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Credit: Inside the MagicWednesday star Jenna Ortega has come out publically on the rumor that she is dating her fellow Tim Burton collaborator Johnny Depp, and she is not holding back.
Rumors have been swirling that Jenna Ortega has been spotted with Johnny Depp, which gave birth to further rumor that the 20-year-old Scream star was dating the 60-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean star. The notion that Ortega and Depp were in a romantic relationship was first posited on Reddit and further bolstered by (now defunct) reports that Depp would appear alongside the actress in the upcoming Beetlejuice 2.
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Jenna Ortega’s Response on Johnny Depp
However, Jenna Ortega has been quick to firmly shut down any idea that she is dating Johnny Depp. The actress took to her Instagram, where she posted a screenshot of an article claiming she was dating the former Fantastic Beasts and wrote, “This is so ridiculous I can’t even laugh. I have never met or worked with Johnny Depp in my life. Please stop spreading lies and leave us alone.”
To add a little more emphasis to the already firm statement, Jenna Ortega also added a facepalm emoji and #fakenews, which seems pretty definitive.
Johnny Depp’s Response
Johnny Depp did not directly respond to the rumor, but his representatives issued a blunt statement debunking the claims, which read, “Mr. Depp has no personal or professional relationship with Ms. Ortega whatsoever. He has never met her or spoken to her. He is not involved in any project with her, nor does he intend to be. He is appalled by these baseless and malicious rumors that are intended to harm his reputation and career.”
The statement does not state exactly how the rumor were intended to harm his reputation and career, but it cannot be denied that the optics of the Sleepy Hollow (1999) star dating a person forty years younger than him are probably not great, particularly in light of his very public former relationships.
Jenna Ortega, Johnny Depp, and Tim Burton
Both Jenna Ortega and Johnny Depp are noted for working with filmmaker Tim Burton, which likely prompted some of the speculation.
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Johnny Depp has starred in eight Tim Burton movies throughout his career, beginning with Edward Scissorhands (1990). For decades, the former Disney star was generally considered Burton’s go-to leading man, but has not worked with the director since the critical and commercial bomb Dark Shadows (2012).
Jenna Ortega is a comparative newcomer to Tim Burton’s stable and recently starred in the Netflix Addams Family series Wednesday as the eponymous Wednesday Addams, produced and partly directed by the filmmaker. She will also appear in the long-in-development Beetlejuice 2 as the daughter of original star Winona Ryder (notably, Johnny Depp’s former fiance) alongside Michael Keaton, Justin Theroux, and Catherine O’Hara.
What do you think of the Jenna Ortega-Johnny Depp rumors? Let us know in the comments below!