Johnny Depp fans are outraged that Disney used images of the actor's face during a "Pirates of the Caribbean" light show at Disneyland Paris over the weekend.
Depp is well known for his portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise but he was removed after ex-wife Amber Heard wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post in 2018 saying she was a victim of domestic violence.
Depp sued Heard for $50 million, accusing her of defaming him by writing the op-ed, and earlier this month she was ordered to pay Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. Depp fans have supported the star throughout the trial and are now speaking out against Disney after videos surfaced showing a light show from a Disney park in Paris featuring his character, Captain Jack Sparrow.
"@Disney why yalll still profiting off JD even though yall dropped him before he was even convicted of anything!" a Twitter user wondered after viewing the clip that shows Captain Jack Sparrow's face projected onto the main castle at the park.
"You'd think they get depp's permission to do that. They sacked him," another Twitter user wrote.
"If #Disney have a problem with #JohnnyDepp why they keep profiting from Jack Sparrow character?" another stated.
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales," the fifth movie in the franchise, was released in 2017, according to Newsweek. Depp was removed from the sixth installment — a move that resulted in Depp losing about $22.5 million, according to his representative at Range Media Partners, Jack Whigham, who made the revelation during the trial.
In his own testimony, Depp said he felt "betrayed" by Disney, Newsweek reported.
"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.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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