There’s no way around it, the past month has been a disastrous one for Johnny Depp. First, the verdict in his lengthy UK libel case against British tabloid The Sun, for labelling him a “wife beater” over accusations of domestic abuse made by his ex-wife Amber Heard, ended up not being in his favor. This ruling then led to Warner Bros. requesting that the actor step aside from his role as Grindelwald in their Fantastic Beasts franchise.
As it stands, then, Depp’s career is on shaky ground, but he’s about to enter into another drawn out courtroom saga next year, which the star is clearly hoping will go some way to repairing his damaged reputation. As well as his lawyers announcing that they’re appealing the UK case, he’s also filed a separate $50 million defamation lawsuit against Heard in Virginia over an article she wrote for The Washington Post in 2018, in which she describes her experience with domestic violence.
The outcome of this second legal battle isn’t looking good for Depp, though, given how the first one turned out. Insider spoke with former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani and picked his expert brain on what he thinks might happen. Rahmani revealed that he believes this additional lawsuit is “a waste of time” for the ex-Pirates of the Caribbean star, saying:
“Depp should get out of the defamation-lawsuit business while he still has a fragment of a movie career. The Virginia case is also a loser, like many celebrity family-law cases that do little to show celebrities in a good light. Depp should stick to scripts written by others rather than airing his real-life drama in a courtroom.”
Rahmani is pretty damning of Depp’s chances at a comeback as well. He tells Insider that he believes Disney has got “bored” of their former money making machine and that other major studios won’t want to touch him anymore, either. Rahmani even says that that he’s on his way to becoming “the next Harvey Weinstein.”
While the actor’s career is in jeopardy, Amber Heard appears to be emerging from the wreckage of her marriage unscathed, as she’s set to return as Mera in Aquaman 2. We’ll have to see if there’s any way back for Johnny Depp, but the odds are certainly not looking good right now.