for the #MeToo movement and that it would put off other women from reporting domestic violence.
However even his most ardent fans could hardly claim that the debacle painted a wholly flattering picture of Depp. The court heard messages he’d sent to his friend Paul Bettany about Heard, including: ‘I will f**k her burnt corpse’, as well as a recording of Depp smashing up the kitchen while drunk.
This verdict also came less than two years after Depp unsuccessfully sued The Sun for calling him a ‘wife beater’ when a judge found the ‘majority’ of his alleged assaults against Heard had been ‘proved’.
But despite the drinking, drug use and toxicity laid bare in court, the actor, 61, remained the face of Dior Sauvage and rather than being cancelled, he is making a Hollywood comeback in the action thriller blockbuster Day Drinker next year.
While this can partly be put down to his enduring popularity with a loyal fan base, his cause has been helped from an unexpected quarter – the equally fraught legal drama between former co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.
It is three years since Johnny Depp and Amber Heard (Pictured in 2015) delivered one of Hollywood’s most bitter court showdowns – but the actor has escaped being cancelled
The actor, 61, has remained the face of Dior’s Sauvage fragrance campaign and is set to appear in action thriller blockbuster Day Drinker next year – and he could have Justin Baldoni to thank
When the New York Times published a bombshell report in December that Blake Lively was suing Baldoni for harassment, a key element was that the director had hired Depp’s former publicist Melissa Nathan to allegedly mastermind a smear campaign against the Gossip Girl star.
Heard spoke out in support of Lively in the wake of her explosive allegations against Baldoni, saying she too knew how it felt to be on the receiving end of a smear campaign.
In a statement to NBC News of Lively’s claims, Heard said: ‘Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying “A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on.”
‘I saw this firsthand and up close. It’s as horrifying as it is destructive.’
‘You know we can bury anyone,’ Nathan allegedly wrote to PR executive Jennifer Abel in text messages included in Lively’s lawsuit.
Swathes of support for Lively surfaced and, for a time, it looked as though fans were starting to rethink the Depp and Heard saga and question their support for him.
However the energy shifted as the battle between Blake and Baldoni became more complicated.
Nathan’s representatives issued a strongly-worded statement denying that there was an orchestrated campaign, insisting that negative reports about Lively had instead emerged ‘organically’ in the press.
They denied that she had anything to do with a smear campaign against either woman, telling Daily Mail: ‘TAG PR must be the most powerful group of publicists the world has ever seen for it to be able to completely change the perception of both Amber Heard and Blake Lively.
Day Drinker marks Depp’s biggest yet attempt to revive his silver screen career, with production beginning this week
When the New York Times published a bombshell report in December that Blake Lively was suing Baldoni for harassment, a key element was that he had hired Depp’s former publicist Melissa Nathan
Heard (Pictured in 2018) spoke out in support of Lively in the wake of her explosive allegations against Baldoni, saying she too knew how it felt to be on the receiving end of a smear campaign
‘The only correlation between both individuals was that for decades every move they have made has been out there for everyone to see, widely filmed and documented for the public to make up their own minds – which they did, organically.’
The bitter legal battle between Baldoni and Lively has been waging ever since, and with a court hearing a year off, it shows no signs of dying down.
Lively’s reputation has come under severe fire amid a slew of negative stories, rumours of feuds with other co-stars and doubts cast on her allegations against Baldoni.
Meanwhile, despite Lively’s claims of sexual harassment, Baldoni has seen an uptick in support.
Even Baldoni’s publicist Nathan, who was accused of orchestrating the smear campaign, appeared horrified by the discourse surrounding women she had reportedly helped create.
‘The majority of socials are so pro Justin and I don’t even agree with half of them lol,’ she reportedly wrote.
She added: ‘It’s actually sad because it just shows you [how] people really want to hate on women.’
The situation was likened to Depp and Heard’s toxic televised trial, which garnered a huge social media following as people chose sides.
The court of public opinion ultimately sided with Depp, as it similarly appears to have with Baldoni.
Depp’s welcoming back into the spotlight could be due to the mirroring between the support for him and Baldoni – and the apparent demonising of Lively and Heard.
Depp’s welcoming back into the spotlight could be due to mirrored support for him and Baldoni – and the apparent demonising of Lively and Heard (Depp seen in September)
Day Drinker marks Depp’s biggest yet attempt to revive his silver screen career, with production beginning this week.
The actor sports a new look for the thriller, ditching his dark locks and facial hair for greying features, a filled out face and piercing blue contacts.
In the three years since his court case, the star has been involved in smaller movies including Jeanne du Barry, a French historical drama, and he directed the World War II drama Modi: Three Days On The Wing Of Madness.
He said in 2023: ‘I keep wondering about the word comeback because I didn’t go anywhere.
‘Maybe people stopped calling out of whatever their fear was at the time. But no, I didn’t go nowhere. I’ve been sitting around.’
Heard filed for divorce and a restraining order against Depp in May 2016, accusing Depp of being abusive throughout their relationship.
Depp fired back with a libel suit against the publisher of UK’s The Sun for calling him a ‘wife-beater,’ which he ultimately lost and his attempt to appeal was rejected.
He later filed a 2019 lawsuit against Heard for defamation for her December 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post, in which she accused him of ‘sexual abuse’ and ‘domestic violence’.
A judge found that three claims in the case were defamatory and Depp was ultimately awarded $10million in compensatory damages plus $5million in punitive damages.
However Heard counter-sued and was awarded $2 million in damages – with the court hearing during the trial that Depp sent texts during their relationship saying he would ‘drown’ and ‘burn’ her then ‘f*** the corpse’
While both parties appealed, they settled the case in December 2022.
