Celebrity
Johnny Depp’s VMAs Appearance As A Moon Person, Explained
At the 2022 MTV VMAs, Johnny Depp made a bizarre virtual appearance and talked about his career.
Just a few months he was awarded $10 million in damages in his defamation trial against Amber Heard, Johnny Depp appeared at the 2022 VMAs in a bizarre cameo. After a performance by Lizzo, a Moon Person astronaut floated in the air above the stage. The visor slid open and revealed a digitally superimposed image of Depp’s face inside the helmet. "Hey, you know what?" Depp said. "I needed the work."
Depp’s voice popped up again after a commercial break. "Hey VMAs, let's get back to the f*cking music, shall we?" the Moon Person said. After Nicki’s Minaj’s performance, he then appeared once again, asking for more jobs. “I just want you guys to know that I’m available for birthdays, bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, weddings, wakes, any old thing you need. Anything. You name it. Oh, I’m also a dentist.”
This marks Depp’s first televised appearance since his defamation trial against Heard was live-streamed to the public. Depp, who was found by a U.K. judge to have abused Heard on 12 separate occasions, sued Heard in the wake of her publishing a 2018 op-ed in which she called herself a “public figure representing domestic abuse” who spoke out against “sexual violence.” On June 1, after over 60 hours of testimony, the jury ruled that Heard had defamed Depp.
On July 31, more than 6,000 pages of court documents from the trial were unsealed. Per The Daily Beast, the documents revealed what Depp’s legal team fought to exclude from the Virginia trial. They included texts from Depp’s assistant apologizing about Depp “kicking” Heard and texts from Depp to actor Paul Bettany where he talked about determining if Heard was a “witch” and texted, “Let’s drown her before we burn her!!!” There was also testimony from psychologist Dr. Dawn M. Hughes, who met with Heard over four sessions and determined that she suffered from PTSD as a result of “intimate partner violence” by Depp.
In the wake of all this, many audience members expressed their confusion and disappointment over Depp’s appearance and MTV’s seeming endorsement of the actor.
Bustle has reached out to MTV for comment and context on Depp’s involvement in the show, and will update this post if we hear back.
