After Court Ruling, Is Johnny Depp Out of ‘Pirates’ Permanently?

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Credit: Disney

Actor Johnny Depp — and his fans, for that matter — have had a tumultuous time as of late. In November of last year, the 57-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean star lost his lengthy libel lawsuit against U.K. News Group newspaper publication, The Sun.

Johnny Depp in Pirates
Credit: Disney

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The situation began when The Sun published a 2018 report that Depp had abused his ex-wife Amber Heard on multiple occasions throughout their relationship. The actress has since claimed that Depp held her “hostage” during a Pirates of the Caribbean film shoot in Australia, among other domestic abuse allegations.

Depp and his camp, however, have denied the domestic violence claims from the start. Two of Depp’s exes, Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis, even leaped to his defense at various points throughout the libel trial against the British tabloid.

However, once Depp lost the High Court case last fall, his denial of the accusations fell on deaf ears in regard to employment.

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Credit: D23

Related: Johnny Depp’s ‘Pirates’ Considered “Doomed to Fail”

The actor was fired from two major roles — Captain Jack Sparrow in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and Gellert Grindelwald in Warner Bros. Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts series.

Margot Robbie is now set to appear in the reported Pirates of the Caribbean 6 film, while Mads Mikkelsen has taken over the role of Grindelwald for Fantastic Beasts 3.

Disney fans, in particular, railed against the decision to let Depp go, with a petition for the actor to reprise his role as Jack Sparrow reaching over 500,000 signatures.

depp sparrow
Credit: Disney

Related: Should Disney Parks Remove Depp From Pirates? Guests Speak Out

Disney previously indicated that they might consider recasting Depp in the iconic pirate role if he were to win a retrial or appeal.

Today, however, it was ruled that the Hollywood actor cannot appeal the decision made by Justice Andrew Nicol, who oversaw Depp’s libel suit proceedings. Per The Guardian’s report:

The actor asked the court of appeal to grant permission for him to challenge the ruling, with the aim of having its findings overturned and a retrial ordered. However, following a hearing last week, on Thursday the court refused Depp permission to appeal.

This likely means that hope for Depp’s coming to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is dimming since Walt Disney Studios indicated that a retrial win was the only way they would consider Captain Jack Sparrow’s return. At the time of this article’s publication, there have not been any updates regarding whether Depp can reprise his role as Sparrow in the future.

Depp isn’t the only celebrity to recently be fired by a studio under the Walt Disney Company banner. Lucasfilm let Star Wars The Mandalorian actress Gina Carano go earlier this year following months of online controversy.

What do you think? Should Johnny Depp be allowed to appeal his libel case and possibly return to Pirates of the Caribbean?

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