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Tag: johnny depp

  • Johnny Depp Claims Hollywood Can’t “Boycott” Him Because He‘s Not Thinking About Them Anyway

    Johnny Depp Claims Hollywood Can’t “Boycott” Him Because He‘s Not Thinking About Them Anyway

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    He arrived nearly 45 minutes late and insisted he’s not having a comeback, but at the first press conference of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Johnny Depp continued to be, undeniably, the focus of the entire festival. 

    Opening night film Jeanne du Barry, which premiered Tuesday night, stars Depp as French king Louis XV, in his first role since he was at the center of a 2022 defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard. Depp won the case — Heard, who won one count in her countersuit, is appealing — but the six-week trial revealed disturbing details about their relationship as the ex-couple hurdled accusations of abuse against each other.

    The selection of Jeanne du Barry rose eyebrows from the moment it was announced in April, and the questions continues as the festival began this week. At the opening press conference, the festival’s director Thierry Fremaux defended the choice. “I don’t know about the image of Johnny Depp in the U.S.,” he said. “I care about Johnny Depp as an actor.” At the jury press conference, jury member Brie Larson, who has been an advocate for abuse survivors, was asked about her stance on the film’s inclusion. “You’ll see, I suppose, if I see it. And I don’t know how I’ll feel if I do,” she said.

    On Wednesday, it was finally time for Depp to face the press, along with his cast and French director Maïwenn, who helmed the historical drama. But anticlimactically, the press conference was delayed by about 25 minutes, and eventually Maïwenn and the cast took the stage without Depp. The director insisted he would join them soon.

    Maïwenn was asked about her decision to cast Depp, an American, as a French king. She said that she had at first gone to several French actors, but the deals didn’t work out. And when she met with Depp, she learned that he was very familiar with French history and culture. “When I met him, it seemed like a very obvious choice,” she said in French. “I really fell in love with him in this part.”

    Maïwenn also stars as the titular character who climbs the social ladder and has an affair with the King. “I wanted to feel strongly about the actor,” she added. “The truth is I would be hugging and kissing him later on.”

    The room was astir when Depp finally arrived, around 42 minutes after the conference was supposed to start. He admitted that the “circus” part of the Cannes Film Festival — meaning the drama and controversy that often comes with the experience — has been the most difficult for him. “But the fact is we’re all here because we made a film – not because we have a product to tell,” he said. “The majority of what you have been reading for the past 5 or 6 years, is fantastically, horrifically written fiction.”

    He also commented on the fact that he hasn’t had a job on a Hollywood production since his legal controversies began a few years ago. “When you’re asked to resign from the film that you’re doing because of something that is merely a bunch of vowels and consonants floating in the air, yeah you feel boycotted,” he said. “Do I feel boycotted now? No, not at all. I don’t feel boycotted because I don’t think about Hollywood. I don’t have much further need for Hollywood.”

    Maïwenn said there was never any pushback from Netflix, who partially backed the film and will distribute in France, about casting Depp. (The film is currently seeking U.S. distribution) She also claims not to care about pushback from anyone else, either.  and said she also has not been paying attention to the response to his casting. “I don’t know what people are saying,” she said. “What remains very important is to remain very faithful to what one wants to do… Maybe negative things are being said about the film. I think all sorts of rubbish is being said. But that’s what happens in Cannes.”

    Depp’s return to film after his legal issues for the past few years has been described as a comeback, but the actor isn’t a fan of that label. “I’ve had about 17 comebacks, apparently,” he said. “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.”

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    Rebecca Ford

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  • Johnny Depp Gets 7-Minute Standing Ovation On Opening Night At Cannes

    Johnny Depp Gets 7-Minute Standing Ovation On Opening Night At Cannes

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    Johnny Depp got a collective pat on the back at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, nearly a year after his high-profile legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard. (Watch the video below.)

    The actor received a seven-minute standing ovation after the premiere of the French-language film “Jeanne du Barry,” in which Depp plays Louis XV, Variety reported.

    Depp teared up and applauded back to the opening-night audience in a clip shared by the show business outlet.

    The film is Depp’s first prominent movie since his bitter legal struggle with Heard that centered on claims of abuse from both parties. Depp was awarded $10 million in a defamation suit against Heard in June, and Heard was awarded $2 million in a countersuit. The two later settled for less.

    Depp got an enthusiastic reception outside the Palais des Festivals as well. He signed autographs and took photos with fans, some carrying signs that read “Congrats, Johnny” and “We are sorry,” Reuters reported.

    The burst of goodwill apparently has yet to translate into Hollywood work for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star, who was asked to resign in 2020 from the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise as Grindelwald. That happened after he lost a libel lawsuit over a Sun story headlined, “How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film after assault claim?”

    A protest called #CannesYouNot previously emerged online to raise objections to Depp’s presence at Cannes.

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  • Crime Boss: Rockay City Is So Bad The Culture Has Rejected It Entirely

    Crime Boss: Rockay City Is So Bad The Culture Has Rejected It Entirely

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    Crime Boss: Rockay City, a game announced last year with a trailer that seemed like the world’s most ill-timed April Fool’s Joke (it was December), is out! You may not know this, though, because nobody is talking about it.

    Blade’s Book Club Is The Best Thing About Marvel’s Midnight Suns

    If a game is good, people will talk about it. If a game is bad, people will also talk about it. If a game is bad in ways that also make it interesting, it gets talked about, and if a game is bad in ways that are incredibly funny then, once again, it gets talked about. Maybe it’s a 1000-word impressions piece on Kotaku.com, maybe it’s a bunch of tweets, maybe it’s a video series about bloopers and mishaps, these are all ways you—or someone, anyone—can talk about a video game.

    This is important, because talking about a video game is the only way we, as a culture, keep a game alive. I don’t want to get too into it on this post—which does not have the bandwidth for it—but discs on a shelf are just hunks of plastic, and code on a HDD just 1s and 0s, lying around. It’s us experiencing them, building memories/opinions on them then sharing those with other people, that make video games what they are. What is all this, what I’m writing, what you’re reading, the communities you form and are a part of, if not just one big way for us to share our thoughts on video games?

    Anyway, what I’m getting at here is that there’s space and scope to talk about almost every video game on the planet, love them or hate them. Except Crime Boss: Rockay City. Which nobody (except me, here, under great distress) is talking about, even though it’s been out for almost a month now. And now I know why.

    I have “played” this, in so much as you can subject yourself to sitting down and experiencing this game. And have found myself unable to review it, or even give my impressions on it, in the standard “hey check this out” kinda way. I was so repulsed by its packaging, so in awe at the way it gets absolutely everything it sets out to do wrong that I feel like I have to write this and publish it on the site just so someone else can reassure me that any of this actually happened.

    Rockay City is a fever dream. It’s the outline of a video game, coloured in by tortured ghosts from the 80s and 90s. It’s like a scammy powerpoint presentation for a blockchain game, only with sections containing actual gameplay. Here is the game’s launch trailer—it’s out, you can buy it, and even play it—to show I’m not making any of this up:

    Crime Boss: Rockay City – Official Launch Trailer

    Michael Madsen carried the burdens of 1000 lifetimes into the recording studio for this, and none of them turned in a good performance. Serial asshole Chuck Norris is so lifeless that an 80’s text-to-speech system could have done a better job delivering his lines. Kim Basinger and Danny Glover’s agents should be fired into the sun for this. And Vanilla Ice…well, Vanilla Ice is actually great here, I have nothing bad to say about Vanilla Ice.

    There’s writing in Rockay City in the most qualifying sense, in that there are words in the English language that come after other words, but whether these form complete and coherent sentences is up for debate. There is also a plot, in the same way the key art and promo tweet for a Grand Theft Auto Online mission has a plot.

    There’s no vision here beyond “here’s some stuff that might seem cool to guys who got too into the Johnny Depp trial and whose two favourite movies are Resorvoir Dogs and Scarface”. There’s no context or cohesion either, even though visually everything has the same generic crime game sheen you’d have expected from a clone of a clone of a GTA clone on the Xbox 360. To look at Rockay City is to be shaken around the inside of a shipping container full of Ed Hardy jeans and Steven Seagal movies.

    6 Minutes of Crime Boss: Rockay City Official Gameplay

    What’s it actually like to play? See above. You sneak around for a bit, you shoot some guys—who are often just innocent people, and who take a lot of bullets—then you shoot a lot more, because Rockay City never knows when to turn the volume down. It’s a “Level 99 Crime Boss” mobile game with the violent aspirations (or absence of a moral compass) of a late 90’s PC shooter.

