Johnny Depp says that he’s being boycotted by Hollywood in his first interview since losing a libel suit in which The Sun’s claim that the star was a “wife beater” was ruled “substantially true.”
Speaking with Britain’s The Times, which is part of the same publishing group owned by Rupert Murdoch that also owns the tabloid The Sun, Depp discussed his new film “Minamata,” which is opening in the UK but will not be released in the U.S. by MGM.
Depp called the last five years in which he dealt with the case “surreal” and referred obliquely to the “absurdity of media mathematics.”
“For Hollywood’s boycott of, uhm, me? One man, one actor in an unpleasant and messy situation, over the last number of years,” Depp said. “Whatever I’ve gone through, I’ve gone through. But, ultimately, this particular arena of my life has been so absurd.”
Depp also faces another legal battle in 2022 with a $50 million defamation suit against his ex-wife Amber Heard, which Depp declined to discuss in the piece.
Depp was recently replaced in the remainder of the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise, with Mads Mikkelsen taking on the role of Gellert Grindelwald in the “Harry Potter” spinoff films. But Depp said he has no plans to step aside from acting and is supportive of his fans who he calls his “employers” throughout his career.
“Actually, I look forward to the next few films I make to be my first films, in a way,” he said. “The way they wrote it in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ is that when you see behind the curtain, it’s not him. When you see behind the curtain, there’s a whole lot of s— squished into one spot. All praying that you don’t look at them. And notice them.”
Depp will be honored by the San Sebastian Film Festival with a lifetime achievement award in late September, an announcement that was met with backlash by Spanish filmmakers condemning the decision.
Read more from the full interview with Johnny Depp here.