Shortly after Johnny Depp gained his defamation case in opposition to ex-wife Amber Heard on Wednesday, he stated in a press release that he felt just like the “jury gave me my life again.”
However will the jury’s resolution assist him get his Hollywood profession again? Within the minds of some public relations specialists, that continues to be to been seen.
In interviews Wednesday, three PR and disaster communications professionals stated they felt assured that Depp may get his big-screen appearing profession again on observe.
Two different specialists expressed extra skepticism, mentioning that Depp’s stature within the leisure business was diminished even earlier than the trial began and observing {that a} vast swath of the moviegoing public will proceed to imagine Depp subjected Heard to bodily abuse over years, whatever the jury’s ruling.
Howard Breuer, the CEO of Newsroom Public Relations, a agency primarily based in Los Angeles, stated he thinks individuals within the business will strategy working with Depp once more with warning.
“I’m positive there will probably be some factions in Hollywood who will probably be cautious so long as they know there are individuals on the market who assume Amber Heard was telling the reality,” Breuer stated. “They’re going to watch out.”
Within the movie business, Depp was as soon as thought-about a dependable hit-maker greatest identified for enjoying boozy pirate Jack Sparrow within the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise. Lately, although, his industrial enchantment began to dip.
In the course of the trial, Depp testified that he misplaced “nothing lower than all the pieces” after Heard, whom he married in 2015 and divorced in 2017, printed an op-ed essay in 2018 calling herself a “public determine representing home abuse.”
Though the essay by no means talked about Depp by title, Depp’s attorneys stated it not directly referred to allegations Heard made in opposition to him throughout their 2016 divorce.
“What did it do to me? What impact did it have on me?” Depp stated throughout his testimony. “I’ll put it to you this fashion: Irrespective of the result of this trial, the second the allegations had been made in opposition to me … as soon as that occurred, I misplaced then.”
The jury unanimously discovered that Heard couldn’t substantiate her allegations in opposition to Depp and that she knew her claims of abuse had been false when she printed her 2018 essay.
The seven-person jury in Virginia’s Fairfax County Circuit Courtroom awarded Depp $15 million in damages in his lawsuit in opposition to Heard. Heard, who had countersued, was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages however $0 in punitive damages.
She had testified in graphic phrases about an alleged sexual assault in addition to numerous incidents of alleged bodily abuse. Depp denied all allegations of abuse.
The jury’s resolution represented a authorized vindication for Depp, who misplaced a libel case in the UK two years in the past over claims that he bodily abused Heard.
Depp sued the dad or mum firm that owns The Solar and the newspaper’s government editor for calling him a “spouse beater” in 2018. Justice Andrew Nicol dominated in opposition to Depp in 2020, saying the British tabloid had offered substantial proof to point out that Depp was violent in opposition to Heard on not less than 12 of 14 events.
Within the wake of that case, Depp was requested to resign from the “Harry Potter” movie franchise “Incredible Beasts.”
He has appeared in not less than 4 low-profile movie productions since he exited “Incredible Beasts,” amassing regular paychecks with out reaching the industrial riches of his “Pirates of the Caribbean” heyday within the 2000s or the vital esteem that accompanied tasks like “Ed Wooden” or “Donnie Brasco.”
Depp’s return to ‘stardom’ is feasible, some say
Depp may simply return to the limelight, some public relations specialists stated Wednesday following the jury’s ruling
“I feel he’ll return to Hollywood stardom,” stated David E. Johnson, the CEO of the Atlanta-based Strategic Imaginative and prescient PR Group.
“He gained within the courtroom of public opinion,” Johnson stated, referring to the groundswell of assist for Depp on social media platforms through the trial.
“I feel now we’ll see that Hollywood doesn’t see him as deadly, because it did a couple of years in the past,” Johnson stated. “I feel Hollywood will see him as somebody bankable.”
He gained within the courtroom of public opinion.
-David E. Johnson, CEO of Strategic Imaginative and prescient PR Group
Ryan McCormick, a co-founder of Goldman McCormick PR, a agency primarily based in New York, echoed that perspective, saying that whereas “the allegations had been very damaging, the decision was very robust in his favor.”
That can go a great distance to assist restore his popularity, he stated.
Mark Goldman, the opposite head of Goldman McCormick PR, stated the trial — televised throughout the U.S. for greater than a month and breathlessly chronicled on-line — conditioned common viewers to count on Depp on their screens, although the circumstances had been removed from entertaining.
“I feel lots of people did not get any work performed,” Goldman stated. “They had been watching this trial all day, on daily basis.”
What may occur ‘when the mud settles’
But different specialists felt much less assured that Depp may bounce again after weeks of relentless scrutiny on his non-public conduct and private habits, together with testimony about his misuse of alcohol and medicines, in addition to proof that confirmed him utilizing violent language about Heard in textual content messages.
Breuer, the CEO of Newsroom Public Relations, stated he anticipated that Depp will earn skilled “dividends” after the decision. However he stated Depp’s model may be too poisonous for a Disney franchise similar to “Pirates of the Caribbean” or a comparable corporate-owned film collection.
It is potential for Depp to aim a comeback in a extra off-the-beaten-path movie, Breuer stated, just like the 2011 movie “The Rum Diary,” a Hunter S. Thompson adaptation starring Depp and Heard.
Irrespective of the judgment of the Virginia jury or the assist of Depp’s followers, Breuer stated, there’ll at all times be a big selection of individuals — together with many ladies — who imagine he’s a home abuser and have little interest in watching him act in motion pictures.
“It isn’t only a matter of what this jury determined. If there are lots of people, and quite a lot of ladies, who watched this trial and imagine the jury obtained it unsuitable, then what are you able to do to vary that?” Breuer stated. “We have to see what occurs when the mud settles.”
Eden Gillott, the president of Gillott Communications, a disaster communications agency that represents companies, athletes and celebrities, stated that Depp appeared exhausted by the tip of the trial.
She questioned whether or not the actor even has curiosity in returning to the units of big-budget blockbusters.
“Is he going to wish to instantly bounce again?” Gillott requested rhetorically.
Depp’s profession plans are unclear. Nevertheless, he gave a shock musical efficiency at a live performance in the UK on Sunday evening because the Virginia jury ready to proceed deliberations this week.
In his assertion Wednesday, Depp stated he believes “the most effective is but to return and a brand new chapter has lastly begun.”
