Johnny Depp and Amber Heard: Could their careers survive trial?

CNN spoke with six entertainment industry experts for this story, some of whom spoke in the background to protect professional relationships.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect before he took the stand, and if anything, I think this did nothing but improve his public image,” the source said.

A major Hollywood publicist, who has not worked with either Depp or Heard, said that none of their pictures did. off well.

“They are both very dysfunctional,” said this journalist. “Money is poisonous and greed destroys. Nobody wins here.”

‘tolerant’ industry

Naturally, there are hurdles for both actors to overcome once their legal battle is over.

Heard testified that Depp was Verbal and physical abuse. Depp also accused sexual violence during their relationship.

Depp claimed multiple times on the platform that he has Never hit a womanHeard denied allegations of sexual assault and described himself as a Victim of domestic violence From Heard, which she denies.

Depp and Heard met in 2009 on the set of their movie “The Rum Diary” and were married from 2015-2016 before divorcing.

And so are the pictures Audio and video recordings He painted a picture of two people in a relationship with what Laurel Anderson, a clinical psychologist who worked with Depp and Heard in 2015 as a marriage counselor, called it in testimony shown on April 14. This trial was, the witness’s use of the same term stirred criticism.)

Entertainment Agent Daryl Marshak thinks movie studios may – at least, initially – be reluctant to engage with actors involved in a public controversy.

“Robert Downey Jr won an Oscar and then broadcast his personal work to the world and people were kind of relieved,” said Marshak, who has previously represented stars like Leonardo DiCaprio and Hilary Swank. “I think Hollywood is a strange place. When you fan your dirty laundry in front of the machine, the executives, all the people who make the parts move, they kind of wear a hot flame.”

Depp alleges that Heard’s 2018 op-ed describing herself as a “public figure representing domestic violence” defamed him. He has starred in two films since opening he hasn’t mentioned by name, “Waiting for the Barbarians” and “Minamata,” both of which are independent films.

heard from counter claims She was defamed by Depp’s lawyer who called her abuse allegations a “hoax,” and she will appear in the “Aquaman” sequel, set for release in 2023.

Marshak said he believes Depp’s “amazing talent” will help him return to the movie screens.

He said, “Hollywood is forgiving too, and as you move forward and this thing stops airing, Johnny can smoothly get back into the business world. I think he’ll make a comeback.” Hollywood is a fickle place.

The legal teams’ courtroom performance of Depp and Heard – a live-streamed trial watched by millions – may shape the industry’s perspective on the two stars.

Ruisi, founder and president AKR PR and AKR Venturesfor CNN.

Ruisi believed that Depp’s representatives were more effective.

“Mr. Depp’s legal and strategic communications team has done an amazing job of delivering a consistent message in the courtroom and throughout the media, which I believe has helped garner support from his fan base.”

Not that Depp’s supporters needed to be alerted. The scales of justice on social media are tilting sharply in his favour, to the point that the imbalance has led to it Titles you think The reason behind it. One writer on The Cut asked, “This is a woman who recounts, in haunting detail, how a very famous man abused her. Why, in 2022, so many people seem to hate her for that?”

Sociologist Nicole Pedera has advanced some theories – both And in an article about Harper’s Bazaar On why both domestic violence survivors and many women support Depp.

“It can be scary—and for victims, re-traumatic—for women to sympathize with a survivor of abuse. If violence really *is* everywhere and if it *feels* it can happen to anyone, a lot of women would start to worry about They will be next.” “So is it surprising that so many women come to Deb’s defense? Not at all.”

Heard had her supporters, but their votes were lower than Depp – both In the field of entertainment And the in and around court.

Heard’s former co-star David Krumholtz Actress Elaine Barkin has come forward to defend her publicly, and she has testified to her defense team and comedian Kathy Griffin In response to Heard’s pretrial tweet, “I’m thinking of you and sending all the love.”

For two working actors, the question once the court is adjourned is will producers send them scripts as reliably as spectators send tweets?

Franchise futures at risk?

The core of both Heard and Depp’s lawsuits lie in the allegations that their careers – and specifically their futures in their film franchises – have been negatively affected.

Over the past several weeks of testimony, Depp’s team has attempted to prove that Depp, who portrayed Jack Sparrow in five films, was dropped from a possible sixth film in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise due to Hurd’s editorial.

Johnny Depp in his book & quot; Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. & quot;

Jerry Bruckheimer Who produced the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, told The Times that “the future is not yet decided” regarding Depp’s participation in a possible next.

The producer said the creative team is “developing two ‘pirates’ scripts – one with potentially Margot Robbie leading and one without Robbie.”

The last movie of 2017 was “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”.

In a recorded statement to the court, Dib’s former agent Christian Carinowho began acting Depp in October 2016 and represented Depp and Heard at the same time, testified that he believed that the domestic violence charges Heard brought against Depp cost the actor a salary that would have been worth tens of millions of dollars.

And when Heard’s attorney pressed Carino about other issues Depp might have encountered while working on the previous “Pirates” films, he turned them down.

“I know he’s late but he’s been late for everything his whole life,” Carino said. “I think it’s annoying to everyone, but everyone has learned how to make a movie to deal with it.”

Other witnesses saw his behavior as more harmful.

Tracy Jacobs, from Witnessed In a recorded deposition and represented Depp for 30 years as a talented agent before his termination, she said as a witness that she was honest with Depp that showing up consistently late to groups and his behavior, including drug and alcohol abuse, were detrimental to his career.

Jacobs testified, “His star was diminished by the difficulty of him obtaining jobs due to the reputation he had gained for being late and other things.” People were talking and the question was about his behavior.”

The Hollywood director, who has not worked with Depp but met him, told CNN he doesn’t think Depp will lead another major franchise.

“I think Johnny Depp will be able to star in a lot of independent films because he still has a lot of value to the name and there is an audience for him, but studios will be more cautious because of the lockdown reasons and because of the possibility of the protections being turned off and they will be more concerned about the public backlash compared to the smaller independent companies. “.

When it comes to Heard, the director believes that the interest surrounding the trial hasn’t helped her image.

Currently, there is a petition to drop Heard from the upcoming “Aquaman” sequel, which has already been filmed and is in post-production. (CNN and Warner Bros. are both part of Warner Bros. Discovery.)

It probably won’t happen. But Walter HamadehThe head of DC Films, which produced “Aquaman,” testified that the creative team had concerns about Heard resuming her role in the franchise due to a lack of chemistry with co-star Jason Momoa.

He also said that the studio never planned to portray Heard as a lead partner in the second film and that Heard’s role was not cut back in the upcoming film, “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.”

Whatever decision the jury makes, Herald PR founder Juda Engelmayr, who has represented celebrities such as insult producer Harvey Weinstein, told CNN Depp’s time in court — which included a strange, meme moments Involving doodling and Jelly Beans – cemented his image.

“His testimony, whether true or not, has caused fans who missed him to come back,” he said. “For the sake of his reputation and career, studios consider that he still has a fan base,” he said.

As for Heard, whose career was less well established than Depp when their relationship and the nagging accusations began, it’s hard to say, according to sources.

Nearly a decade ago, before the drama with Depp came to light, Heard told Vanity Fair that she was on the ups and downs in her acting career.

“Do you think you would have followed him if you had known that he would be so walkable?” Heard asked in .

Heard replied, “Sure.” “I absolutely love the struggle you’re constantly going through…You’re always in a state of fight or flight. It’s a constant struggle. So I don’t know if I could have had it any other way.”

CNN’s Sonia Moggi contributed to this report.