Music icon and former Beatle Paul McCartney took some time to lend support to his friend Johnny Depp in the middle of a live show. On May 2, McCartney was performing the song “My Valentine” at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle for the fans in attendance. All throughout the song, footage of Depp playing guitar could be seen playing on the large screen behind McCartney. Depp was featured in the original music video for the song. Video clips of the new tribute have since been spreading on social media.
“Might be controversial to post this video with J.D. Don’t care,” said Jill Vedder, wife of Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder, sharing footage of the tribute to Instagram. “Know him only to be a gentleman. And while I support women and the ‘me too’ movement. I also know some women who have destroyed the lives of innocent & good men.”
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Vedder is, of course, referring to the famous trial that’s currently happening involving Depp and his ex-wife, actress and Aquaman star Amber Heard. Depp is suing Heard for allegedly defaming him by publicly accusing him of abusing her physically and verbally during their marriage. As he says the alleged hoax cost him his role in Pirates of the Caribbean 6, among others, Depp is asking for $50 million in damages.
Heard maintains that Depp abused her and she has counter-sued for $100 million, arguing that she’s the one being defamed. Audio tapes and other evidence introduced during the trial has gotten many to believe that Depp’s version of the story is the truth, but this will be up to the jury to decide, and multiple weeks left of testimony remains. No matter the outcome, however, it appears that the trial has immensely helped Depp with repairing his public image.
Paul McCartney and Johnny Depp Have Collaborated
Paul McCartney and Johnny Depp are friendly, having worked together on various projects in the past. Depp has even been featured in some of McCartney’s music videos, which includes appearing with Thor: Love and Thunder star Natalie Portman in the music video for “My Valentine.” McCartney later made a special appearance alongside Depp in the sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, which ultimately turned out to be Depp’s final Pirates film.
“I’ve known Johnny a while,” McCartney says in behind-the-scenes footage of that film included in DVD bonus materials. “You know, I always admired him as Jack Sparrow. He said, ‘I’d love you to be in the next one.’ I said, ‘What, me, a pirate?’ He says, ‘Yeah, you could do it and have a lot of fun.’ So, he wrote me in. It was great. I’m loving it.”
McCartney added, “Got me a lot of favors in the past, he’s been in some of my music videos, so, you know, this is a way of repaying him.”
In the film, McCartney played Jack Sparrow’s uncle. The year after Dead Men Tell No Tales was released, it was reported that Disney was dropping Depp from the Pirates of the Caribbean series. The actor has said in his defamation trial that this was because of the allegations Heard had made about him. Depp has also said he felt so “betrayed” by the firing that he could never go back and do another Pirates film, even if he was offered “300 million and a million alpacas.”
