Johnny Depp fans have expressed their anger after his Captain Jack Sparrow character appeared in an image at Disneyland despite Disney having appeared to cut ties with the actor.
Depp's former agent, Christian Carino of the Creative Arts Agency, suggested during Depp and Amber Heard's defamation trial that Disney had cut ties with Depp after he starred in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise due to allegations about him being abusive, which he denies.
Depp later said in the trial that he wouldn't return to the role of Jack Sparrow even if Disney came to him with $300 million, but footage shared online this weekend proves the company is continuing to utilise his character.
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See the video below:
In a videotaped deposition played during the trial, Carino said it was never explicitly stated by Disney that Depp was being dropped from Pirates franchise because of the accusations, but that it was 'understood'. Depp himself also suggested the company was 'trying to cut ties to be safe' after he was accused of abusing Heard.
After footage of Depp being included in the projection at Disneyland Paris went viral, his fans slammed the company and began to demand that Disney offer the actor an apology.
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"HOW YOU USING THIS MAN'S NAME BUT REFUSE TO APOLOGISE TO HIM????" one angry Twitter user wrote, while on Instagram another commented: "This makes me emotional but they have to stop exploiting his image considering how they treated him."
Jack Whigham, Depp's representative at Range Media Partners, said in his testimony in the trial that Depp lost out on a $22.5 million deal to star in the sixth instalment of Pirates of the Caribbean.
Depp said of the matter: "Having added much of myself, much of my own rewriting, the dialogue, the scenes, the jokes, I didn't quite understand how after that long relationship and quite a successful relationship with Disney that... suddenly I was guilty until proven innocent."
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In spite of Depp's claim that he wouldn't return to the franchise even for millions of dollars, a former Disney executive told People there was a chance Pirates of the Caribbean could be rebooted with 'Johnny as Capt. Jack back on board'.
"There is just too much potential box-office treasure for a beloved character deeply embedded in the Disney culture," they continued. "With [producer] Jerry Bruckheimer riding high on the massive success of Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick, there is huge appetite for bringing back bankable Hollywood stars in massively popular franchises."
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Topics: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, Celebrity, Disney
