Johnny Depp is reportedly being wooed to become a cultural ambassador for Saudi Arabia
An in-depth Vanity Fair report reveals that the disgraced actor is now "weighing a seven-figure annual contract to promote Saudi Arabia’s cultural renaissance.”
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Johnny Depp; Mohammed bin Salman Photo: Tim P. Whitby; Leon Neal
Johnny Depp is a gross dude. In case everything that came out during the Amber Heard trial didn’t totally persuade you, a new, in-depth report from Vanity Fair on his “epic bromance” with Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (known as MBS) should. The report is very long and there’s a lot to chew on, but here are some of the salient points:
- Depp met MBS after Saudi Arabia poured millions into his 2023 film, Jeanne du Barry, as a part of the country’s initiative to fund the arts and subsequently court A-list stars to further raise its cultural capital. The final budget of the film came out to $22.4 million. (The film went on to earn only $13.7 million at the international box office.)
- After flying to Jeddah for the 2022 Red Sea Film Festival, Depp and MBS “hit it off instantly.” He has since spent multiple months traversing the country with the crown prince, including visits to his royal camp in the mountains (complete with trained falcons, luxury tents, and outdoor kitchens with dozens of staff) and his 439-foot yacht “Serene,” one of the largest in the world. Depp always brings his guitar to the yacht and once gifted MBS a painting that he made.
- The two both know “how it felt to suddenly go from golden boy to outcast”—Depp because he’s been blacklisted from many circles in Hollywood and MBS because of his ties to the horrifying murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi operatives in 2018.
- Depp was at first “somewhat naive” to the politics and controversies of the region, but has since been completely swept up. “I’ve… experienced firsthand the cultural revolution that is happening there—from emerging young storytellers radiating fresh ideas and works of art to a blossoming film infrastructure and a newfound curiosity for innovation,” the actor said in a statement. “I’ve had the opportunity to meet people from various parts of the region who have been most welcoming in sharing with me their culture, their traditions, and their stories.”
- Depp also knows about Khashoggi’s murder—enough to ask his friend what really happened—but seemingly doesn’t care. When confronted, MBS reportedly took the same line he’s continually taken in public statements: that he didn’t order the hit on the journalist (who was extremely critical of his leadership), but is still ultimately responsible since the assassination happened under his jurisdiction.
- Depp is reportedly now in talks with the Saudi government for an annual, seven-figure deal in which he would shoot films and attend events in the country, in order to “secure Depp’s assistance in putting Saudi Arabia on the cultural map.”
- Despite all this, Depp still says that he “values the friendship for what it is and doesn’t want anything in return.”
There’s a lot more detail on this, er, interesting development in the full piece, which is absolutely worth a closer read. You can find it here.
63 Comments
Aren’t there a bunch of stars who get paid to pal around with dictators, but they try to keep it on the down lo?
They certainly perform privately for them; not sure about the “paid to pal around” aspect though.
The private performing is still bad but understandable. There are some people who just like hanging out with Putin, though. Or they used to.
Quite a few pal’d around with dictators. Rodman and Kim Jong. Depardieu and Segal with Putin. Sting and Assad. Akron and Museveni. Looks like the Saudis want to get in on the act.
Don’t forget Kid Rock and Trump.
Hillary Swank with Ramzan Kadyrov as well.
I don’t think Steven Seagal is being paid.
Chances are he’s paying them.
The members of KISS talk about performing for a Russian oligarch in their respective bios. According to them, everyone who wasn’t a guest had a gun.
Paul Stanley can’t understand gender affirming care for trans people.
I read his book. Paul Stanley can’t understand anything beyond Paul Stanley.
he has a tin ear. literally.
There was a documentary about that a year or two ago starring Nick Cage!
Can’t Andy Dick get in on this?
Johnny Depp can do for Saudi Arabia what Dennis Rodman did for North Korea: make it look even stupider
Considering Depp’s ability to get into trouble via frittering away his earnings, this could get really weird. Like Elmore Leonard meets Tom Clancy weird.
