|
 Yet whoever wins or loses, Depp
and his ex-wife Amber Heard may find it easier
than expected to resume their acting careers
after the lurid headlines generated by the
three-week trial.
"We are used to celebrities doing crazy,
off-the-beaten path type of things. I think as a
society we are a little immune to it at this
point," said Danielle Rossen, president of
crisis PR firm Rossen Media.
Depp, best known for playing the swaggering Jack
Sparrow in the "Pirates of the Caribbean"
movies, is suing News Group Newspapers,
publishers of Britain's Sun newspaper, over a
2018 article which labeled him a "wife beater."
Heard, 34, the star of "Aquaman", says Depp
attacked her on at least 14 occasions, fueled by
excessive drinking or drug-taking. Depp denies
hitting Heard and says he was the victim of her
assaults.
Crisis manager Matthew Hiltzik said Hollywood,
and the general public, had bigger things to
worry about as the world struggles to get back
to business after a prolonged coronavirus
shutdown.
"It's actually really sad for everyone involved.
Hopefully people will contextualize this
properly in light of the real human suffering
surrounding the pandemic right now," said
Hiltzik, chief executive of Hiltzik Strategies.
Others are not so convinced, pointing to a
momentum around believing women who bring
allegations of abuse in the wake of the #MeToo
movement.
"Can Johnny Depp ever star in another
family-friendly movie again as a hero? I doubt
it," said celebrity branding expert Jeetendr
Sehdev.
"The drug and alcohol abuse allegations are just
as damaging for him as those of domestic abuse.
It's a lose-lose situation for him," Sehdev
said.
[to top of second column]
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 Yet Depp, 57, who has often
played offbeat or maverick characters in movies,
has an army of fans using social media hashtags
like #JusticeForJohnnyDepp and #WeAreWithYouJohnnyDepp.
Many of the accusations against him were
previously aired, in the couple's vitriolic 2016
divorce case.
"Depp has a fanbase that likes his acting and
who he portrays in movies, and off the screen it
really doesn't bother them about this marital
dispute," said Rossen. "There
are embarrassing things that came out about
Amber Heard as well. For her, the trial doesn't
help and it doesn't hurt," Rossen said.
Depp's next major slated film is the third in
the "Fantastic Beasts" franchise, which is in
pre-production. "Aquaman 2," due to star Heard,
was in development before the coronavirus that
shut down Hollywood in mid-March. Warner Bros,
the studio behind both movies, did not respond
to a request for comment about Depp's or Heard's
future with the projects.
Disney began working some two years ago on a
reboot of the "Pirates of the Caribbean"
franchise and did not respond to queries about
whether Depp would play any role in the upcoming
movies.
Hiltzik felt the details of the allegations
would be largely forgotten in the post-pandemic
world.
"Hopefully, when this passes, they can each go
back to doing what they do very well and
continue their careers and go back to telling
other people's stories instead of their own," he
said.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, Editing by Rosalba
O'Brien)
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