    Rockay City had real money spent on it, paid for genuine Hollywood involvement. It was a crime game, it had guns, it spent enough marketing money that it somehow turned up in a Kotaku.com announcement post, it should have meant something to someone. Yet we have, to our collective credit, rejected this game wholesale. The game doesn’t just suck, even the idea of it sucks. It’s a disaster at a conceptual level. Nobody talks about it, nobody plays it; the game is only available on PC, yet isn’t on Steam, and its official subreddit has…242 members.

    I can’t say Rockay City is good. I can’t say it’s bad beyond the ways I’ve already described it (though here’s its Metacritic page if you’d like to broaden your horizons). I can’t say it’s so bad it’s good. I honestly don’t think traditional video game quantifiers work here. This isn’t a 2023 game release, it’s a black hole in the middle of it, sucking light and energy and washed up old actors into its void.

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    Luke Plunkett

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  • George Clooney Reveals Mark Wahlberg, Johnny Depp Turned Down ‘Ocean’s Eleven’: ‘Some Very Famous People Told Us To F**k Right Off’

    George Clooney Reveals Mark Wahlberg, Johnny Depp Turned Down ‘Ocean’s Eleven’: ‘Some Very Famous People Told Us To F**k Right Off’

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    By Becca Longmire.
    Published:

    George Clooney confirmed “some very famous people,” including Mark Wahlberg and Johnny Depp, turned down the chance to star in the 2001 hit “Ocean’s Eleven”.

    Clooney was joined by the likes of Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and Julia Roberts in the star-studded flick. However, during an interview at the 2023 TCM Film Festival, Clooney admitted some said “no” to the film.

    The actor insisted a lot of people wanted to work with director Steven Soderbergh at the time.

    He recalled, “Steven had just done ‘Erin Brockovich’ and ‘Traffic’, and he was nominated for [an Oscar for] directing both films.

    “So, people really wanted to work with Steven.”

    George Clooney speaks onstage at the screening of “Ocean’s Eleven” during the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival on April 14, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
    — Charley Gallay/Getty Images for TCM


    READ MORE:
    George Clooney Has Reportedly Been Giving Brad Pitt Advice As Ines de Ramon Romance Gets More ‘Serious’

    “Some said no to us,” Soderbergh admitted, as Clooney added: “They did. Some very famous people told us to f**k right off.”

    As the interviewer commented on Mark Wahlberg turning it down, Clooney went on, “Johnny Depp. There were others.”

    He laughed, “They regret it now. I regret doing f**king ‘Batman’.”


    READ MORE:
    George Clooney Tells Jimmy Kimmel He Suffered From Bell’s Palsy As A Teenager: ‘Half Of My Face Is Paralyzed’

    Elsewhere during the chat, Clooney revealed how they got Julia Roberts on board to play his character Danny Ocean’s ex-wife Tess.

    “We sent Julia a script and I wrote a note saying, ‘I hear you get 20 [million dollars] a picture now,’” Clooney said, according to Variety. “And we sent her a $20 bill… It made her laugh, and yes, she jumped right on board.”

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    Becca Longmire

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  • A Johnny Depp Drama Will Open the Cannes Film Festival

    A Johnny Depp Drama Will Open the Cannes Film Festival

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    Johnny Depp may be making his way down the Croissette. Variety reports that Jeanne du Barry, a historical drama directed by French actress and filmmaker Maïwenn and starring Depp will open the 76th Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, May 16. Per the festival, the film will be released in French theaters on the same day.

    The film will mark Depp’s first major film role in over three years, since his lengthy and controversial legal battle against ex-wife Amber Heard that led to a defamation trial which Depp won in June of 2022. (Both appealed the decision and then Heard settled with Depp for a reported $1 million in December.) Since then, he’s been keeping a relatively low profile, spending his days antiquing in the English countryside, according to the Daily Mail.

    Jeanne du Barry follows the tumultuous relationship between King Louis XV of France, played by Depp, and his lover Jeanne du Barry, played by Maïwenn, who lived with Louis XV in Versailles despite not being of noble birth. Louis XV was France’s second-longest-reigning monarch, sitting atop the throne for nearly 59 years before dying in relative disgrace after being accused of corruption. Depp and Maïwenn star in the French-language film alongside Benjamin Lavernhe, Melvil Poupaud, Pierre Richard, Pascal Greggory, and India Hair.

    Jeanne du Barry is produced by Pascal Caucheteux and Grégoire Sorlat’s Paris-based company Why Not Productions, with Goodfellas, the company behind Titane, handling world sales.  According to Variety, the Kentucky-born Depp speaks French in the film and only knew a little French before filming. Depp apparently considers himself something of a Francophone having been in a relationship with French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis from 1998 to 2012, and having owned various properties in the country on and off. In 2021, the actor referred to the country as his “home” on the news channel France 24.

    Maïwenn has previously competed at the festival: taking home the Jury Prize for her film Polisse in 2011, earning Emmanuelle Bercot a best-actress award for the film Mon Roi in 2015, and was set to premiere her semi-autobiographical film DNA in 2020. It’s not confirmed whether Depp will attend the Cannes premiere or whether the film will compete in the competition. Jeanne du Barry now joins other high-profile Cannes premieres including Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, James Mangold’s sequel Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City. 

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    Chris Murphy

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  • Johnny Depp Spends His Days Antiquing in the English Countryside, Per Report

    Johnny Depp Spends His Days Antiquing in the English Countryside, Per Report

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    After roughly half a decade of suing his ex-wife, a tabloid, his business managers, and his longtime lawyer, Johnny Depp is now living the quiet life in the English countryside, according to the Daily Mail. He appears in the “Gardens Special” of Somerset Life. The article, “Johnny Depp: The Hollywood A-Lister at Home in Somerset,” quotes the actor saying he’s no extrovert. “I just love places with character…. British people are cool and will greet you as if you are a neighbor—without going over the top…. I like going to places, seeing things and meeting people—but I’m not the great extrovert that people think.”

    “In truth, I’m quite a shy person,” he’s quoted. “That is one of the great things about Britain, and especially Somerset. I can just be me—and that’s nice.”

    Depp recently sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for defamation and won—and also lost in part in the simultaneous countersuit. Heard was ordered to pay him $15 million (this was later reduced because of the state’s cap on punitive damages), and he was ordered to pay her $2 million. Both appealed the jury’s decisions, and settled. Ever since, Heard has been forced to lie low since the internet and much of the world has become an inhospitable place for her, while Depp took something of a victory lap touring and playing music with his friend Jeff Beck, the guitarist. Beck died of bacterial meningitis at 78 soon after.

    According to the Daily Mail, in his free time, he exists as one does in the English countryside. Choppering into Hemswell Cliff for some antiquing. He bought some guitars—according to the Hemswell Antique Centre shop owner, who welcomed the shy guy to his shop—and some other “quirky items” like “a desk chair, three guitars, paint sets, easels, a few pictures, posters,” and “a vase with a skull on it.” 

    This article has been updated.

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    Kenzie Bryant

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  • Was Amber Heard in Justice League? Here’s everything you need to know

    Was Amber Heard in Justice League? Here’s everything you need to know

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    Amber Heard’s defamation trial against the actor of Pirates of the Caribbean was the topic of discussion in the year 2022. The trial, which was held online, was easily accessible to the entire virtual audience. As the trial proceeded ahead, it unfolded many back stories, movie projects, and the link the couple had shared earlier.

    There was nothing personal left between the two ever since the trial was aired. Which led the viewers across the globe to dig back into the past of Amber Heard and know all about her whims and roleplay.

    ALSO READ: Why did Amber Heard call Jason Momoa an attention seeker? Find out

    Amber Heard in The Justice League

    During the hearings, Amber Heard’s involvement with the Aquaman series has been brought up, and some have subsequently questioned if she would play any part in the Justice League. Let’s examine the timeline of her role in Aquaman

    1963 –

    Mera, the queen of Atlantis, protects the kingdom from both land and water, as DC fans are aware. The first issue of the Aquaman comics, published in 1963, had Mera’s debut appearance in the DC universe.

    2017 –

    Which later continued, and after more than decades, the character was later depicted on film when Amber Heard got cast as one of the main leads, where she gained spotlight for her beauty, which tagged well with her iconic red hair in the 2017 film Justice League.

    2018 –

    With the massive success of her role in Aquaman 2017, she reprised the role of Mera in Aquaman 2018 as well.

    2021 –

    Heard also appeared in Zack Snyder’s Justice League in 2021 and was about to be cast in Aquaman 2 as well.

    2022 –

    After the trailer went live and Amber Heard was all over the place making headlines for her false allegation against Johnny Deep, it came to light that Amber won’t get back to her iconic role, through which she gained followers across the globe.

    Heard’s agent, Jessica Kovacevic, alleged that the actress’ part as Mera in Aquaman 2 was almost replaced by another actor. Kovacevic responded at the time to rumours that Warner Bros wanted to replace Heard.

