Johnny Depp "Downfall" Begins, Public Turns Against Unwell Actor - Inside the Magic

It’s been a rocky few months for Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp.

The actor is used to the highs and lows of life in the spotlight. His career began in 1984 with A Nightmare on Elm Street. It skyrocketed years later as he partnered with Tim Burton for Edward Scissorhands (1990), Ed Wood (1994), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007). Of course, Depp is perhaps best known for portraying Captain Jack Sparrow in Walt Disney Studios’ Pirates of the Caribbean film series, which he starred in from 2003 through 2017.

Disney shocked millions of fans last year when it was officially revealed that Johnny Depp would no longer play the rabble-rousing pirate. The news came after the actor lost a libel lawsuit against The UK Sun, in which a British judge affirmed the newspaper’s right to call him a “wife beater.” He later won a United States defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife, Amber Heard. The Aquaman (2018) star published an Op-Ed in The Washington Post in which she called herself a victim of domestic abuse, which Depp claimed impacted his career.

Millions watched the weeks-long legal battle. The public overwhelmingly stood with Depp, accusing Heard of lying and even being the abuser herself. But in the last few months, high-profile abuse experts and others have questioned the verdict and subsequent harassment directed at the actress. Many have focused on the accusations of “Mutual Abuse,” which domestic violence experts say doesn’t exist. In other words, it’s not abuse when a victim defends themselves against their abuser.

Amid a health scare that impacted Depp’s European music tour, public opinion continues to turn on Depp. Ronan Farrow, a journalist best known for a 2017 exposé on convicted serial rapist Harvey Weinstein that kicked off the #MeToo movement, recently followed Amber Heard on Instagram. Many Heard supporters are hopeful that Farrow could reveal what they believe is the truth about the pair’s relationship.

“Who’s joining me in the Johnny Depp downfall party?” Reddit user u/Over_Nebula asked, receiving thousands of votes of support and positive replies.

“I would like to see him do a complete expose of Johnny Depp – not just the Amber Heard stuff,” said u/sunnyzombie. “JD has been a monster for a long time.”

(The legal battles against Heard weren’t Depp’s first time in the courtroom. In 2022, the Fantastic Beasts star settled with a former crew member who accused him of assault.)

“I want Ronan to not just hold him accountable, but all the media that piled on her without due diligence, who created a false narrative and endangered her (and other DV victims) in the process,” u/Sohla_Deckerstar29 wrote. “This whole thing exacerbated issues surrounding victim blaming and allowed the perpetrators of abuse to further cause harm to their victims. Scum the lot of them!”

Do you stand with Johnny Depp? Share your thoughts with Inside the Magic in the comments.