Depp’s fans were outraged at the park’s decision
Johnny Depp fans have asked for an official apology from Disney as his face was used during a Pirates of Caribbean light show over the weekend at Disneyland Paris.
Depp, famous for playing Captain Jack Sparrow in the popular Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, was accused of abusing his ex, Amber Heard, in the pair’s recent, high-profile defamation trial.
The actor, 59, sued his former spouse Heard, 36, for defamation following an opinion piece that she wrote for The Washington Post in 2018 on the subject of domestic abuse. While not specifically named in Heard’s article, Depp’s lawyers argued that its publication resulted in Depp losing work.
Soon after Heard made the allegations, Disney dumped Depp from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, with the star commenting: “ I didn’t quite understand how after that long and quite successful relationship with Disney, that suddenly I was guilty until proven innocent.”
The televised trial came to an end earlier this month, with a jury ruling largely in Depp’s favour and awarding him around $8.35m in damages to be paid by Heard.
With the trial over, Depp has since been spotted performing concerts in the UK alongside musician, Jeff Beck, and has seemingly been welcomed back with open arms by fans. During the trial thousands of Depp fans supported him throughout social media.
The clip of this weekend’s light show at Disneyland reportedly featured Depp in the role of Captain Jack Sparrow and has since gone viral, with fans pointing out the hypocrisy of Disney’s decision to feature a star with whom they’ve previously cut ties.
A tweet containing a video clip from a user named Elisa @depprressead has hit 300,000 views and shows the Pirates of the Caribbean light show being reflected on the main Disneyland castle. Her tweet reads, “ CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW ON THE DISNEYLAND PARIS CASTLE.”
CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW SHINING ON THE DISNEYLAND PARIS CASTLE 🏴☠️ pic.twitter.com/PIJvv8oFAU
— E L I S A 🇫🇷🥖 (@deppressead) June 18, 2022
The tweet has outraged fans, with one tweet reading, “ Since #JohnnyDeppWon Disney needs to publicly apologise.”
Another tweet read, “ HOW YOU USING THIS MANS NAME BUT REFUSE TO APOLOGISE TO HIM????”
Depp also claimed that despite removing him from the movie, Disney still wanted to make profit from his character. As he said during the trial: “They didn’t remove my character from the rides. They didn’t stop selling Captain Sparrow dolls. They didn’t stop selling anything. They just didn’t want there to be something trailing behind me they’d find.”
It is unclear as to whether the role of Captain Jack Sparrow has always been used in DisneyLand Paris light shows.
Related Links:
- Juror from Heard versus Depp case says they didn’t believe Heard’s ‘crocodile tears’
- Amber Heard claims never before seen text messages prove physical abuse
- Amber Heard challenges Johnny Depp to do interview after he commented on hers