    According to Kovacevic, Heard’s almost-recasting was due to her “lack of chemistry” with her Aquaman co-star Jason Momoa, as reported by the Independent.

    2023 – 

    The internet went crazy as Emilia Clarke, who made a mark in the industry by delivering a fantastic performance in “Game of Thrones,” got fans head over heels when it was announced that “white-haired,” as she is famously known, will be replacing Amber Heard in Aquaman, and fans went crazy to see Emilia back in action with the famously known “Khal Drogo,” aka Jason Momoa.

     

    ALSO READ: Is Jason Momoa exiting DCU’s Aquaman franchise because of ‘terrible’ sequel?

    ALSO READ: Johnny Depp net worth 2023, luxury lifestyle, career & early life

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    1136909

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  • The Replacements: Armie Hammer, Johnny Depp, and 7 Other Actors Who Were Replaced Onscreen

    The Replacements: Armie Hammer, Johnny Depp, and 7 Other Actors Who Were Replaced Onscreen

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    Shortly after LaBeouf’s departure, two women accused the actor of physical, mental, and emotional abuse, and he told The New York Times, “I have no excuses for my alcoholism or aggression, only rationalizations. I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years.… I’m ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt.” But ahead of the film’s 2022 release, LaBeouf denied being fired, sharing emails with Variety in which he told Wilde, “I quit your film”; he alleged that he left Don’t Worry Darling due to inadequate rehearsal time. Later, while appearing on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Wilde said, “We had to replace Shia. He is a fantastic actor, but it wasn’t going to work. When he gave the ultimatum—him or Florence—I chose Florence. That was him feeling he was stepping away and me feeling like we were moving on without him,” adding, “It’s a question of semantics.”

    Blake Jenner

    Fresh off his best-actor Oscar nomination for Aftersun, Paul Mescal is seizing the role of Broadway composer Franklin Shepard in Richard Linklater’s Merrily We Roll Along, taking the part over from Jenner, who previously worked with the filmmaker on Everybody Wants Some!! While no official reason has been cited for Jenner’s departure, his ex-wife, Melissa Benoist, revealed in 2019 that she was a survivor of domestic abuse, though she did not name the perpetrator. Jenner, whom Benoist married after they played love interests on Glee, later confirmed the allegations and apologized, but he also claimed he had been abused as well prior to their divorce in 2017.

    Using the multiyear filming approach that he took with 2014’s Boyhood, Linklater will shoot Merrily over a 20-year period, with Mescal, Ben Platt, and Beanie Feldstein starring as the main trio. Last April, Platt said that Linklater had shot “the first sequence” of the film, but it’s unclear if or how any of Jenner’s footage was reconfigured. 

    Louis C.K. 

    The disgraced comedian admitted to sexual misconduct with multiple women in 2017, releasing a statement in which he admitted, “These stories are true. At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first, which is also true.” The professional fallout for C.K. was swift, as a deal between FX Productions and his production company, Pig Newton, was canceled, and wide-release plans for his film I Love You, Daddy were scrapped. 

    Amidst the rubble were two of the star’s voice-over roles. Reruns of Disney Channel’s Gravity Falls, on which C.K. voiced a character named “the Horrifying Sweaty One-Armed Monstrosity,” were redubbed by series creator Alex Hirsch. And he didn’t reprise his role as Jack Russell terrier Max in 2019’s Secret Life of Pets 2, a part that instead went to Patton Oswalt. “I did have some hesitations, but it was more about the story rather than the voice, so I just said, ‘All right,’” Oswalt told The Hollywood Reporter about taking on the job. Since the fallout, C.K. has won a Grammy, embarked on a nationwide comedy tour, and directed another movie. 

    Johnny Depp

    Before his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard, Depp resigned from his role as Gellert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the third film in the Harry Potter prequel series. The exit followed his loss in a 2020 libel case against the publisher of British tabloid The Sun. He was replaced by Mads Mikkelsen, although Depp reportedly still received his full $16 million salary for the project. “I’m a big fan of Johnny,” Mikkelsen said last August. “I think he’s an amazing actor; I think he did a fantastic job. Having said that, I could not copy it. There was no way I could just copy it, because it’s so much him. It would be creative suicide. So we had to come up with something else, something that was mine, and build a bridge between him and me.”

    Chris D’Elia

    After the stand-up was accused of sexually harassing and grooming underage girls in 2020, which D’Elia denies, he was erased from Zack Snyder’s Netflix zombie film, Army of the Dead. When asked about the decision to reshoot D’Elia’s scenes using Tig Notaro, Snyder told Vanity Fair: “I think it was a fairly easy one.” Producer Deborah Snyder added, “It was an expensive one, that’s for sure,” with Zack estimating that production poured “a few million” into scrubbing D’Elia’s frames and staging reshoots. 

    Ed Westwick

    In fall 2017, the Gossip Girl alum was accused of sexual assault by three separate women. The actor denied all allegations in a since-deleted tweet, writing, “I have never forced myself in any manner, on any woman. I certainly have never committed rape.” Ordeal by Innocence, the BBC adaptation of an Agatha Christie classic, in which Westwick played the black sheep son of a wealthy family, had its Christmastime release date delayed. His role was reshot with British actor Christian Cooke, who had starred alongside Westwick in 2013’s Romeo & Juliet adaptation, and the miniseries premiered in April 2018. 

    Frank Langella

    When the Oscar-nominated actor was fired from Mike Flanagan’s Netflix adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher last April, the then 84-year-old blamed his ouster on “cancel culture” in a column for Deadline. In the piece, Langella said that his costar accused him of touching her leg, a move that was not scripted by the project’s intimacy coordinator. The actor, who wrote that the project was meant to be his “last hurrah,” also said that he had been accused of  telling “an off-color joke,” sometimes calling his costar “baby” or “honey,” and hugging his coworker or touching her on the shoulder. Langella was subsequently replaced by actor Bruce Greenwood, who stars alongside Carla Gugino, Mary McDonnell, and Mark Hamill. 

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    Savannah Walsh

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  • The Year of the Slap: Pop culture moments in 2022

    The Year of the Slap: Pop culture moments in 2022

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    Taylor Swift was up. Elon Musk was in, out, and in. Tom Cruise was back. BTS stepped aside, and so did Serena Williams, and Tom Brady too — oops, scratch that.

    But the slap? The slap was everywhere.

    Ok, so maybe it wasn’t on the level of a moon landing, or selection of a pope. But henceforth all you need say is “the slap” and people will know what you mean — that moment Will Smith smacked Chris Rock at the Oscars and a global audience said, “Wait, did that happen?” Even in the room itself — maybe especially in the room itself — there was a sense that everyone had imagined it, which helps explain why things went on as normal, for a bit.

    The pandemic was over in 2022, phew! Well, of course it wasn’t. But live entertainment pushed forward, with mask mandates dropping, and people rushing to buy things like, oh, Taylor Swift tickets!

    We’ll take any segue to mention Swift, who already had a big year in 2021, but just got bigger — heck, she broke Billboard records and then she broke Ticketmaster. (No word if she got her scarf back).

    It was a year of celebrity #MeToo cases like Harvey Weinstein (again), R. Kelly (again), Kevin Spacey, Paul Haggis, Danny Masterson. And the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial, its every excruciating turn captured on TV.

    On the big screen, there were big comebacks. Mourning its dearly missed star, Chadwick Boseman, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” was a box office triumph. James Cameron’s “Avatar” planned a December return.

    Then there was Tom Cruise, turning 60 in ’22, just like the Rolling Stones, swooping into Cannes with his most successful movie, and showing, like those still-touring rockers, that when they tell you “The end is inevitable,” as they do in “Top Gun: Maverick,” you can always reply “Maybe so, sir, but not today.”

    Will audiences one day find Cruise – or the Stones, for that matter – too wrinkled and past the sell-by date? Maybe so, but not this year.

    Our annual, totally selective journey through a year in pop culture:

    JANUARY

    It’s GOLDEN GLOBES time. But is a Globes with no telecast, boozy celebs or red carpet a Globes at all? The embattled Hollywood Foreign Press Association, reeling from stunning failures over diversity, holds a private event and plans a comeback next year. Hey, remember the original wardrobe malfunction? Well, JANET JACKSON says she and JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE have moved on, and so should we. The New York Times buys Wordle, and we’re all thinking in five-letter words (though W-O-R-D-L-E is six, just saying.) Meanwhile, it’s a month of loss, heading off a year of loss: pioneering Black actor, director and activist SIDNEY POITIER dies at 94.

    FEBRUARY

    What would a year in pop culture be without BRITNEY? Just months after her liberation from her restrictive conservatorship, Spears is reported to have signed a mammoth book deal, but at year’s end we’re still waiting for news. RIHANNA is pregnant! TOM BRADY retires! (Stay tuned, on that one.) TAYLOR watch: JAKE GYLLENHAAL speaks out, saying he really has nothing to do with that song, that it’s about an artist’s relationship with her fans — but fans shouldn’t be cyberbullying, either.

