Actor reflects on legal battle, industry boycott, and moving forward
Johnny Depp has said he holds “no regrets” over his legal battle with former partner Amber Heard, describing the ordeal as a necessary fight for truth and reputation, while rejecting the notion of a “comeback,” insisting he never left.
In a candid interview with The Times UK, Depp spoke at length about the personal and professional consequences of the defamation trial that dominated headlines in 2022.
The actor won the high-profile case in Virginia, following Heard’s 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post, in which she claimed to have survived domestic abuse. Though Depp was not named in the article, he claimed the piece had defamed him, leading to a jury ruling in his favour. The case concluded with a financial settlement later donated to charity.
“My comeback? Honestly? I didn’t go anywhere,” Depp said. “If I had the chance to split, I would never come back.”
He described the professional fallout from the allegations as a “boycott”, though he acknowledged the support he received from certain quarters, particularly the San Sebastián International Film Festival in Spain, which honoured him with the Donostia Award during the height of the controversy.
“They stuck with me through all the hit pieces, the bullsh–,” he said, noting that his film Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness was warmly received at the same festival last year.
Addressing the trial itself, Depp said he had no regrets. “Because, truly, what can we do about last week’s dinner? Not a f—ing thing,” he remarked, adding that pursuing the case publicly was a deliberate choice to defend himself and protect his children’s perception of him.
“Everyone was saying, ‘It’ll go away!’ But I can’t trust that,” he said. “What will go away? The fiction pawned around the f—ing globe? No, it won’t. If I don’t try to represent the truth, it will be like I’ve actually committed the acts I am accused of. And my kids will have to live with it.”
Depp further explained his decision, recalling how he felt the night before the trial began: “I didn’t feel nervous. If I don’t have to memorise lines, if you’re just speaking the truth? Roll the dice.”
The 61-year-old also touched on the lack of support he felt within the industry at the time, suggesting he had become an early test case for the MeToo movement.
“I was pre-#MeToo. I was like a crash test dummy for #MeToo. It was before Harvey Weinstein. And I sponged it, took it all in,” he said. “And so I wanted from the hundreds of people I’ve met in that industry to see who was playing it safe. Better go woke!”
Despite the turbulence, Depp expressed contentment in having faced the ordeal head-on. “Look, none of this was going to be easy, but I didn’t care,” he said. “I thought, ‘I’ll fight until the bitter f—ing end.’ And if I end up pumping gas? That’s all right. I’ve done that before.”
The trial and its aftermath, including the unprecedented level of social media attention, became one of the most closely watched legal battles in recent memory. Later analyses indicated that much of the online hostility toward Heard was inauthentic or manipulated.