One year after the explosive defamation trial played out between ex-spouses Johnny Depp and Amber Heard—becoming a grotesque pop culture spectacle along the way—Depp is set to debut his comeback film Jeanne du Barry at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday evening.
Ahead of the premiere, supporters of Heard have launched a campaign online using the hashtag #CannesYouNot, calling out the festival and Depp, whom Heard accused of verbally and physically abusing her repeatedly throughout their marriage. A jury found both parties responsible for separate instances of defamation, but awarded Depp $15 million, with Heard winning a $2 million judgment.
“If you support Cannes you support predators,” journalist Eve Barlow posted on Instagram. “Cannes seem proud of their history supporting rapists and abusers.” One slide of her post features Depp alongside photos of other Hollywood men with various abuse allegations made against them, including Roman Polanski, Harvey Weinstein, Woody Allen, Gerard Depardieu, and Luc Besson.
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“We think it’s hypocritical for the Cannes Film Festival to have an anti-discrimination, anti-abuse policy, while opening the festival with a film starring Johnny Depp,” the operator of the Twitter account @LeaveHeardAlone told Variety. “The Depp v. Heard trial became the vehicle through which the backlash against the #MeToo movement went viral. Hollywood industries seem to be riding that backlash to return to the status quo.”
Also on Tuesday, Academy Award-winning actress Brie Larson, who is a Cannes juror this year and a historically outspoken advocate of Time’s Up, dodged a question about Depp during a press conference.
“You’re asking me that?” she responded when asked whether she’d attend the Jeanne du Barry world premiere. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand the correlation or why me specifically. You’ll see, I guess, if I will see it. And I don’t know how I’ll feel about it if I do.” (Depp’s film is not playing in competition at Cannes, and thus Larson, as a juror, is not required to see it.)
Another star who gave a similarly noncommittal response to the Depp debacle was Natalie Portman. When asked by Vanity Fair in May if she had an opinion on Cannes opening with the Depp movie, Portman responded, “I haven’t read much about that. But it can always be better. We will keep pushing for it to be better.”
