Life always seems to be a treasure chest of paradoxes. The people who are the highest up in the social hierarchy seem to be the ones making decisionscarrying out the events that are reflectedoccur on the lowest pedestal of moral ethics. Celebrities that portray heroes never seem to be the idols they appear on the big screen and that seemed to be , such is the case for popular movie star Johnny Depp.

Depp was born June 9, 1963,  being the youngest out of 4 siblings, and the son of parents who his parents separated when he was only 15. Finding a father figure in his step-father, Depp frequently referred to____(INSERT STEP FATHER NAME)  as However, Depp would cite his stepfather Robert Palmer as “an inspiration”. Depp moved around frequently would move often during his childhood, finally settling in Florida in 1970, where he would receive a guitar from his mother leading him to later. He would drop out of school in Florida and try to in order to pursue a career as a rock musician. This acted aswould be one of the most important decisions of his career as well as a decision that served as inspiration for fans of Depp to aspire to achieve their dreams as well. In order to pursue this career, Depp moved to He would move to Los Angeles where he met would meet Nicholas Cage, a ___ whowho recommended he should begin a career in acting. Upon taking this advice, Depp only He would scored low-level film roles until securing a spot as a key member of the Fox television series 21 Jump Street., This show helped jumpstart his career and Depp quickly became becoming a teen idol during the late 1980’s.  for his role. During this time his recreational drug use, drinking habits and polarizing appearance made him for a lack of better term, a “bad boy” figure in the eyes of the media. His career slowly began to steer away from hit media andwould transition to passion projects in the 90’s that weren’t box office successes but were critically acclaimed. In the 2000’s Depp would entered the mainstream media once again as he earned a renowned role as with his infamous role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.  

The climax of Depp’s career unfortunately came in the form of a comes at the court case. The case, Depp V Heard,  was a defamation and assault case between Depp and his then wife(also famous actress) Amber Heard. Heard sued Depp for defamation and claimed he had assaulted her. Upon these allegation, Depp was then immediately dropped from Disney as an actor, denying any possibility of him being cast in any other POTC movie. At first, it seemed to the public that Depp was just another abusive male in the industry who continued to mistreat women; however, seems to be one of the many actors being “canceled” for their poor treatment of women, however things turned around changed greatly when Depp countersued Heard over defamation, claiming she was actually the one who assaulted him. The trial began in April of 2022 and the verdict was reached in June after 13 arduous hours of deliberation by the jury, Heard was found guilty and Depp was awarded $10 million in damages. It is difficult to describe, but Thethe Unlike anything ever seen before, the trial claimed headlines alltook over the nation. in a firestorm, because of the ridiculous allegations made which can’t be described directly in this article in our Hawkeye. The story had a certain appeal to Americans; controversy seems to burn a certain hole into America’s heart, a man in the industry who was wrongly accused and in reality was innocent and the victim himself. deeply flawed, not completely righteous but a man who was ultimately innocent.  It was surprising to hear that a man who was accused of assault and defamation in the current social climate was innocent and actually a victim himself. Depp later donated his money from the settlement to charity and said would use the settlement money to donate to charity and would state  “jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled.”

It’s importantIt ‘sis important to take Depp’s life as a prime an example of the fact that humans will always be flawed. Depp grew up in a difficult household, but preserved,  following his dreams to achieve a place in Hollywood that the same boy from Kentucky could have never imagined. would be amazed by.  HoweverBut, with that fame came addiction, constant harassment and misjudgement from the press and ultimately flawed relationships that became front page news in America. One should never feel ashamed for looking up to someone who has overcome adversity but it is important to exercise caution when analyzing them for no man is void of flaws. In the heretic nature of American media and culture, too often do we hold our “idols” on pedestals far too high for them to sit comfortably on, destining them to fall, or in Depp’s case, fight tooth and hook to maintain it.