Johnny Depp: Don't judge me over abuse case

Johnny Depp has said he will not let the high-profile legal battles with his ex-wife Amber Heard define him, and asked people not to judge him over it.

Last year a US jury found that Heard had defamed the Pirates of the Caribbean star in an article in which she called herself a victim of abuse.

It came after a UK court ruled that an earlier article, which described him as a wife beater, was accurate.

Depp spoke to the BBC as he appeared at the Cannes Film Festival.

His role as Louis XV in the French language film Jeanne du Barry, which opened the prestigious French film festival, is widely seen as his big comeback.

It is his first major role since losing his part in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, following a High Court libel trial over a Sun newspaper article which claimed he had assaulted Heard.

He lost the case, with a judge finding that the newspaper article was "substantially true".

Interviewed by Tom Brook of BBC's Talking Movies, Depp said: "Comeback is a weird thing because... I didn't go anywhere.

"People may have made sure that I was not looked at favourably - powerful press, powerful media, for whatever reasons."

Conflicting accounts of Depp and Heard's five year relationship were heard during the two court cases, with both accusing the other of misbehaviour and violence.

Depp strongly denied his ex-wife's claims that he had subjected her to emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

After losing the defamation case in 2022 over an article she wrote for the Washington Post, Heard said she has lost faith in the US justice system.