One of the direct consequences of the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation trial was an increased attention on several petitions. Those included a petition to bring Johnny Depp back for more Pirates of the Caribbean, a petition to cut Amber Heard from Aquaman 2 (which we know is not happening, though Heard’s role was allegedly limited in the DC sequel), and a petition to bring “justice” to Johnny Depp. The latter still seems to be going strong in the weeks since the verdict came down in the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp trial, adding new signees day by day as it approaches a brand new goal.
According to the latest batch of signatures, the infamous “Justice for Johnny Depp” Change.org petition is nearing a new goal. Over 780,530 signatures have been amassed at the time of this writing and the benchmark is currently at 1 million. Of course, the goal of the petition – which is to get Depp back to “what he does best” also ties into some interesting information related to the actor’s career.
One of the few gigs that Depp kept during his lengthy legal battle with Amber Heard was being the face of Dior. After Johnny Depp won the lion’s share of the monetary amount rewarded in his suit countersuit with Heard, Dior signaled its continued support with a primetime TV statement. In the time since, Depp has lined up a reunion for his band Hollywood Vampires. He also headed to France to film his first movie role since his trial with Amber Heard.
While he is gaining some career momentum, some of his more high-profile roles are probably in the past. Depp himself hasn't seemed particularly interested in returning to Disney to play Captain Jack Sparrow. In addition, his role as Grindelwald has already moved on, signing Mads Mikkelsen to the role. The future of that franchise is also unclear, whereas Pirates is seemingly pursuing a new storyline and new actors.
But interest in Depp and Heard remains high. Of the varying petitions that saw traction during the defamation trial, the “Petition To Remove Amber Heard From Aquaman 2” has seen the most traction in recent weeks. It’s actually nearing the 5 million mark. At this point the signees aren’t churning out in droves like they were a few months ago, but it’s clear interest has not died down yet with several new signers adding to the tally during the time of this article's writing.
This is particularly true after Amber Heard’s legal team filed new paperwork in the last week to appeal the verdict from the Virginia-based trial based on several criteria. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as the appeal and the petitions continue to move forward.
