Johnny Depp claims Australian politician Barnaby Joyce looks like he's 'inbred with a tomato'

The actor and government minister are trading blows once again

The bizarre feud between a Hollywood A-list actor and Australian government minister shows no sign of slowing down. Yes, Johnny Depp and Barnaby Joyce are at it again.

As many will remember, the feud began when Depp’s wife Amber Heard illegally brought in her Yorkshire terriers, Pistol and Boo, into Australia last year breaching the countries strict quarantine laws. Mr Joyce gave the couple 48 hours to “bugger off back to the United States” or threatened to have the dogs euthanised.

Discussing the ordeal with Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday, the host said “one guy”, Mr Joyce, seemed to make a “big deal” out of the situation, to which Depp responded by saying the Minister for Agriculture looked “somehow inbred with a tomato”.

“It’s not a criticism, I was a little worried… he might explode,” the actor said.

Mr Joyce, who is also Australia's Deputy Prime Minister, answered Depp’s metaphor by claiming he got inside the acclaimed actor’s head, likening himself to Hannibal Lecter, reports the BBC.

“I’m inside his head, I’m pulling strings and pulling little levers. Long after I’ve forgotten about Mr Depp, he’s remembering me. I’m turning into his Hannibal Lecter," he said.

This not the first time the pair have traded blows. In September, last year Depp referred to Mr Joyce as the “sweaty, big-gutted man from Australia”.

Charges were dropped against Heard in April after she pled guilty to making a false statement on her immigration card concerning the dogs. She received a one-month good behaviour bond and she and Depp released an official apology video on a government website’s Youtube channel.

The awkward “hostage” video was roundly mocked, mimicked and shared, even by Mr Joyce, who said Depp looked like “he was auditioning for the Godfather” but concluded it wasn’t Academy Award worthy.

Depp and Kimmel also mocked the video when the former appeared on the show, with the host asking endless questions about one of Depp’s “greatest performances yet”.

Explaining the video, Depp said: “When someone threatens to euthanise your dog… tiny teacup things, clearly dangerous in Australia because of so many poisonous creatures in Australia you could die at any minute. So the dogs were obviously a problem.”

Depp said a “genius” was behind the script and it was filmed on an iPhone but there were a couple of takes first because “sometimes you have to giggle a little to get it out”.

Asked whether it’s ok for Depp and Heard to go back to Australia to visit, the 52-year-old sarcastically said he had repented.

“I think the choice they made to utilise taxpayers’ dollars to globally chase down a couple of teacup yorkies and give them 50 hours to live… I realised the badness of my ways, I was kind of repenting.”