Johnny Depp put his court battle with ex-wife Amber Heard behind him in his first public appearance since the verdict, playing a gig in Gateshead.
According to reports, the actor and musician joined guitarist, Jeff Beck, on the latest leg of his UK tour to the delight of hundreds of fans at the Sage venue on Thursday night, June 2, 2022.
Beck also revealed Depp’s next career move, an album that the pair will release together next month.
The gig came a day after Depp won the high-profile US defamation case. He was absent from the Virginia court when the jury decided Heard’s claim that she was a victim of domestic abuse was defamatory and false. Instead, Depp was spotted in a Newcastle pub with Beck, per some news sources.
After the verdict, he released a statement saying he was looking forward to “a new chapter”. That started on Thursday night, June 2, 2022, when he joined the guitar legend on stage for eight songs.
Depp did not speak about the trial on stage, but Beck referred to it, saying: “What a result”.
The British guitarist told the crowd: “I met this guy five years ago and we’ve never stopped laughing since. We actually made an album. I don’t know how it happened. It will be out in July”.
The pair have previously released a cover of John Lennon’s Isolation, which was among the tracks Depp sang. He also fronted covers of Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’, The Everly Brothers’ ‘Let It Be Me’, Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Little Wing’, and Killing Joke’s ‘The Death and Resurrection Show’.
The ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star in an earlier interview disclosed that music was his first love, above acting. Some concertgoers said they were pleasantly surprised by his singing and guitar playing, even if his musicianship was put in the shade by Beck.
Commenting of Depp’s performance, one fan, James Pallister from Newcastle said: “I think he was having fun. He looked really happy. He seemed to be in a great place. He’s playing music, doing something really fun. The crowd was behind him and I think he gave people what they wanted to see. It’s great to see him in Newcastle”.
Meanwhile, outside of the concert venue, over a hundred fans of Johnny Depp waited to show their support for the actor, according to reports. Depp eventually repaid them by signing autographs and speaking to his die-hard fans at the venue’s stage door after the concert.
The trial gave an insight into Depp’s personal life that was at times unflattering, despite his victory regarding the central allegation of domestic abuse.
Heard won one of her defamation claims against Depp two years ago in which a UK judge decided a claim that he was a “wife-beater” was “substantially true”. However, for his army of fans, Wednesday’s main verdict vindicated him and the long, often unseemly battle with Heard has not tarnished his image in their eyes.
“I don’t think that he’s been a perfect saint, but I don’t believe the allegations that she put forward,” one fan said. “I was always on his side”.
