A petition on Change.org to bring Johnny Depp back to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise is receiving renewed attention and thousands of signatures amid his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard.
Titled “Justice for Johnny Depp,” the petition currently has more than 475,000 signatures as of Saturday. The organizer of the petition, Kimberly Giles, addressed Disney in the petition, saying that “Amber Heard ruined Johnny Depp’s life as well as career.” Depp played Captain Jack Sparrow, a pirate who serves as the main protagonist of the franchise.
Another petition demanding the actor return to the franchise has over 778,000 signatures as of Saturday. The petition details don’t mention the defamation trial, but some commenters on the page have referenced Heard and the legal battle between the former couple. Comments on the page date back four years.
Depp’s talent manager Jack Whigham testified earlier this month that Depp lost out on $22.5 million when the sixth “Pirates” movie was canceled following Heard’s allegations of abuse. Whigham said Heard’s 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post, in which she described herself as a victim of domestic abuse without naming Depp, had a “catastrophic” effect on the actor’s career.
Depp is suing Heard over the article, alleging that the actress verbally and physically abused him. Heard has denied the allegations and countersued, accusing Depp of physical and verbal abuse on numerous occasions throughout their relationship, which ended in 2016.
Depp was also “asked to resign” from his role in the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise in 2020 after losing a libel case against UK newspaper The Sun. A long-running petition to remove Heard from “Aquaman 2” also gained traction during the trial and has reached 3.7 million signatures as of Saturday.