    MARCH

    Quick, who wins Oscars this month? Well, “CODA” does, a feel-good drama with a largely deaf cast, and TROY KOTSUR becomes the first deaf actor to win an acting Oscar. Alas, all anyone can talk about is — you know. SMITH, who wins the best actor award not long after slapping Rock over a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, won’t truly address the issue until the end of the year, so keep reading. KARDASHIAN watch: Kim K is declared legally single again in her ongoing divorce with YE, the rapper formerly known as KANYE WEST. And BRADY, retired for 40 days, says, “Never mind!”

    APRIL

    It’s GRAMMY time, and JON BATISTE wins big, taking five statuettes. The musician’s huge year will later include performing at the first state dinner of the Biden administration, for French President Emmanuel Macron. The next day Macron will meet with MUSK (thanks for the segue, Monsieur le President) who begins his acquisition of TWITTER this month, leading to untold – and still unfolding – changes at the social media giant.

    MAY

    So imagine you’re sipping cocktails at the MET GALA and a musician comes sauntering through, playing the melodica — of course it’s BATISTE, because the Met Gala’s that kind of crazy party. The biggest splash of the night, though, is KARDASHIAN, on the arm of boyfriend PETE DAVIDSON, wearing the same sequined, skin tight gown MARILYN MONROE wore to sing “Happy Birthday” to JFK in 1962. In movies, “Top Gun: Maverick” opens, the highest-grossing domestic debut in CRUISE’S career, and his first to surpass $100 million on opening weekend. HARRY STYLES fans rejoice! His album, “Harry’s House,” is here.

    JUNE

    Stunning news for the global fanbase of BTS as the K-pop supergroup announces it’s taking a break to focus on members’ solo projects. On the legal front, a Virginia jury hands DEPP a victory in his very messy libel case over allegations of domestic abuse, finding that former wife HEARD defamed him in a 2018 op-ed. On a happier note, Britney gets married….

    JULY

    Only one wedding, Britney? BENNIFER has two! Maybe what happens usually stays in Vegas, but not when you have 227 million followers on Instagram. With a winking reference to being a “Sadie” (married lady) JENNIFER LOPEZ directs fans to her newsletter where she shares pics of her quickie wedding to BEN AFFLECK. “Love is beautiful,” she writes. “And it turns out love is patient.” Speaking of patience, fans of BEYONCÉ are rewarded for theirs, with the release of her long-awaited seventh studio album, “Renaissance,” her first solo album in six years.

    AUGUST

    So, we were saying …. Bennifer’s second wedding , on Affleck’s compound in Georgia, is bigger and fancier. One wedding, one split: KARDASHIAN and DAVIDSON are no longer. In other summer news, the world remembers Princess Diana, whose shocking death in a car crash happened 25 years ago, and whose life is being rehashed for a new generation in the current season of “The Crown.” And only days later, that same Netflix series will pause production briefly as a mark of respect for Queen Elizabeth II as Britain — and the world — mourn the beloved monarch, who dies at age 96 after more than 70 years on the throne.

    SEPTEMBER

    Mounting political intrigue in Europe, and by that we mean … did spit fly at the Venice premiere of “Don’t Worry Darling”? Either way the movie, directed by OLIVIA WILDE and starring her boyfriend (alleged spitter STYLES), is saddled – or blessed? – with more than its share of extracurricular drama. At the EMMYS, behold SHERYL LEE RALPH, who wins for “Abbott Elementary” and schools the crowd on the power of dreams and self-belief. “This is what believing looks like,” she says. You know what else believing looks like? Rachel Berry from “Glee” – aka LEA MICHELE – at last getting to play Fanny Brice in “Funny Girl” on Broadway. In sports, with four rueful words that resonate with working moms everywhere, SERENA WILLIAMS says she’s stepping aside from tennis, because: “Something’s got to give.”

    OCTOBER

    The second HARVEY WEINSTEIN trial opens in Los Angeles. ADIDAS drops YE, part of a cascade of companies that will sever ties with the rapper over his antisemitic and other troubling comments. The MUSK era begins at TWITTER as the world’s richest man carries a sink into the office, to “let that sink in.” HEIDI KLUM’s Halloween costume is a slimy, glistening rain worm. But before the month worms away from us, let’s cede it to SWIFT for dropping her new album, “Midnights” (Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day), then adding seven bonus tracks, then becoming the first artist to occupy all top 10 slots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Let THAT sink in! P.S. Celebrity divorce watch: BRADY and wife GISELE BUNDCHEN split.

    NOVEMBER

    Did we say LAST month was Taylor Swift month? Well now, millions of eager fans crowd a presale for her much-awaited Eras Tour, resulting in crashes and endless waits. Ticketmaster cancels the general sale, citing insufficient stock. Multiple state attorneys general announce investigations. Takeaway: People want Taylor Swift tickets. At the multiplex, they also want their Wakanda. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” meets the double challenge of following up one of the biggest blockbusters in history and losing its biggest star.

    DECEMBER

    Love ‘em or hate ’em, here come HARRY and MEGHAN again, with a Netflix “documentary” being watched very, very closely by royalty across the pond. Cameron’s “AVATAR” sequel finally appears, 13 years after the original broke records. Will viewers flock to Pandora once again? And bringing the year full circle, SMITH emerges to promote his new film, “EMANCIPATION,” and hoping people will forget about … what was it? … at least enough to check out the movie.

    In this year of comebacks, will Smith’s be the biggest?

    Check back with us in 2023.

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  • The Year of the Slap: Pop culture moments in 2022

    The Year of the Slap: Pop culture moments in 2022

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    Taylor Swift was up. Elon Musk was in, out, and in. Tom Cruise was back. BTS stepped aside, and so did Serena Williams, and Tom Brady too — oops, scratch that.

    But the slap? The slap was everywhere.

    Ok, so maybe it wasn’t on the level of a moon landing, or selection of a pope. But henceforth all you need say is “the slap” and people will know what you mean — that moment Will Smith smacked Chris Rock at the Oscars and a global audience said, “Wait, did that happen?” Even in the room itself — maybe especially in the room itself — there was a sense that everyone had imagined it, which helps explain why things went on as normal, for a bit.

    The pandemic was over in 2022, phew! Well, of course it wasn’t. But live entertainment pushed forward, with mask mandates dropping, and people rushing to buy things like, oh, Taylor Swift tickets!

    We’ll take any segue to mention Swift, who already had a big year in 2021, but just got bigger — heck, she broke Billboard records and then she broke Ticketmaster. (No word if she got her scarf back).

    It was a year of celebrity #MeToo cases like Harvey Weinstein (again), R. Kelly (again), Kevin Spacey, Paul Haggis, Danny Masterson. And the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial, its every excruciating turn captured on TV.

    On the big screen, there were big comebacks. Mourning its dearly missed star, Chadwick Boseman, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” was a box office triumph. James Cameron’s “Avatar” planned a December return.

    Then there was Tom Cruise, turning 60 in ’22, just like the Rolling Stones, swooping into Cannes with his most successful movie, and showing, like those still-touring rockers, that when they tell you “The end is inevitable,” as they do in “Top Gun: Maverick,” you can always reply “Maybe so, sir, but not today.”

    Will audiences one day find Cruise – or the Stones, for that matter – too wrinkled and past the sell-by date? Maybe so, but not this year.

    Our annual, totally selective journey through a year in pop culture:

    JANUARY

    It’s GOLDEN GLOBES time. But is a Globes with no telecast, boozy celebs or red carpet a Globes at all? The embattled Hollywood Foreign Press Association, reeling from stunning failures over diversity, holds a private event and plans a comeback next year. Hey, remember the original wardrobe malfunction? Well, JANET JACKSON says she and JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE have moved on, and so should we. The New York Times buys Wordle, and we’re all thinking in five-letter words (though W-O-R-D-L-E is six, just saying.) Meanwhile, it’s a month of loss, heading off a year of loss: pioneering Black actor, director and activist SIDNEY POITIER dies at 94.

    FEBRUARY

    What would a year in pop culture be without BRITNEY? Just months after her liberation from her restrictive conservatorship, Spears is reported to have signed a mammoth book deal, but at year’s end we’re still waiting for news. RIHANNA is pregnant! TOM BRADY retires! (Stay tuned, on that one.) TAYLOR watch: JAKE GYLLENHAAL speaks out, saying he really has nothing to do with that song, that it’s about an artist’s relationship with her fans — but fans shouldn’t be cyberbullying, either.

