Pirates of the Caribbean 6 courtroom drama explained as Johnny Depp x Amber Heard trial intensifies

News of Johnny Depp declining any kind of offer made by Disney to be a part of the highly cherished Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has spread like wildfire. Fans all over the world are quite upset, especially those 500,000 fans who signed a petition in 2021 asking for Depp's return as the iconic character Jack Sparrow in the sixth movie of the franchise.

The petition wrote:

"Without Johnny Depp or Jack Sparrow [the franchise] will sink, [the franchise] will never be able to reach that horizon." (Via CBR.com)

As per Variety reports, Depp made the statement during his cross-examination by Amber Heard's lawyer during Depp's defamation case against Heard.

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Johnny Depp says no to Pirates of the Caribbean

During the defamation trial in the Virginia courtroom on Wednesday, when questioned by Ben Rottenborn, Amber Heard's attorney, Johnny Depp disclosed that he would not be a part of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean 6 for any amount of money.

Reportedly, Ben Rottenborn asked Depp:

"The fact is, Mr. Depp, if Disney came to you with $300 million and a million alpacas, nothing on this earth would get you to go back and work with Disney on a ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ film? Correct?"

In response, Depp said:

"That is true, Mr. Rottenborn."

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Pirates of the Caribbean 6 courtroom drama explained

Johnny Depp x Amber Heard trial: Everything we know so far

Johnny Depp, over the past 18 years, has become a global icon for portraying the beloved character of Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Since the premiere of its very first installment, The Curse of the Black Pearl, in 2003, the franchise has built its own fan-made empire all around the world.

However, in light of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's intense controversy that began back in 2018, Disney decided to cut all ties with Depp to protect the family-friendly reputation of the franchise from getting tampered with.

But with the recent turn of events, Depp has accused Heard of destroying his reputation, career and life by publishing the 2018 piece, alleging that her assertions of being abused were fabricated. Depp also claimed that he was the one who was beaten. Reportedly, Depp is suing Heard for $50 million.

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During the defamation trial, Amber Heard's attorney, Rottenborn, tried to display that Disney had cut Depp off from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise even before his ex-wife Amber Heard published her 2018 piece.

Rottenborn highlighted an October 2018 Daily Mail piece that stated that Johnny Depp was:

"out as Jack Sparrow."

In response to this, Johnny Depp told the court that he was not aware of this, however, it did not shock him as:

"Two years had gone by of constant worldwide talk about me being this wife beater. So I’m sure that Disney was trying to cut ties to be safe. The #MeToo movement was in full swing at that point."

Depp further told the court that even after Disney mulled over putting him out of Pirates of the Caribbean 6, Disney still went on to feature his beloved character Jack Sparrow at several theme parks all across the world.

He exclaimed:

"They didn’t remove my character from the rides. They didn’t stop selling dolls of Captain Jack Sparrow. They didn’t stop selling anything. They just didn’t want there to be something trailing behind me that they’d find."

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Reportedly, the sixth installment of the popular franchise has been in development since 2017. But it is now in “dangle mode” as suggested by Depp during his cross-examination in the defamation court trial.