On Day 12 of the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard trial (May 2, 2022), talent agent Jack Whigham testified that a for Depp to star in Pirates of the Caribbean 6 was lost following the publication of Amber Heard's 2018 op-ed . Feature: The $22.5 Million "Pirates" Payout That Never Was
: Whigham testified that he had closed a deal with Disney executives and producer Jerry Bruckheimer in 2017 for Depp to receive $22.5 million for a sixth Pirates installment. On Day 12 of the Johnny Depp v
The centerpiece of Day 12 focused on the financial "catastrophe" following Heard’s 1,000-word Washington Post op-ed. Here are the key takeaways from the testimony: The centerpiece of Day 12 focused on the
: Heard’s legal team countered that Depp's reputation was already declining due to reports of "problematic behavior" on the set of the fifth Pirates film in 2017 and a 2018 UK tabloid article that labeled him a "wife-beater". : Whigham described the December 2018 article as
: Testimony revealed that after 2018, Depp was relegated to lower-paying independent features, with his standard $20 million–plus studio fee drying up.
: Whigham described the December 2018 article as "catastrophic" for Depp’s career, stating it was "impossible to get him a studio film" afterward.
: By early 2019, Whigham learned Disney was going in a "different direction," effectively ending Depp’s run as Captain Jack Sparrow.