Appearing at the Cannes Film Festival the day after premiering his first film in three years, Johnny Depp said Wednesday that he has “no further need” for Hollywood. Johnny made a rare public appearance to face questions from the press following the opening-night premiere of Jeanne du Barry, in which he plays King Louis XV. The French film, directed by and starring Maïwenn and featuring a French-speaking Johnny, is the actor's first film since a jury last year largely sided with him in his legal battle with his ex-wife, Amber Heard.
Part of Johnny's argument in that 2022 defamation trial was that he had lost work due to Amber's allegations. She was ordered to pay Johnny $10 million in damages, vindicating his allegations that she lied about him abusing her before and during their brief marriage. Amber was also awarded $2 million.
“Did I feel boycotted by Hollywood? You’d have to not have a pulse to feel like, ‘No. None of this is happening. It’s a weird joke,’” Johnny told reporters. “When you’re asked to resign from a film you’re doing because of something that is merely a function of vowels and consonants floating in the air, yes, you feel boycotted.”
Johnny was most notably asked to step down from the Harry Potter spin-off franchise Fantastic Beasts. Now, though, he says he's not interested in returning to studio projects. “I don’t feel boycotted by Hollywood, because I don’t think about Hollywood. I don't have much further need for Hollywood, myself,” he said. “It’s a strange, funny time where everybody would love to be able to be themselves, but they can’t. They must fall in line with the person in front of them. If you want to live that life, I wish you the best.”
Jeanne du Barry opened Tuesday in French cinemas. It doesn’t have US distribution as of yet. The press conference for the film was among the most circus-like in recent years at Cannes. The press conference began unusually late and started with Maïwenn and other cast members there, but no Johnny. He arrived about 20 minutes in, and quickly took the spotlight.
Johnny called the majority of what's been written about him in recent years “fantastically, horrifically written fiction.” “It’s like asking the question: ‘How are you doing?’ But the subtext is, 'God, I hate you,'” said Johnny.