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On Wednesday night, Johnny Depp surprised guests on Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride by popping up in full Jack Sparrow regalia—and the press went wild! Cheeky headlines and exclamation points abounded: “Surprise! Johnny Depp appears as Jack Sparrow on Disney Ride” blared one; “Johnny Depp dressed up as Captain Jack Sparrow and surprised guests on the Pirates ride at Disneyland—as you do,” quipped another. The tone was casual, playful, and decidedly business as usual. And so it begins: Everyone is just going to pretend nothing ever happened with Johnny Depp.
Lest anyone forget (because I certainly can’t), the last time the world was watching and writing about Johnny Depp in a big way, he—surprise!—was being accused by his then-wife Amber Heard of physically and verbally abusing her throughout their 15-month marriage, including, according to her court filing, hitting her in the face with a cell phone, pulling her hair, and giving her a black eye. (An attorney for Depp responded to the abuse allegations by saying that Heard was accusing Depp of abuse only to secure a quick financial settlement in their divorce proceedings.) All of that was less than a year ago. Cut to Depp’s romp on the Pirates ride at Disneyland last night. (And cut to Heard being attacked on social media—called a liar, gold digger, and worse—over her rumored new romance with Elon Musk.)
Make no mistake, that was the start of his Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales promotion/personal redemption tour, and the hope is that everyone will employ selective memory loss, gloss over those domestic abuse allegations, move on, and continue to treat Depp with the reverence of the big fat movie star and rebel heartthrob that he has been for the past 30 years. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time a male star was given a pass. Just this past holiday season, the red carpet was rolled out for Mel Gibson as he was treated to softball comeback–themed interviews, including one on the Today show to promote Hacksaw Ridge. It was as if he hadn’t, just a few months prior, reached a plea deal in the domestic violence case filed against him by his ex, Oksana Grigorieva, who alleged that Gibson punched her in the head and face during an argument at Gibson’s home in Malibu in 2010. The very same Oscar season, a brooding Casey Affleck graced the cover of Variety—multiple sexual harassment allegations notwithstanding. (Conversely, the coverage of Birth of a Nation director Nate Parker’s 1999 rape allegations was largely considered to have had a hand in sinking his film; it seems looking the other way is a luxury afforded mostly to white men.)
Everyone loves a comeback, sure, but there’s a distinct difference between welcoming back Michael Keaton or Demi Moore (after her child-rearing break in Idaho), and pretending high-profile Hollywood men haven’t been accused of beating their wives or are under police investigation for committing a crime. It’s a concession repeatedly allowed to men, under the guise of “bad boys behaving badly,” and one that is seldom afforded to women. After all, the same Hollywood that’s now having a gas over Depp’s surprise visit to Disneyland a mere year after Heard’s abuse allegations has, for years, shunned Katherine Heigl (even relegating her to kitty litter commercial territory) for the sin of reportedly being “difficult” and “demanding.”
The sad part is that the breezy reaction to Depp’s surprise visit to Disneyland isn’t surprising at all, especially when you consider that the president of the United States was accused by multiple women of sexual assault and sexual harassment—and went on to win anyway, sending a bleak message to victims everywhere. There is absolutely nothing normal about domestic violence, and I for one won’t be pretending those allegations were never levied against Depp, or Gibson, and certainly not the leader of the free world. I won’t be seeing their movies, or clicking on the puff pieces about them, or otherwise buying into Depp’s redemption lap. Business as usual? I don’t think so.
