Johnny Depp’s former agent says “unprofessional behaviour” and “substance abuse” ruined actor’s career
Johnny Depp’s former agent – United Talent Agency’s Tracey Jacobs – has claimed that Amber Heard’s abuse didn’t hurt his career. That was the fault of the actor’s own “unprofessional behaviour”, substance abuse and lateness, all of which made Hollywood studios reluctant to cast him in later years, Jacobs argued during her testimony.
Jacobs said that while Depp was once the “biggest star in the world,” “his star had dimmed due to it getting harder to get him jobs given the reputation he had acquired due to his lateness and other things.” The talent agent said that, at one point, the actor began using an earpiece to have his lines spoken to him.
Jacobs added: “Crews don’t love sitting around for hours and hours waiting for the star of the movie to show up. It also got around town. People talk. It’s a small community. It made people reluctant to use him toward the end.” Jacobs added that word had spread about Depp’s alcohol and drug use as well.
This new testimony directly contradicts Depp’s central argument, which maintains that Heard’s Washington Post op-ed inspired a Hollywood boycott that destroyed his career, despite Heard not naming Depp as her abuser.
The actor was apparently fired from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise shortly after the column was published. According to his agent, Jack Whigham, Depp was set to receive $22.5 million for reprising the role of Captain Jack Sparrow in the next instalment of the film series. During her testimony, Jacobs clarified that Depp was paid a lump sum of $25 million for 2017’s Dead Men Tell No Tales, the last Pirates of The Caribbean film he was involved in.
Tina Newman – production executive for Disney – also contradicted Depp’s case during her testimony, arguing that Heard’s column played no role in the company’s decision to produce another Pirates of The Caribbean film. She cited emails between Disney executives Sean Bailey, Alan Horn and Alan Bergman that detail conversations with Depp about the subject on and off set.
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