Johnny Depp slips into Jack Sparrow character for fans outside courthouse: ‘He’s still around somewhere’

Court hears testimony from Amber Heard’s makeup artist who says she concealed injuries on Heard’s face

A video shows Johnny Depp channelling Captain Jack Sparrow while leaving court on Wednesday (18 May) for fans screaming that they missed his Pirates of the Carribbean character.

The fan-made video was posted to Twitter on Wednesday after the day’s proceedings had concluded in the trial for the multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit Depp filed against ex-wife Amber Heard.

Depp is suing Heard for $50m for allegedly implying he abused her in a 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post. The Hollywood star claims the article has impacted his ability to land acting roles.

Heard is countersuing Depp, whom she married in 2015 and filed for divorce from the following year, for $100m for nuisance. She’s also seeking immunity from Depp’s allegations of defamation.

The court heard testimony from Heard’s former make-up artist Melanie Inglessis on Wednesday. Inglessis, who also gave evidence in Depp’s UK libel suit against The Sun newspaper, told the jury she had concealed injuries on Heard’s face before her appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

Heard’s sister Whitney Henriquez also testified on behalf of the Aquaman actor the same day. She spoke about an incident where her former brother-in-law allegedly struck her in the back, hurled a Red Bull can at a friend, grabbed Heard by the hair and hit her before trashing Heard’s closet.

The video showed fans gathered outside the Fairfax County circuit court in Virginia to cheer for the actor. As he is leaving in his car, one supporter exclaimed: “You’ll always be Captain Jack Sparrow!”

“He’s still around somewhere,” Depp replied, in his character’s slurred British accent. “I see him now and again.”

“He shows up now and again,” Depp added, waving and smiling from his SUV.

Depp, who played the swashbuckling lead of the Pirates of the Carribbean franchise for five movies, was officially dropped from the planned reboot in 2018 – days after Heard’s op-ed was published.

“Captain Jack Sparrow was a character that I had built from the ground up, and was something that I put a lot of… you put a lot of yourself into characters,” Depp said during his own testimony in the defamation lawsuit last month.

On Thursday (19 May), before court proceedings began for the day, Depp greeted cheering supporters outside the courtroom and commented he had made “breakfast for all of them”.

“Waffles,” Mr Depp quipped, when he was asked what he had prepared.

Fans have pointed out the actor was joking, indicating he made the comment when asked about the crowd outside the courthouse.

Supporters of Depp have also been filmed booing Ms Heard and chasing her legal team’s cars as they entered and left court each day.

The final week of testimony in the high-profile lawsuit will resume on Monday (23 May).

Jury trials in Virginia run Monday through Thursday, though an exception is being made by Judge Azcarate for closing arguments which are scheduled for Friday (27 May).

Follow live updates of the trial here.