Johnny Depp's role in Pirates of the Caribbean 6 cancelled due to ex-wife Amber Heard's domestic abuse allegations

Johnny Depp has become synonymous with Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. The role of Jack Sparrow is considered Depp’s bravest performance ever. But unfortunately, he has been now dropped from the sixth instalment of the film franchise and here’s why.

According to his talent manager, Johnny Depp reportedly missed out on millions of dollars in movie roles, including an estimated $22.5 million agreement for "Pirates of the Caribbean 6," when Amber Heard accused him of domestic abuse.

The issue of Depp's contract for Pirates of the Caribbean 6 is especially relevant to Depp's case against Amber. According to Depp's team, an op-ed written by Amber in The Washington Post in late 2018 (detailing her allegedly violent relationship with an unknown partner) damaged the actor's reputation and career.

Following the publication of the piece (and Depp's defeat in a 2020 lawsuit against a UK newspaper for printing Heard's charges), Disney and Warner Bros distanced themselves from Depp, and also pulled him from the Harry Potter spinoff franchise, Fantastic Beasts.

According to Daily Mail UK, Jack Whigham also pointed out that even after Depp was cast in the independent drama Minimata, the film failed after the piece was published. 'The op-ed came out in December, shortly before we went on Christmas vacation,' Whigham explained. Minimata was scheduled to start filming in January. Minimata was really tough to keep together.

During Whigham's evidence, the court learned how much Depp made from previous films. Depp was paid $10 million for his role in the 2017 murder mystery Murder on the Orient Express, Fantastic Beasts 2 – Crimes of Grindelwald, a spin-off from the Harry Potter movie. Depp was reportedly paid $13.5 million for his part as Gellert Grindelwald. Depp received $3.5 million for the 2018 comedy drama, The Professor and $1 million for the 2019 adaptation of J. M. Coetzee's novel, Waiting for the Barbarians. Depp earned $3 million for Minimata, which was released in 2021.

This provided strong evidence that the entertainment industry has boycotted Johnny Depp as a result of the op-ed.

After this was uncovered, his fans supported Johnny on social media and began a petition to remove Amber Heard from the upcoming film Aquaman 2. There have been at least 4,500,000 signatures for her to be removed from the upcoming film.