    MARCH

    Quick, who wins Oscars this month? Well, “CODA” does, a feel-good drama with a largely deaf cast, and TROY KOTSUR becomes the first deaf actor to win an acting Oscar. Alas, all anyone can talk about is — you know. SMITH, who wins the best actor award not long after slapping Rock over a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, won’t truly address the issue until the end of the year, so keep reading. KARDASHIAN watch: Kim K is declared legally single again in her ongoing divorce with YE, the rapper formerly known as KANYE WEST. And BRADY, retired for 40 days, says, “Never mind!”

    APRIL

    It’s GRAMMY time, and JON BATISTE wins big, taking five statuettes. The musician’s huge year will later include performing at the first state dinner of the Biden administration, for French President Emmanuel Macron. The next day Macron will meet with MUSK (thanks for the segue, Monsieur le President) who begins his acquisition of TWITTER this month, leading to untold – and still unfolding – changes at the social media giant.

    MAY

    So imagine you’re sipping cocktails at the MET GALA and a musician comes sauntering through, playing the melodica — of course it’s BATISTE, because the Met Gala’s that kind of crazy party. The biggest splash of the night, though, is KARDASHIAN, on the arm of boyfriend PETE DAVIDSON, wearing the same sequined, skin tight gown MARILYN MONROE wore to sing “Happy Birthday” to JFK in 1962. In movies, “Top Gun: Maverick” opens, the highest-grossing domestic debut in CRUISE’S career, and his first to surpass $100 million on opening weekend. HARRY STYLES fans rejoice! His album, “Harry’s House,” is here.

    JUNE

    Stunning news for the global fanbase of BTS as the K-pop supergroup announces it’s taking a break to focus on members’ solo projects. On the legal front, a Virginia jury hands DEPP a victory in his very messy libel case over allegations of domestic abuse, finding that former wife HEARD defamed him in a 2018 op-ed. On a happier note, Britney gets married….

    JULY

    Only one wedding, Britney? BENNIFER has two! Maybe what happens usually stays in Vegas, but not when you have 227 million followers on Instagram. With a winking reference to being a “Sadie” (married lady) JENNIFER LOPEZ directs fans to her newsletter where she shares pics of her quickie wedding to BEN AFFLECK. “Love is beautiful,” she writes. “And it turns out love is patient.” Speaking of patience, fans of BEYONCÉ are rewarded for theirs, with the release of her long-awaited seventh studio album, “Renaissance,” her first solo album in six years.

    AUGUST

    So, we were saying …. Bennifer’s second wedding , on Affleck’s compound in Georgia, is bigger and fancier. One wedding, one split: KARDASHIAN and DAVIDSON are no longer. In other summer news, the world remembers Princess Diana, whose shocking death in a car crash happened 25 years ago, and whose life is being rehashed for a new generation in the current season of “The Crown.” And only days later, that same Netflix series will pause production briefly as a mark of respect for Queen Elizabeth II as Britain — and the world — mourn the beloved monarch, who dies at age 96 after more than 70 years on the throne.

    SEPTEMBER

    Mounting political intrigue in Europe, and by that we mean … did spit fly at the Venice premiere of “Don’t Worry Darling”? Either way the movie, directed by OLIVIA WILDE and starring her boyfriend (alleged spitter STYLES), is saddled – or blessed? – with more than its share of extracurricular drama. At the EMMYS, behold SHERYL LEE RALPH, who wins for “Abbott Elementary” and schools the crowd on the power of dreams and self-belief. “This is what believing looks like,” she says. You know what else believing looks like? Rachel Berry from “Glee” – aka LEA MICHELE – at last getting to play Fanny Brice in “Funny Girl” on Broadway. In sports, with four rueful words that resonate with working moms everywhere, SERENA WILLIAMS says she’s stepping aside from tennis, because: “Something’s got to give.”

    OCTOBER

    The second HARVEY WEINSTEIN trial opens in Los Angeles. ADIDAS drops YE, part of a cascade of companies that will sever ties with the rapper over his antisemitic and other troubling comments. The MUSK era begins at TWITTER as the world’s richest man carries a sink into the office, to “let that sink in.” HEIDI KLUM’s Halloween costume is a slimy, glistening rain worm. But before the month worms away from us, let’s cede it to SWIFT for dropping her new album, “Midnights” (Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day), then adding seven bonus tracks, then becoming the first artist to occupy all top 10 slots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Let THAT sink in! P.S. Celebrity divorce watch: BRADY and wife GISELE BUNDCHEN split.

    NOVEMBER

    Did we say LAST month was Taylor Swift month? Well now, millions of eager fans crowd a presale for her much-awaited Eras Tour, resulting in crashes and endless waits. Ticketmaster cancels the general sale, citing insufficient stock. Multiple state attorneys general announce investigations. Takeaway: People want Taylor Swift tickets. At the multiplex, they also want their Wakanda. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” meets the double challenge of following up one of the biggest blockbusters in history and losing its biggest star.

    DECEMBER

    Love ‘em or hate ’em, here come HARRY and MEGHAN again, with a Netflix “documentary” being watched very, very closely by royalty across the pond. Cameron’s “AVATAR” sequel finally appears, 13 years after the original broke records. Will viewers flock to Pandora once again? And bringing the year full circle, SMITH emerges to promote his new film, “EMANCIPATION,” and hoping people will forget about … what was it? … at least enough to check out the movie.

    In this year of comebacks, will Smith’s be the biggest?

    Check back with us in 2023.

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  • “Pirates of the Caribbean” producer Jerry Bruckheimer would “love” to have Johnny Depp return to film series

    “Pirates of the Caribbean” producer Jerry Bruckheimer would “love” to have Johnny Depp return to film series

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    Jerry Bruckheimer, the producer behind “Pirates of the Caribbean” and many other blockbuster films, said he would “love” to have Johnny Depp return to the “Pirates” franchise, reprising his role as Jack Sparrow. 

    During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bruckheimer was asked if the outcome of Depp’s defamation trial with Amber Heard would lead Disney to put Depp back in the film series. 

    Depp sued Heard, his ex-wife, for libel and Heard counter-sued. Their case played out in a high profile and weeks-long trial earlier this year, during which Depp claimed Heard ruined his reputation when she penned a 2018 op-ed for the Washington Post in which she said she was abused. 

    He said it led to him losing out on jobs, like the “Pirates” series, which is owned by Disney. “I’m sure that Disney was trying to cut ties to be safe; the ‘MeToo’ movement was in full swing at that point,” he said. 

    Many details of the pair’s troubled marriage and alleged abuse were shared by both sides during the trial. In the end, Heard was ordered to pay $10.35 million to Depp. The jury also awarded Heard $2 million in her countersuit. This week, Heard and Depp settled for $1 million, Depp’s attorneys said in a statement.

    In the interview with The Hollywood Reporter’s James Hibberd, Bruckheimer, who produced five “Pirates” movies starring Depp, said he couldn’t speak for Disney in regards to Depp returning. 

    “I really don’t know,” he said. But he added, “I would love to have him in the movie. He’s a friend, a terrific actor and it’s unfortunate that personal lives creep into everything we do.”

    Hibberd said that Depp “hinted that if he were to return, the film should have a clear ending for his character,” and asked if Bruckheimer would ever kill off Depp’s character, Jack Sparrow. 

    “You can’t. We tried to kill him. It didn’t work,” Bruckheimer replied.

    Bruckheimer is also behind “The Lone Ranger,” starring Depp, and films like “Pearl Harbor, “Remember the Titans” and “Top Gun,” as well as TV series like “Amazing Race” and “CSI.”

    Caitlin O’Kane


    caitlin-okane.jpg

    Caitlin O’Kane is a digital content producer covering trending stories for CBS News and its good news brand, The Uplift.

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  • Amber Heard and Johnny Depp announce defamation suit settlement

    Amber Heard and Johnny Depp announce defamation suit settlement

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    Actors Amber Heard and Johnny Depp are settling the ex-couple’s defamation lawsuits against each other, they announced Monday. The actors, whose troubled marriage was laid bare in detailed, sometimes graphic testimony accusing each other of physical and verbal abuse earlier this year in a highly publicized trial in Virginia, are settling for $1 million, Depp’s attorneys said in a statement. 

    Depp sued Heard for libel over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” Even though the op-ed never mentioned Depp’s name, his lawyers argued it clearly referenced abuse allegations Heard had made against Depp during divorce proceedings. Heard, in her suit, said she was defamed by Depp when one of his lawyers called her abuse allegations a “hoax.”

    Following the high-profile trial that exposed the inner workings of their marriage, Heard was ordered to pay $10.35 million in June to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star. The jury also awarded Heard $2 million in her countersuit. Both sides appealed various aspects of the jury’s decision.