I hear that they were not happy with the fact that Johnny drank thousands of dollars of wine a month but they bonded over their hatred of women.
lol you’re lowballing your estimate on the wine consumption.
I work at at weed dispensary (Canada eh!) and we serve a lot of homeless clients and round up their nickels or whatever and trade them for bills. I served a dude who clearly had mental health instability last night. And he was eager to tell me that A). he ADORES Johnny Depp and B). he absolutely hates women.
As a childhood Pirates fan…. woof. I’m glad I’m not on the other line of the sand now.
That’s really harsh. They don’t hate women, as long as women remember their place.
If Depp turns it down there’s always Kevin Spacey!
Not another word against The Teflon Kaiser!/s or is it s/? I’m not sure, please just know this is sarcastic.
Well, Dennis Rodman did wonderful PR work for Kim Jong Un. I can’t see how this would hurt the Saudi’s.
In response, Qatar reached out to Amber Heard.
that should go well for them.
?? Amber Heard was found to have lied WITH malice. She lied a jury found she lied. She lost the case, Emma do better this was gross you’re gross. Men can be victims too.
kill yourself
They can but Depp ain’t one
Sometimes you have to double check you are not on the onion’s website.
I mean, this makes perfect sense. A guy who wildly mistreats women but is loved by hardcore franchise fans and a country that wildly mistreats women but is loved by hardcore franchise fans.
Is the second “franchise” “driving”?
Be the cultural ambassador for Saudi Arabia, the completely degenerate kingdom that provided the 9/11 hijackers and has a propensity for murdering journalists and chopping up their bodies while utterly getting away with it? What a gig! I hope Depp “loves” his new job of being a douche attempting to clean up their well earned scum image.
“Depp always brings his guitar to the yacht”Pardon me while I throw up in my mouth a bit
Palling around with a murderer aside, that’s an eye rolling moment if there ever was one…
It seems like a genuine celebrity brag move. When I worked a low budget film starring Bruce Greenwood, like, every day he brought his guitar to set to “serande” us “normies”. Have you seen Depp’s sweaters? Why are you surprised at this?
I can’t watch a man sing a song. They get all emotional , they sway. It’s embarrassing.
Man, I would give anything to be serenaded by Bruce Greenwood.
Yeah, that sounds like it should be a lyric in Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain.”
It seems he wildly misinterpreted that scene in “Barbie”.
What, I bring my guitar to parties. It’s fun. Beats having to talk to people.
Playing guitar is one surefire way to keep people from talking to you at parties, and also to make sure you’re not invited back.
That’s your truth.
“Hey Johnny. If you join us, you can run your next wife over with a gold plated Mercedes when she talks back. No courts needed!” – MBS
What could go wrong?
What could go right?
Are you the guy from the George Takei phony phone call?
You forgot one very important thing, mate. He’s Captain Jack Sparrow.
“values the friendship for what it is and doesn’t want anything in return.” That works out great then. He can venmo me the 7 figures and pal around with whover he wants.
I’ll pretend to be Depp’s friend for a year for $1M.
you better make it convincing!
For 2 million I would not even pretend.
“I was a bad and abusive husband and he had a journalist dismembered. We get each other!”
But how will he juggle his responsibilities as an ambassador for incels?
“trained falcons” killed me lmao
Doesn’t seem like “Abusive Alcoholic Mummy” would fit Saudi Arabia’s cultural mores, but they do love pieces of shit, so I guess it’s a tossup.
You may not be aware of this but all those terrible laws in Saudi Arabia that are used to oppress people. Those only really apply to the commoners. Its an open secret that the Royal families are hedonistic hypocrites.
I am, in fact, aware of this. Nonetheless, one would think that a cultural ambassador would reflect the image that the Royal Family wants to project, rather than holding a mirror up to their own, shitty behavior.
Anyway, thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain the joke.
“you never go full steven segal”- Robert downey jr, probably
Johnny should be spending his time more productively by lobbying to play Turner D. Century in the next Sony not-Spider-Man mega-blockbuster.
Johnny Depp is reportedly being wooed
“We heard you like to weaponize misogyny and we want in.”