Johnny Depp Is Teaming Up With Rihanna And People Are Furious
Johnny Depp will appear at Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Vol. 4 and people are angry that an alleged abuser is teaming with the pop star.
This article is more than 2 years old
Controversial film star Johnny Depp is set to appear at Rihanna’s upcoming Savage X Fenty Vol. 4 fashion show, to the fury of many on Twitter. According to TMZ, Johnny Depp will make one of his currently rare public appearances at Rihanna’s show and, while he will be wearing items from her fashion line, he will not be walking the runway. Instead, he will be appearing in something of a celebrity cameo, along with several others like models Cara Delevingne and Precious Lee, as well as several musical performances.
This will make Johnny Depp the first man to appear in this capacity at one of Rihanna’s opulent, highly acclaimed fashion shows; Savage X Fenty Vol. 4 will be aired on Amazon Prime Video on November 9 and will doubtlessly be covered by all major fashion publications. In part, this is what makes so many people angry online, as it is being viewed as giving visibility and tacit support to a celebrity who has been accused of domestic abuse by his former spouse Amber Heard. Many Twitter commentators are also outraged that Johnny Depp would be collaborating with Rihanna, who famously experienced violent domestic abuse from her former partner, musician Chris Brown.
As such, many people seem to feel there is a certain hypocrisy (or at the very least, a cognitive dissonance) in Johnny Depp working with Rihanna. While Depp was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood through the 1990s and 2000s, his career had an abrupt fall from grace after a number of legal issues and the allegations from Amber Heard. His most famous (and profitable) film franchise, the Pirates of the Caribbean, has been on hiatus since Dead Men Tell No Tails was released in 2017 and he was replaced by Mads Mikkelsen in the Fantastic Beast franchise, which seemed to indicate his career might be over.
However, the very public and dramatic defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard results in a verdict largely in his favor, and it seems to have paved the way for things like showing up at Rihanna’s fashion show. His acting career seems to be rejuvenated, with his first leading role in several years currently in production, while he has been performing and recording music with his friend and guitar legend Jeff Beck (although that has caused yet more legal issues). Additionally, Johnny Depp has now also moved into the world of fine art, which he seems to be immediately and staggeringly successful at.
Johnny Depp recently popped up at MTV’s VMA Award ceremony in a pre-recorded cameo (dressed as an astronaut), which was his most public appearance in quite some time. However, Johny Depp showing up at Rihanna’s fashion show, boosted by the global reach of Amazon Prime Video, will undoubtedly dwarf that. Most likely, this will make many of the people with negative opinions of Johnny Depp that much angrier, and possibly change their opinions of Rihanna as well.
We will update with any further developments or statements from either Johnny Depp or Rihanna’s representatives.