    In an Instagram post Monday morning, Heard called the settlement “an opportunity to emancipate myself from something I attempted to leave over six years ago and on terms I can agree to,” and she indicated it wasn’t an admission of guilt.

    In a statement Monday, Depp’s attorneys Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez said the settlement would “formally close the door on this painful chapter for Mr. Depp.” A source close to Depp said he will pledge the million dollars to several charities to be named at a later date.

    Heard called the decision to settle with Depp “very difficult” and followed “a great deal of deliberation.” 

    “I have made no admission. This is not an act of concession,” she said in her statement. “There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward.”

    The source close to Depp said the jury’s decision could still be used against Heard if she repeats her allegations against Depp.

    Heard said Monday that even if her appeal was successful, the “best outcome” would be a retrial.

    “I simply cannot go through that for a third time,” Heard said. She had previously testified in the U.K. about her domestic violence allegations when Depp unsuccessfully sued British newspaper The Sun for libel. The judge in that 2020 case concluded that Heard had indeed been subject to abuse at Depp’s hands on multiple occasions.

    In Monday’s statement, Heard said she had “lost faith in the American legal system,” noting that in the U.K. she was “protected from having to give the worst moments of my testimony in front of the world’s media.”

    Comparing the two trials, Heard said in the U.S. “my unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder … I was exposed to a type of humiliation that I simply cannot re-live.”

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  • Amber Heard says she’s settling Johnny Depp’s defamation suit

    Amber Heard says she’s settling Johnny Depp’s defamation suit

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    Amber Heard’s attorney on verdict


    Amber Heard’s attorney Elaine Bredehoft on verdict and what’s next

    06:30

    Actor Amber Heard announced Monday morning she would settle the defamation case brought by her ex-husband Johnny Depp. Heard announced the decision in an Instagram post that didn’t disclose any details of the settlement.

    Depp sued Heard for libel over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.”

    Heard called the settlement “an opportunity to emancipate myself from something I attempted to leave over six years ago and on terms I can agree to,” and she indicated it wasn’t an admission of guilt.

    Heard called the decision to settle with Depp “very difficult” and followed “a great deal of deliberation.” 

    “I have made no admission. This is not an act of concession,” she said in her statement. “There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward.”

    There wasn’t any immediate reaction to Heard’s announcement on Depp’s social media accounts.  

    Following a high-profile trial that exposed the inner workings of their troubled marriage, Heard was ordered to pay $10.35 million in June to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star. The jury also awarded Heard $2 million in her countersuit.

    Heard was appealing the Virginia jury’s decision, but she said Monday that even if her appeal was successful, the “best outcome” would be a retrial.

    “I simply cannot go through that for a third time,” Heard said. She had previously testified in the U.K. about her domestic violence allegations when Depp unsuccessfully sued British newspaper The Sun for libel.

    In Monday’s statement, Heard said she had “lost faith in the American legal system,” noting that in the U.K. she was “protected from having to give the worst moments of my testimony in front of the world’s media.”

    Comparing the two trials, Heard said in the U.S. “my unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder … I was exposed to a type of humiliation that I simply cannot re-live.”

    This is a developing story and will be updated.


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  • Amber Heard appeals defamation case loss to ex-husband Johnny Depp | CNN

    Amber Heard appeals defamation case loss to ex-husband Johnny Depp | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Lawyers for Amber Heard officially appealed her loss in a defamation case brought by Johnny Depp, arguing there were several errors in the trial, according to a copy of the appeal obtained by CNN.

    Errors listed include that the case was tried in Virginia and that the court improperly barred Heard from submitting some evidence, according to the appeal.

    Attorneys for Heard cited the exclusion of the November 2020 libel case that Depp lost against Britain’s Sun newspaper, where Depp was referred to as a “wife beater,” according to the appeal.

    The appeal also asserts Depp’s team didn’t prove “actual malice” in the case and that the jury was improperly instructed about the role of actual malice in the case.

    In early November, Depp’s legal team appealed the court’s decision to grant Heard $2 million, the Los Angeles Times reported.

    The case will now go to a three-judge court of appeals panel for a decision, according the LA Times. CNN has reached out to attorneys representing Heard and Depp for comment.

    Depp accused Heard of defaming him in a 2018 op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post.

    The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million dollars in punitive damages. A Virginia judge reduced the punitive damages to $350,000 because of statutory limits, CNN previously reported.

    The jury also awarded Heard $2 million in compensatory damages and no money for punitive damages for her cross-complaint, which alleged defamation over statements Depp’s attorney made about her abuse claims.

    Heard filed the appeal with the Court of Appeals in Virginia on November 23, according to the appeal.

    Jessica Kovacevic, Heard’s agent at WME, declined to comment to CNN. Range Media Partners, Depp’s talent agency, also declined to respond for comment to CNN.

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  • Amber Heard and Johnny Depp Now Awaiting Answers on Their Respective Appeals

    Amber Heard and Johnny Depp Now Awaiting Answers on Their Respective Appeals

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    On November 23, Amber Heard, by way of her latest legal team at Ballard Spahr, filed her brief to appeal the verdict in her ex-husband Johnny Depp’s defamation case against her. After the trial, a six-week public spectacle streamed from a Fairfax County, Virginia, courtroom from April to June, a jury found Heard responsible for three counts of defamation and awarded more than $10 million in damages to Depp. 

    Heard hired a new firm post-trial, and the team is now led by First Amendment stars Jay Ward Brown and David L. Axelrod. The opening brief lays out several grounds for appeal in Judge Penney Azcarate’s proceedings, and these indeed include First Amendment arguments. The Washington Post op-ed that Depp sued Heard over, claiming it had a “devastating” effect on his career, was published in 2018 and written by Heard in coordination with the American Civil Liberties Union; it supported legislative protections for domestic abuse victims. She didn’t use his name in it and described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” The argument is that her op-ed could be considered just that: an opinion. 

    “The trial court also erred in overruling Heard’s demurrer, in which she argued that the challenged statements are non-actionable expressions of opinion and are not reasonably capable of conveying the alleged defamatory implication,” the filing reads (Deadline published the appellate brief in full). “That holding, if allowed to stand, undoubtedly will have a chilling effect on other women who wish to speak about abuse involving powerful men.”

    The appeal also argues that the trial should have never moved forward in the first place. The court in Virginia was not the appropriate forum to hold the trial since the claims had no real connection to the state and neither party had spent any significant time there, it argues. (Depp’s camp successfully previously argued that because The Washington Post was published in Virginia, the case fell within that jurisdiction. The Post was not implicated in the case.) Additionally, the brief states that since a judge in London’s High Court had found more than 10 of Heard’s accusations about Depp’s domestic abuse to be “substantially true,” the American trial should not have had to move forward. (Depp sued the publisher of The Sun in the UK in 2018 for a headline describing him as a “wife-beater,” but was unable to disprove the designation in court and lost. While he sought to appeal, his request was denied.)

    As for the US trial, the brief claims that when it did ultimately go forward, there were issues regarding evidence both admitted and prohibited, as well as Depp’s lack of proof around actual malice and the instructions given to the jury around actual malice. “First, [Depp] did not demonstrate that Heard was aware of and intended to communicate the alleged defamatory implication that he had abused her,” it reads. “Second, he did not establish that Heard knew the alleged implication was false or subjectively entertained serious doubts about its truth. The trial court erred in declining to set aside the jury verdict and enter judgment in Heard’s favor.”

    “The trial court then refused Heard’s proposed jury instruction on the ‘communicative intent’ prong of actual malice,” it continues. “Consequently, the jury instructions were missing a key requirement for establishing a defamation-by-implication claim.” 

    Heard is not the only one appealing the jury’s decisions in the springtime trial. After Heard countersued Depp for $100 million, she won on one of the three counts of defamation. Adam Waldman, a lawyer for Depp at the time, had given a statement to the Daily Mail in 2020 amid Depp’s other defamation case against the publisher of The Sun, saying that Heard’s claims of abuse were a “hoax.” Heard’s team claimed Depp was “vicariously liable” for his representation’s statements, and the jury agreed in that one instance, awarding her $2 million. Depp’s attorneys have already filed to appeal this decision. 

    Both appeals are now under review in Virginia.

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    Kenzie Bryant

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  • Finally – Feminists Groups Release a Letter in Support of Amber Heard

    Finally – Feminists Groups Release a Letter in Support of Amber Heard

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    When the controversial Amber Heard v. Johnny Depp defamation trial went on air, it quickly became a public spectacle. Heard was found guilty of ruining Depp’s career though her 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which Heard identified herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” Depp was awarded $15 million in damages and an unbelievable career comeback — the stuff of Hollywood dreams — a spot in the Fenty Fashion Show.

    Meanwhile, Heard was publicly humiliated and endlessly memed by social media and on TikTok. She posted a statement after the verdict warning against the impact her own trial could have on other women.

