The opening ceremony of the 76th Cannes International Film Festival (FF) officially took place with the release of Jeanne Du Barry.
International media was stirred up by the participation of Johnny Depp, but this time, the actor caused a lot of controversy.
Specifically, Amber Heard supporters used the hashtag #CannesYouNot to protest the fact that this festival invited Johnny Depp to a major entertainment event while the actor had too many scandals, especially with the most noisy lawsuit in Hollywood with his ex-wife in 2022. Among the opponents was famous journalist Eva Barlow.
Eva Barlow posted a message, using a protest hashtag to express her anger.
Meanwhile, Rebecca - one of the leaders of the online response campaign, had an interview with Variety to share the reason why they decided to fight against the Cannes Film Festival.
"The trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard has become a means to fight against the #MeToo movement. The Hollywood industry seems to be taking advantage of this reaction to return to the past. They opened a film festival with the appearance of Johnny Depp? ", Rebecca wondered.
In addition, the campaign against the appearance of Johnny Depp in Cannes also aims to highlight a bigger issue, which is that men accused of abuse are still protected by the film industry.
However, in the face of the controversy, the festival director - Thierry Fremaux - spoke up to defend Johnny Depp.
"I don't know what Johnny Depp's image in the US is now, but in my life, I have only one principle, which is freedom of thought, freedom of speech and freedom of action within the law," he said.
The director added, "If Johnny Depp is banned from participating in film projects or that film is banned from broadcasting, we won't be here to talk about it."
Previously, according to Variety, Johnny Depp signed a contract worth up to 20 million USD, overcoming a $12 million deal of Robert Pattinson to be the spokesperson for Dior Homme and a $7 million deal of Brad Pitt to promote Chanel No. 5.
The famous brand he signed with is Dior's Sauvage perfume company.
It is known that usually, A-list stars sign perfume contracts with famous brands that earn about 2 million - 4 million USD per year (such as Chris Pine, who has a contract with Armani worth 4 million USD per year for 3 years). So Johnny Depp's sand and cheese are considered a very "huge" number.
While Johnny Depp was growing in success, Amber Heard left Hollywood and moved to Spain to live with his 2-year-old daughter Oonagh Paige.
