Depp denied all the allegations against him, but Heard’s blow affected his career. Fewer and fewer directors were interested in giving him roles and his appearance in J.K Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts sequel, The Crimes of Grindelwald, was heavily criticized. He was even dropped from his iconic role as Captain Jack Sparrow in 2018.

Depp and Heard got engaged in 2014 and tied the knot a year later.

Depp then filed a $50-million defamation case against Heard and claimed he was the one suffering domestic abuse all along. “The op-ed [Heard’s article] depended on the central premise that Ms. Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr. Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her,” his defamation lawsuit read.

“She hit, punched, and kicked me. She also repeatedly and frequently threw objects into my body and head, including heavy bottles, soda cans, burning candles, television remote controls, and paint thinner cans, which severely injured me.”

Depp won the case, and after losing millions of dollars and a lot of time out of work, he’s finally back, to the delight of his millions of fans. Eventually, he returned to the big screen and was given a rousing seven-minute standing ovation at the opening night screening of Jeanne Du Barry at Cannes 2023. As he walked down the red carpet, fans screamed his name and a woman broke down in tears in order to gather his attention.