    But now — months later — a consortium of feminist organizations and prominent feminist individuals have penned a letter in support.

    “The vilification of Ms. Heard and ongoing online harassment of her and those who have voiced support for her have been unprecedented in both vitriol and scale. Much of this harassment was fueled by disinformation, misogyny, biphobia, and a monetized social media environment where a woman’s allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault were mocked for entertainment,” the letter reads.

    The letter was posted on AmberOpenLetter.com. It calls for any other supporters to sign the letter. Prominent figures like Gloria Steinem, over two dozen feminist organizations, as well as over 90 domestic violence experts and survivors’ advocates from around the world, and signed the letter.

    The goal of the letter isn’t merely to vindicate Heard, but it’s a letter of support for all victims of domestic abuse who feel silenced. And now more than ever may feel like they’ll be punished for speaking out.

    “In our opinion, the Depp v. Heard verdict and continued discourse around it indicate a fundamental misunderstanding of intimate partner and sexual violence and how survivors respond to it. The damaging consequences of the spread of this misinformation are incalculable. We have grave concerns about the rising misuse of defamation suits to threaten and silence survivors.”

    But why did it take so long for this public support?

    An anonymous spokesperson for the group behind the letter told NBC News that after the Heard v. Depp trial “individuals were afraid to speak out because they saw what was happening to the few who had.” The spokesperson was another victim of this harrassment. Hence, the anonymity of the letter.

    Kathy Spillar, the executive director of the Feminist Majority Foundation, told NBC News her organization signed the letter after it observed what she called a “growing backlash” against women who speak out against perpetrators of sexual assault, domestic violence and intimate partner violence. “If this can happen to Amber Heard, it will discourage other women from speaking up and even filing reports about domestic violence and sexual assault,” Spillar said.

    Heard supporters were not the only ones who were persecuted. Depp’s 23-year-old daughter — actress Lily-Rose Depp — recently spoke out in a November Elle cover story and all the hate messages she received.

    Depp fans aggressively called on Lily to support her father. However, she remained silent during the trial. “When it’s something that’s so private and so personal that all of a sudden becomes not so personal,” she told Elle. “I feel really entitled to my secret garden of thoughts … I also think that I’m not here to answer for anybody, and I feel like for a lot of my career, people have really wanted to define me by the men in my life, whether that’s my family members or my boyfriends, whatever.”

    “I’m not here to give myself to the world to be eaten alive,” a sentiment shared by many of the women implicated in the trial. Focused on her own career and stepping out of her parents’ shadow, Lily-Rose said, “I’m really ready to be defined for the things that I put out there.”

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    LKC

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  • In support of Amber Heard: Dozens of feminist organizations sign open letter – National | Globalnews.ca

    In support of Amber Heard: Dozens of feminist organizations sign open letter – National | Globalnews.ca

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    Five months after the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard trial, more than 130 organizations and individuals have signed an open letter in support of Heard.

    The letter, which was released Wednesday, voiced strong sympathy and encouragement for Heard, 36, who lost a high-profile defamation suit against Depp, her ex-husband, in June. Depp, 59, sued Heard over a Washington Post op-ed in which she referred to herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”

    Read more:

    Johnny Depp launches appeal of Amber Heard $2M counterclaim verdict

    Dozens of women’s rights organizations, including the National Women’s Law Center, Esperanza United and Futures Without Violence, signed the open letter. Numerous doctors, lawyers and academics also independently signed, including author and activist Gloria Steinem.

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    The letter was penned by a group of people who claim to be survivors of domestic violence. In the letter, they referenced the “vilification” of Heard and her supporters as a phenomenon that has “been unprecedented in both vitriol and scale.”

    Throughout the six-week livestreamed trial, Heard was heavily mocked and shamed by staunch Depp supporters. Social media was flooded with outrage over the actor’s allegations of domestic violence at the hands of Depp. (In court, Depp claimed he was the real victim of domestic violence.)

    Read more:

    Anne Heche estate sued for $2M by woman who lost home in car crash

    “Much of this harassment was fueled by disinformation, misogyny, biphobia, and a monetized social media environment where a woman’s allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault were mocked for entertainment,” the letter reads.


    Click to play video: 'Jury awards Johnny Depp $15 million in damages in defamation suit against Amber Heard'


    Jury awards Johnny Depp $15 million in damages in defamation suit against Amber Heard




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    The open letter claimed this public shaming of the Aquaman actor is dangerous for other survivors of domestic abuse looking to speak out.

    “In our opinion, the Depp v. Heard verdict and continued discourse around it indicate a fundamental misunderstanding of intimate partner and sexual violence and how survivors respond to it,” the letter reads.

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    The letter ended in condemnation of “the public shaming of Amber Heard.”

    In a press release, Emma Katz, an author and domestic abuse researcher who signed the open letter, said “behaviors that are common to survivors were relentlessly mocked and misunderstood” during the trial.

    “These common survivor behaviors, including covering injuries with makeup and leaving your abuser then arranging to meet with them again – were widely condemned as signs of deception,” she said in the press release.

    She continued: “Many survivors watched these public conversations unfold with dread, as the question ‘will I be believed if I come forward’ seemed to be met with a resounding ‘no’.”

    Read more:

    Unsealed Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard court docs reveal new info, stir online battle

    On Twitter, Katz and several other signees said they were “proud” to have signed the open letter.

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    Following the Depp v. Heard trial, a seven-person jury ruled in favour of Depp and awarded the actor US$10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.

    Read more:

    Johnny Depp settles assault lawsuit filed by ‘City of Lies’ crew member

    Heard was awarded $2 million in a favourable ruling on one of her three countersuit claims. In the countersuit, Heard and her lawyers alleged Depp was “vicariously liable” for three statements made by the actor’s former lawyer, Adam Waldman, to British tabloid The Daily Mail.

    This month, Depp launched an appeal of Heard’s partial win, alleging the verdict in favour of his ex-wife was “erroneous.”

    In October, Heard also filed a brief laying the groundwork for an appeal.

    —

    If you or someone you know has been a victim of intimate partner violence or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.

    &copy 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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    Sarah Do Couto

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  • Rihanna, Johnny Depp and Savage X Fenty Vol. 4

    Rihanna, Johnny Depp and Savage X Fenty Vol. 4

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    Although Rihanna has seemingly side-stepped attempts at cancelling her existence after reports revealed that Johnny Depp would be in the Vol. 4 edition of the Savage X Fenty fashion show, some will still find it difficult to stomach Depp’s appearance. Which is somewhat ironic considering how much the public relished the schadenfreude of lambasting Amber Heard for being a “liar and a fraud” during the Depp v. Heard defamation trial that concluded back in June of this year. When, suddenly, Depp looked all shiny and new (read: employable) again upon winning the trial. It didn’t take long, however, for many to understand that vilifying Heard was largely to the benefit of misogynists (which, sadly, also includes many women).

    Ones who continue to wield this case as a key example of women being “cunts” not to be trusted or believed. And, to be clear, those touting Depp v. Heard as a “much-needed” beacon of light for men who are abused by women, one ought to consider that a five-foot-eight, one hundred sixty(-plus)-pound man can’t really get all that “hurt” (at least not without weaponry) by someone of Heard’s stature. This isn’t to say women aren’t capable of kicking an ass when necessary, it’s just that one gets the impression Heard was engaging in the same type of maneuvers as Katie (Soleil Moon Frye) in that Friends episode, “The One with the Girl Who Hits Joey”—wherein Joey (Matt LeBlanc) keeps insisting Katie punches him too hard when doing it “playfully.” A claim that, what a surprise, gets validated in Joey’s favor.

    In any event, let’s rewind to 2009, when Rihanna herself was the victim of an abusive relationship (and yes, regardless of what people say, Depp was abusive toward Heard, even if “only” verbally…since the physical abuse revealed wasn’t deemed “enough”). Her then-boyfriend, Chris Brown, smacked the shit out of her to such a degree that she couldn’t even pretend to carry on for a scheduled appearance at the Grammys. Cut to 2012-2013, when Rihanna decided to give Brown another chance (resulting in a very uncomfortable musical collaboration on Unapologetic called “Nobody’s Business”). In many ways, that’s what putting Depp in Savage X Fenty Vol. 4 feels like. Another conduit through which to “forgive.” Though, of course, Rihanna apologists would like to say that being a “true” survivor of domestic abuse, she can recognize who has actually been an abuser versus who has suffered abuse. With some (okay, many) saying Depp is the real victim in the scenario. In other words, whatever one needs to tell themselves in order to “comfortably” watch Depp participating in new projects.

