Johnny Depp was to receive US$22.5mil for 'Pirates 6', says agent

Actor Johnny Depp, left, and his attorney Camille Vasquez appear in the courtroom at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Va., Tuesday, April 26, 2022. Actor Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife actress Amber Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court after she wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington Post in 2018 referring to herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse." (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP)

Johnny Depp's agent testified on Monday (May 2) that Depp was to receive US$22.5mil (RM97.95mil) to star in the sixth Pirates of the Caribbean film, but Disney decided to go "in a different direction" after Amber Heard published an op-ed reviving her domestic abuse allegations.

Jack Whigham, who represented Depp at Creative Artists Agency and later at Range Media Partners, testified that the December 2018 piece in the Washington Post had a "catastrophic" impact on Depp's career.