In the middle of Rihanna’s celebratory showcase of fashion, music and dance in her “Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 4” is a 30-second appearance from controversial actor Johnny Depp.
Around the 20-minute mark of the 40-minute-long show, now streaming on Amazon Prime, Depp struts toward the camera wearing the Savage X Fenty men’s mesh tank paired with pants, a trench coat and several necklaces. With his signature ponytail and facial hair, the 59-year-old gives “Pirates of the Caribbean” vibes as he smirks and models to OutKast’s 2000 hit “So Fresh, So Clean.”
The whole thing takes up about 40 seconds in a special lasting as many minutes, but Depp’s very inclusion in “Vol. 4” set off days of outrage in the lead-up to its Wednesday release on Prime Video. Earlier this year, Depp faced his ex-wife Amber Heard in court during a highly contentious trial in which he accused Heard of defaming him in a 2018 op-ed. In June, a Virginia jury awarded him more than $10 million in damages. Heard also partially won her countersuit with the jury awarding her $2 million in damages.
TMZ first reported that Depp would make a guest cameo in the singer’s hotly anticipated fashion show, noting that he will take part in one of the celebrity segments, which, in the past, has included Cindy Crawford and other famous faces. Depp, 59, is the “first male in Savage X Fenty show history to take the role,” according to TMZ. A source also told the outlet that Rihanna and her team “invited” Depp to participate in the show and that both teams were “excited to make it happen.”
Rihanna, whose business ventures Savage X Fenty and Fenty Beauty have been commended for serving diverse sets of consumers, has also received praise for the inventiveness of her Savage X Fenty shows, which have previously featured celebrities. Depp appears in “Vol. 4” alongside Hollywood stars such as Winston Duke, Taraji P. Henson and Sheryl Lee Ralph, as well as supermodels including Joan Smalls and Cara Delevingne.
As The Washington Post reported, Rihanna isn’t the first to support Depp publicly, and “Vol. 4” isn’t the first surprise appearance Depp has made this year — in August, he made a bizarre virtual cameo at the MTV Video Music Awards as the Moonperson, the VMAs mascot that usually appears in trophy form. But given Rihanna’s massive influence as a pop superstar and billionaire business mogul, critics of Depp have argued that she is misusing her platform. On social media, Depp’s fervent fan base interpreted his appearance in “Vol. 4” as Rihanna, a prominent survivor of domestic abuse, showing solidarity with Depp, who has alleged that Heard was abusive toward him.
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