Johnny Depp fans are demanding an apology from Disney after the actor’s face reportedly appeared during a Pirates of the Caribbean light show at Disneyland Paris over the weekend.
Fresh from his court victory against ex-wife Amber Heard, Depp has been performing in concerts in the U.K. alongside musician Jeff Beck, and has seemingly been receiving warm welcomes after the blockbuster trial dominated news cycles for six weeks.
Depp, 58, is famous for playing Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but he was blacklisted from Hollywood when he was accused of domestic violence by Heard.
In April and May of this year, Heard and Depp were embroiled in a weeks-long trial after the actor sued his ex-wife for $50 million, accusing her of defaming him by writing an op-ed in The Washington Post in 2018 in which she said that she had been the victim of domestic violence.
Huge Fan Support
The trial ended with a jury finding that Heard had defamed Depp with actual malice. She was ordered to pay him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The punitive damages were reduced to $350,000, due to a Virginia law that caps them at that amount.
Depp has seen huge fan support throughout the trial and he has experienced something of a renaissance on social media.
Now a clip of a light show from a Disney park in Paris is starting to go viral for featuring his character, Captain Jack Sparrow, but fans say the media corporation should apologize for using Depp’s likeness.
“CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW SHINING ON THE DISNEYLAND PARIS CASTLE,” reads a tweet along with a video from Twitter user Elisa @deppressead.
The clip shows a Pirates of the Caribbean light show projected on to the main castle at a Disney park and has clocked up more than 300,000 views.
CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW SHINING ON THE DISNEYLAND PARIS CASTLE ?☠️ pic.twitter.com/PIJvv8oFAU
— Elisa (@deppressead) June 18, 2022
“It was tonight btw!” the poster wrote on June 18.
Another fan, blogger thejdcase, posted a similar clip on Instagram.
Meanwhile, one has also been posted to YouTube by Alicia Ke_reviews.
The clip has sparked a huge reaction from Depp fans who are insisting that Disney owes the actor an apology.
“Since #JohnnyDeppWon Disney needs to publicly apologize,” reads one tweet.
Since #JohnnyDeppWon Disney needs to publicly apologize. #DisneyShouldApologizeToJohnnyDepp https://t.co/u76Zhy3jSv
— ??Dark Platanero?? (@Andyblaze170) June 20, 2022
While another added: “@Disney a public apology would be better.”
Another tweeted: “HOW YOU USING THIS MANS NAME BUT REFUSE TO APOLOGIZE TO HIM????”
On Instagram, one comment reads: “this makes me emotional but they have to stop exploiting his image considering how they treated him.”
It is not clear if Depp’s likeness is a recent addition to the light show or if he has always been included in it.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, the fifth movie in the franchise, was released in 2017.
During the trial, Depp’s representative at Range Media Partners Jack Whigham, said in his testimony that Depp had lost about “$22.5 million” when he was removed from the Pirates 6 film.
The actor himself said during his testimony that he felt “betrayed” by Disney.
“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,” Depp said.
However, Depp’s former agent, Tracy Jacobs, testified that she believed the actor caused his own career to nosedive through his anger issues, drug use and consistent lateness on movie sets.
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