Johnny Depp's agent has claimed that the actor was lined up to receive a whopping $22.5 million for starring in the sixth Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
The star was dropped from the franchise by Disney in 2018 after his ex-wife Amber Heard claimed to be a survivor of domestic abuse in an op-ed for The Washington Post.
Depp and Heard are currently embroiled in an explosive defamation trial, in which he is suing her for $50 million and claiming that he only lost out on high-paying projects like Pirates 6 because of her allegations. The 58-year-old actor also maintains that it was he and not his former wife who was the true victim in their volatile marriage.
Yesterday, Depp's longtime agent Jack Whighman testified about the "catastrophic" impact Heard's op-ed had on Depp's career.
Whighman - who represented the actor at Creative Artists Agency and later at Range Media Partners - told jurors: "After the op-ed, it was impossible to get him a studio film."
First, the agent outlined the actor's earnings over the few years prior to the op-ed being published, claiming that Depp earned $8 million for City of Lies, $10 million for Murder on the Orient Express, and $13.5 million for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
However, in 2018, Whigham claimed that the op-ed brought his career to a halt, saying per The Independent: "It became a death-knell catastrophic thing for Mr. Depp in the Hollywood community."
Then, in early 2019, Whigham says he realized that Depp would be dropped from the sixth Pirates film - despite having starred in all five previous movies as the beloved protagonist Captain Jack Sparrow - and despite being lined up to receive $22.5 million for the project.
"It became clear [Disney] were going in a different direction," he said, adding: "It became clear to me in early 2019 that it was over.”
During his testimony, Depp told the court that even if Disney were to approach him about rejoining the franchise he would not reconsider.
"Having added much of myself, much of my own rewriting, the dialogue, the scenes, the jokes, I didn't quite understand how after that long relationship and quite a successful relationship with Disney that… suddenly I was guilty until proven innocent," he told the court.
The actor was adamant, saying that even if the studio offered him "$300 million and a million alpacas," there was nothing on earth that could convince him to work with them again on the franchise.
