A week after the announcement of the Donostia Award going to Johnny Depp at the San Sebastian Film Festival 2021 (and the controversy surrounding the decision), the actor is back in the headlines after granting his first interview since losing the libel suit against British tabloid The Sun.

Talking with The Sunday Times, Depp has referred to “Hollywood’s boycott of me,” assuring he has had “a surreal five years” since he was accused of physically and verbally abusing his ex-wife Amber Heard. The actor has always denied Heard’s allegations and has sued her for defamation over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in 2018, where she claimed to have suffered domestic violence by Depp.

Although this case will be tried in April next year, let us remember that, as we mentioned earlier, Depp already sued The Sun for libel last year (after the outlet described him as a “wife beater”), but he lost the trial once the court ruled that such accusation was “substantially true.”

At the moment, the actor cannot speak about the case or his relationship with Heard, but in this new interview he has revealed how this legal battle has affected his career, in the wake of the UK release of his new movie, Minamata, where he plays photographer W. Eugene Smith, who documented mercury poisoning in Japan in the early 1970s.

Depp has stated in the Times that his situation is “like getting scratched by a kitten” compared to what happened to those poisoning victims, or “people who suffered with COVID.” However, he has hinted that the film, which does not yet have a US release date, is not receiving the attention it deserves due to his personal life. Let us remember that the actor also had to leave the Fantastic Beasts saga after losing the libel suit.

Referring to the film he has just released, Depp has insisted that his current situation affects many people: “And for anything … for Hollywood’s boycott of me? One man, one actor in an unpleasant and messy situation, over the last number of years?” He has also stated that he is moving “towards where I need to go to make all that … to bring things to light.” In regard to his fall from grace, he adds that “whatever I’ve gone through, I’ve gone through. But, ultimately, this particular arena of my life has been so absurd.”

Depp wanted to thank in turn the support received from his fans: “They have always been my employers. They buy tickets, merchandise. They made all of those studios rich, but they forgot that a long time ago. I certainly haven’t.”

“I’m proud of these people, because of what they are trying to say, which is the truth. The truth they’re trying to get out since it doesn’t in more mainstream publications,” he continued: “It’s a long road that sometimes gets clunky. Sometimes just plain stupid. But they stayed on the ride with me and it’s for them I will fight. Always, to the end. Whatever it may be.”

Photo credit: Raymond Flotat