Johnny Depp finally has the comeback he deserves

Despite the outcome of the US defamation trial, it’s indisputable that Depp’s texts were grotesquely offensive, and made light of the abuse of women

Poor, poor Johnny Depp. You know that he was cancelled, right? You know that his career and reputation were ruined by that harpy Amber Heard, who benefitted enormously from alleging to be a victim of domestic violence in her now infamous Washington Post op-ed?

Oh… sorry. No. I got it wrong. It was Heard whose career and reputation were ruined by last year’s trial, while Depp has since done a global victory tour greeted by rapturous applause and standing ovations wherever he goes.

The Cannes Film Festival is the most recent site of his public adoration. It’s not just the public who welcome him, either. Industry icons like Dior, Rihanna’s Savage Fenty X, MTV, and now the Cannes Film Festival have all shown their support for Depp by giving him coveted platforms to raise his already stratospheric profile.

You might think, what’s the problem? The jury found that Heard had indeed defamed Depp, so he’s innocent – why should he be cancelled for something he didn’t do? Why shouldn’t Heard be cancelled for lying?

First of all, the trial was about defamation and not about attributing guilt and innocence in relation to domestic violence. Secondly, Depp didn’t come out of the trial a saint no matter how much his online fan base has tried to sanitise his image. Those texts to Paul Bettany have been dismissed as nothings. It was a joke! It was silly old Johnny having a laugh with his mate. It was lovely Johnny being all dark and kooky like his Tim Burton characters. He didn’t mean anything by them. Heard, on the other hand, is a monster.

I think the fact that Depp’s jokes about the murder and rape of a woman have been so readily dismissed is significant. We dismiss them because the abuse of women is so easily ignored, undermined, or derided in our society. Depp manages to maintain his “sweet Johnny” persona in spite of his hateful words because the vulgar, disrespectful and obscene attitudes to women that were exposed during the trial mean nothing to us – we can accept that they’re jokes because we don’t take misogyny seriously.

I mean, look at Depp’s deal with Dior. He’s just got another $20 million contract for his stint as the face of their wildly popular fragrance Sauvage. Now, why oh why is it a good idea to sign up a bloke who’s been found to be a “wife-beater” in English civil court to front a campaign for a product called “Sauvage”?

Despite the outcome of the US defamation trial, it’s indisputable that, at the very least, Depp’s texts were grotesquely offensive, and made light of the abuse of women. So, why retain him as the face of the brand? Why would Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty brand benefit from Depp’s star cameo appearance at such a high-profile show? Well, we already know that sales of Dior Sauvage were boosted by the US defamation trial, and the inclusion of Depp in the Savage Fenty X show certainly didn’t harm Rihanna’s overall brand.

Nevertheless, I can’t speak for the intentions of decision-makers at Dior or Savage X Fenty, but I think you have to agree that there’s something off about the associations between Depp and the word “savage”.

You could argue that the word “sauvage” doesn’t translate directly in English. That it has a more nuanced meaning in French, that it means wild, natural and untamed. Fine. But again, the associations with brutality are still there. Same with Savage X, for which Depp wandered in a forest in his pyjamas.

He’s again put in a natural setting, perhaps to echo his Dior campaign. But while “savage” has come to be a positive term in popular culture, there’s no doubt of its double-meaning – especially for someone who’s been embroiled in high-profile legal battles about domestic abuse.

And now Cannes Film Festival has opened its loving arms to Mr Sauvage, kicking off with his latest film Jeanne du Barry. He got a seven-minute long standing ovation after the screening, too. Good for him. But what does it say about us?

That jokes about the murder and rape of women are all in good fun? Or does it say that we just don’t take the abuse of women seriously? What it does tell us is that, if you’re a rich, white, famous bloke, making light of the abuse of women won’t get you cancelled; in fact, it might even make you richer and more famous?

Johnny Depp might be celebrated on the red carpet, but we shouldn’t be celebrating our willingness to accept the associations between attractive masculinity and brutality as “natural”. Depp has shown that the “savage” nature of men isn’t just appealing, it’s lucrative – and that should never be applauded.