    Brief though this particular appearance from Depp may be, perhaps the most disturbing element about it is the fact that Rihanna opted to soundtrack his arrival to Outkast’s “So Fresh, So Clean.” For those who might have forgotten the arrogant, “dapper” lyrics, they boast, “Ain’t nobody dope as me/I’m just so fresh and clean/Don’t you think I’m so sexy?/I’m just so fresh and clean.” Obviously, Depp is anything but these two descriptors, which is why Rihanna trying to help “rebrand” him as such feels so cringe. The placement of his “cameo” also seems tailored in such a way as to make viewers largely gloss over it, as it comes neither too close to the beginning nor near the end. Instead, Rihanna wastes no time in announcing that she’s the star of the show as she makes her grand entrance to the very problematic ASAP Rocky song, “D.M.B.” (in case you couldn’t guess, the abbreviation stands for “dats my bitch” or, if you must, “DAT$ MAH B!*$H”). In addition to such gross (and, yes, misogynistic) lyrics as, “Roll my blunt, fill my cup, be my bitch, rub my gut/Rub yo’ butt, be my slut, be my cunt, yeah, so what?,” ASAP also declares, “Bad girls wanna have fun.” This being repeated in remix form as Rihanna does her “dance”/strut against the forest tableau that takes up most of the show. Through this not-so-subtle act of including the theoretically “Bonnie and Clyde”-oriented tone from the outset, Rihanna makes it clear, once again, what her taste in men tends to favor (extending toward none other than Depp).

    With that performance out of the way, Rihanna allows room for Precious Lee, who models one of many patterns to the tune of “Lick It N Split” by Zebra Katz and Shygirl. Upon Precious being thrust up against a tree, the song then transitions to the chaotic “Crazy” by Doechii. Men running through the forest with women slung under over their backs seems, evidently, the best way to match this track’s energy. And yet, it also offers more symbolism about what appears to be Rihanna’s own internalized sense of misogyny as women come across as being utterly disposable playthings in such a scene. The pendulum of that sentiment, however, shifts when Missy Elliott’s “Hot Boyz” starts to play—or rather, the sentiment would shift if Damson Idris didn’t materialize in purple pajamas at the center of a group of harem-like women. For “Hot Boyz,” the inverse permutation would be required, with a woman at the center of multiple men instead.

    The intent to make every scene of the spectacle present itself as visceral and exotic persists with Anitta. And it only takes about six minutes for the sex-positive Brazilian pop singer to offer her ass to the camera as she sings “Practice” (usually featuring another ASAP, Ferg). The song in question undeniably includes the ideal lyrics for promoting lingerie: “We don’t make babies, but we practice.” She then segues into “Envolver” before more animation (complete with a woman being “enfolded” into a tree) appears to transition us into the next batch of designs to parade. This time, with Cara Delevingne at the center of it all as Nas’ “Oochie Wally” fades into 50 Cent’s “Just A Lil Bit.” It’s here that Taraji P. Henson then leads a line of cavorting women with interconnecting braids (it’s all very elaborate).

    Don Toliver subsequently enters into the “majestic forest” with a performance of “Take Your Time,” another lingerie-appropriate track that urges, “Let’s do it baby/Let’s do it tonight/Take me to your crib and we can party all night.” Like Anitta, Toliver also gets to promote two songs, opting for “Way Bigger” as the second one, during which he provides more salacious lyrics tailored to shilling bras and panties. Case in point, “With a bad bitch through the whole pandemic/Lemme hit the hole through the whole ninth inning/Eatin’ and beatin’ the whole night swimmin’.” And this, unfortunately, is what takes us to the Depp part of the show. Which comes at a strategic moment in that Rihanna has already stacked the “fashion parade” with plenty of other cameos, including Taylour Paige, who offers a very memorable monologue before sauntering in “bad bitch mode” to Dave featuring Stormzy’s “Clash.”

    Following that, at the twenty-minute mark (halfway through it all), Depp is “blessed” with his screen time. As previously mentioned, Rihanna ill-advisedly opted to soundtrack Depp’s entrance with Outkast’s “So Fresh So Clean”—and yes, even Depp has a look on his face that seems to say, “What am I doing here?” After he does a reluctant “catwalk” through the forest and concludes with hugging a tree (perhaps dendrophilia is his latest flame), another animation sequence arrives. One that fittingly displays some kind of rupture in the universe—this being precisely what has happened with the verdict of the Depp v. Heard trial. After we’re shown the formation of some crystals in cartoon form that become the real-life backdrop of the next set, the scene gives way to a portion of Vol. 4 that does a better job of accenting bombastic maquillage than it does lingerie.

    The mood shifts thanks to more animation that provides a cartoon version of Maxwell underwater trying to get his hands on a yellow ball that bursts as he’s then sucked from one hole into another (interpret that metaphor how you will). He then emerges from the next water realm inside that very yellow ball now scaled to a far more massive size. It then shoots up into the sky like a comet so that the real Maxwell can serve as the penultimate performer (of “Whenever, Wherever, Whatever”) amid a backdrop of some very phallic cacti.

    The seductive, “drop them panties” attitude continues with Janet Jackson’s “Would You Mind” as a dancer very orgasmically quivers right when Janet utters that very word (“quiver”). Afterward, Jackson’s “Throb” leads us into one of the most flagrantly suggestive animation sequences involving rocket ships and explosions. The wildin’ out choreography continues almost as a means to distract from how this season’s collection isn’t quite as impressive as the one in Vol. 3 (replete with Busta Rhymes songs, to boot). Nonetheless, the choreography is admittedly fire—and continues to be as DJ Blue’s “Look Like You,” Konshens and J Capri’s “Pull Up to Mi Bumper” and Oxlade’s “Ku Lo Sa” play before Burna Boy rounds out the show with, what else, “Last Last” (and “It’s Plenty”).  

    The “yellow” segment comprises the finale, featuring Lilly Singh as the initial “centerpiece” of the motif. Yellow, incidentally, representing the color of cowardice—let the viewer be the judge of whether or not Rihanna is either “brave” or cowardly for certain casting decisions in this edition…

    For the conclusion, Rihanna opts to close the show with SOPHIE’s “Not Okay” (interpolated with Omarion’s “Touch”). Almost like a subconscious admission of the fact that what she’s done is, well, not okay. And while she might consider herself a champion of artistic freedom or some such, it’s rather a shame that what is actually a very beautifully-presented show should be besmirched with the mark of Depp’s presence. Providing another open invitation for abusers to reemerge once they’re either 1) able to flip the switch on the woman that “falsely accused” them or 2) enough time passes for the public memory to be “just hazy enough” to forget. Though it would take a lot of weed to create the haze necessary to forget about Depp declaring to Heard, “I pushed you” or “I headbutted you in the fucking forehead. That doesn’t break a nose.” Which, honestly, is the last image one wants to have in their head during “sexy time” (not to mention the automatic correlation with Depp to a shit on the bed).

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • I Want The 2022 Savage x Fenty Show Look

    I Want The 2022 Savage x Fenty Show Look

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    It’s already been a busy year for Ri-Ri. With her new singles for the Wakanda Forever soundtrack releasing, an impending album, and a Super Bowl halftime show on the horizon, she’s non-stop. Following suit, Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty Fashion Show debuted on Amazon Prime last night and it was every bit as showstopping as you’d expect.

    It’s not your traditional fashion show with models gliding down runways to a crowd of high-profile names in fashion; it’s a full on production. No crowd was involved whatsoever, but hundreds of models and big names in both the music, fashion, and film industries showed off the new Savage collection.

    The show begins with the Fenty Queen herself, wordlessly summoning everyone to pay attention – the show has begun. In partnership with Amazon, every look was linked to the screen as they were shown, giving you instant access to purchase the Fenty set. Seamlessly transitioning from look to look, the beats change and the focus turns to a different model.

    What perhaps tainted the night was the inclusion of Johnny Depp, whose addition struck controversy. It indeed begs the question, why include a controversial fallen star? It somehow overshadowed the entire event without even trying.

    While the event is the antithesis of the old Victoria’s Secret wings and glitz, Rihanna’s spin was edgier and cinematic. You can view her new collection on the Savage x Fenty website, but for now, here are my faves:

    1. Lineup Pocket Legging
    2. Hotline Medium Impact Sports Bra
    3. Velvet Vixen Unlined Balconette Bra
    4. Going Platinum Long Robe
    5. Hotline Jumpsuit

    All products featured are independently selected by our editors. Things you buy through our links may earn us a commission.

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    Jai Phillips

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  • Things A Republican-Held Congress Plans To Do Immediately

    Things A Republican-Held Congress Plans To Do Immediately

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    The GOP has rightly taken issue with the Biden administration killing foreign civilians in airstrikes and causing mass starvation in Afghanistan by freezing its government assets, not to mention the brutal sanctions on—wait, no, it will be over some Marjorie Taylor Greene bullshit.

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