Johnny Depp spoke about his latestfilm , "Minamata ," in an interview with The Sunday Times.- Depp said he thinks
Hollywood is boycotting him because the film hasn't been released in the US. - Depp lost his libel case against tabloids that called him a "wife-beater" about allegations made by his ex,
Amber Heard .
Johnny Depp believes Hollywood is boycotting him because his film "Minamata" has yet to debut in the US.
While speaking to The Sunday Times' Jonathan Dean in an interview published Saturday, Depp opened about his latest film. The movie had an international premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February but has not yet been released for American audiences.
"We looked these people in the eyeballs and promised we would not be exploitative," Depp told The Sunday Times. "That the film would be respectful. I believe that we've kept our end of the bargain, but those who came in later should also maintain theirs."
Depp portrays war photographer W. Eugene Smith, who helped reveal the mercury poisoning of Japanese villagers in the 1970s.
"Some films touch people. And this affects those in Minamata and people who experience similar things. And for anything...For Hollywood's boycott of, erm, me? One man, one actor in an unpleasant and messy situation, over the last number of years?" Depp said, speaking with The Sunday Times.
Depp added that he's "moving towards where I need to go to make all that … To bring things to light."
In July, "Minamata" director Andrew Levitas accused MGM of "burying" Depp's film due to legal and "personal issues."
"Imagine the devastation when they learned this past week, that despite an already successful global roll out, MGM had decided to 'bury the film' (acquisitions head Mr. Sam Wollman's words) because MGM was concerned about the possibility that the personal issues of an actor in the film could reflect negatively upon them and that from MGM's perspective the victims and their families were secondary to this," Levitas wrote in a letter, according to Deadline.
An MGM representative responded that the "film was acquired for release via American International Pictures (AIP), a division of MGM which handles day-and-date releases. Minamata continues to be among future AIP releases and at this time, the film's US release date is TBA."
Representatives for Depp and MGM, respectively, did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.
In November 2020, Depp lost a libel case against the publisher of the British tabloid The Sun after a 2018 headline called him a "wife-beater." Depp's former wife, Amber Heard, accused him of physical abuse in 2016, and the two settled outside of court that year.
Four days after the loss, Depp announced that he had been "asked to resign" from his role as Grindewald in "Fantastic Beasts 3."
Experts said that Depp's career in Hollywood could be over after several years of legal problems and controversy.
"I predict his career may never recover," Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, told Insider's Zac Ntim. "Disney has lost interest in Depp for its 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise, and I can't imagine any other major studio wanting to work with him. He's going to be the next Harvey Weinstein."