Brie Larson Reacts to Unexpected Johnny Depp Question at Cannes: ‘Why Me’?

Come again? Brie Larson appeared to be flustered and surprised when she was asked to weigh in on Johnny Depp’s presence at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

“You’re asking me that?” Larson, 33, said during a Tuesday, May 16, press conference in the South of France when asked how she feels about Depp’s project, Jeanne Du Barry, opening the festival.

The actress, who is also a Cannes juror, added: “I’m sorry, I don’t understand the correlation or why me specifically.”

The reporter then clarified that since the Captain Marvel star was part of the Time’s Up advisory council, he was curious if she had any thoughts on Depp, 59, being allowed kick off Cannes after his alleged past violence toward ex-wife Amber Heard. (Depp sued Heard, 37, in 2019 for defamation after she called herself a victim of domestic violence in an op-ed for The Washington Post. A jury ruled in his favor in June 2022.)

Larson was still visibly uncomfortable with being questioned about the Pirates of Caribbean actor. (The Room actress has been vocal amid the #MeToo movement, which champions victims of sexual assault to come forward against Hollywood figureheads as well as in other groups worldwide.)

“You’ll see, I guess, if I see it,” she responded when pressed about whether she’ll watch the film. “And I don’t know how I’ll feel if I do.”

The Edward Scissorhands actor’s Cannes appearance comes four years after he initially filed his defamation lawsuit against Heard following her Washington Post op-ed. While the Texas native didn’t name Depp in the piece, in which she described acts of alleged domestic violence, he argued that readers could read between the lines.

Depp then lost his libel case in the U.K. in 2020 pegged to Heard’s allegations of abuse in the same article. However, he came out victorious in the 2022 defamation case in the U.S.

A jury ruled in June of that year that the Aquaman actress, who was married to the Kentucky native from 2015 to 2017, owed him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. Heard, meanwhile, was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages.

Both parties objected the ruling for different reasons, but the case was settled in December 2022. “I defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed,” the Zombieland actress wrote via an Instagram statement at the time. “This is not an act of concession. There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward.”

Depp, for his part, has seemingly began to make a comeback in Hollywood despite his controversial actions and legal woes. Earlier this month, Us Weekly confirmed that the What’s Eating Gilbert Grape star inked a new deal with Dior.

The lucrative contract with the luxury label is worth $20 million, Variety reported on Friday, May 12.

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The Nightmare on Elm Street actor proceeded to make a splash at Cannes, which marked his first red carpet appearance since his and Heard’s trial. After the Tuesday screening of Jeanne Du Barry, in which Depp portrays King Louis XV, he and the rest of the cast received a seven-minute standing ovation.