Cannes Boss Defends Selection of Johnny Depp Film: “He Won in Court”

“Jeanne du Barry” was supposed to be a “controversial” Cannes opener because it featured Johnny Depp. Then its director, Maiwenn, told Johnny to hold her glass...

Last week, Maiwenn was sued by journalist Edwy Plenel. He claims that, after spotting him at a restaurant, Maiwenn violently grabbed Plenel by the hair, threw his head back and spat on his face.

Is this how the French do payback? Plenel supposedly wrote some rather unflattering #MeToo articles about Maiwenn’s ex, Luc Besson.

“Jeanne du Barry” now promises to be an event to remember, with Maïwenn and Depp walking the red steps and participating in the traditional press conference. However, for some reason, there are still many in the media fixated on Johnny Depp, despite winning his court case against accuser Amber Heard last year.

In an interview with Variety, Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux addressed the potential backlash to having “Jeanne du Barry” opening the festival:

I don’t see Maïwenn’s film as a controversial choice at all, because if Johnny Depp had been banned from working it would have been different, but that’s not the case […] We only know one thing, it’s the justice system and I think he won the legal case in court. But the movie isn’t about Johnny Depp.

I doubt Fremaux really cares if Depp stars in the opening film. It seems like an overwhelming amount of the French population has sided with Depp, who has an admired history with the country, especially after marrying French actress Vanessa Paradis and living in that country.

Of course, the media, who had a clearcut bias against Depp before the trial even started, engaged in their own kind of defaming, trying to spin Depp’s victory. “Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Each Defamed Each Other, Jury Rules,” so stated Variety. Quite the sly spin.

The pre-trial narrative was that Depp abused Heard and that she was a #MeToo survivor, but things clearly changed after all the court evidence presented seemed to turn into Depp’s favor.

Back to “Jeanne du Barry,” it is not debuting in competition at Cannes and will thus not be eligible for the Palme d’Or.

The film tackles the tumultuous relationship between French king Louis XV and his lover, Jeanne du Barry (played by Maiwenn), whom he brought into the Versailles Palace to live near him even though she wasn’t a noble. Louis XV would go on to reign France for 59 years.