Will Johnny Depp’s Reputation Recover After Abuse Accusations?

Photo from Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean

Over the course of his tremendous acting career spanning over three decades, Johnny Depp has become a respected and fan-favorite actor. The Pirates of the Caribbean star has been nominated for three Oscars and has won thirteen fan-voted People’s Choice Awards. Earlier this year, the Harris Poll revealed that Depp was America’s second favorite movie star.

Starring on the 1980s police procedural TV series 21 Jump Street in the beginning of his career made him a teen idol. In the years that followed, Depp took on more interesting and quirky roles that the public fell in love with, including the title character in Edward Scissorhands, the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland, and Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. For the latter two roles, Disney even honored him as a Disney Legend at last year’s D23 Expo.

But with the allegations made by wife Amber Heard that Depp physically and verbally abused her in the midst of their now messy divorce, Depp’s public image has been tarnished. Last week, Heard was granted a temporary restraining order against Depp, in which he must stay at least 100 yards away from her. She also claimed in court documents that he “has a long-held and widely acknowledged public and private history of drug and alcohol abuse.”

With his divorce and the domestic abuse allegations making headlines last week, the news may have contributed to Depp’s latest film Alice Through the Looking Glass bombing at the box office this weekend. The sequel to Alice in Wonderland only made $35.6 million over the four-day weekend, a far cry from the original film’s opening of $116 million back in 2010.

Many other male celebrities’ careers have been tainted by scandal, but their careers weren’t tremendously affected, including Sean Penn, Rob Lowe, and Hugh Grant. However, there are some celebrities whose images are still associated with their alleged domestic abuse, including singer Chris Brown, football player Ray Rice, and actor Mel Gibson.

But due to Depp’s well-known Disney roles, he’s been viewed as a more family-friendly celebrity. It could be harder for him to be as beloved as he was before, or the public may be more forgiving of him in time.