A Christmas miracle? How Ebenezer could revive Johnny Depp’s career

Detailed summary

Johnny Depp is a picture-perfect Scrooge. But is it enough to redeem his A-list status after nearly a decade mired by legal woes and domestic abuse allegations?

Eight years ago, Hollywood declared “bah humbug” on Johnny Depp, turning its back on the former A-list star who’d become embroiled in legal battles with his ex-wife Amber Heard. Now, tinsel town appears to be welcoming him back.

Depp says as much in the trailer of Ebenezer, Ti West’s A Christmas Carol adaptation that features the American actor in his first major Hollywood role in nearly a decade. “It’s good to be back,” Depp says as the miserly Scrooge. But, after eight years spent away from the spotlight following one of the most highly publicised trials in celebrity history, could Depp – and Hollywood – be jumping the gun?

“[Paramount] knows that there’s an audience there, willing and waiting for Depp’s return. Perhaps that outweighs any risk,” says Sarah Scales, a PhD candidate in the fields of celebrity studies and fan studies at Swinburne. “The only real risk is that it doesn’t succeed at the box office.”

Depp was one of the world’s most bankable stars throughout the ’90s and 2000s, best known for leading the remarkably popular Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as the eccentric Captain Jack Sparrow.

In 2016, Depp divorced Amber Heard, who accused him of domestic abuse. In 2020, Depp sued UK publication The Sun for calling him a “wife beater”. However, the UK High Court ruled the claim was “substantially true”, leading to his resignation from his role as Gellert Grindelwald in the third Fantastic Beasts film.

Two years later, Depp became embroiled in another highly publicised legal battle with Heard. He accused her of defaming him in a Washington Post article by referring to herself as a domestic abuse victim. A US jury ruled in favour of Depp, with Heard awarding the actor $US10.35 million in damages. It also found that one of Depp’s lawyers had defamed Heard, awarding her $US2 million. They settled their appeals shortly after.

Heard was trolled relentlessly online during the six-week court case. Videos under the hashtag #JusticeForJohnnyDepp – most of which…

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Opening of the article, excerpted from The Sydney Morning Herald. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.