Another Halloween, another celebrity wearing an offensive costume. As reported by Variety, Schitt's Creek star Emily Hampshire dressed as Johnny Depp for Halloween along with a friend who dressed up as Amber Heard. The two wore costumes that specifically referenced the way the actors looked during their highly publicized 2022 defamation trial, which centered around claims of domestic abuse the former couple made against each other.
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For her Depp costume, Hampshire wore a suit similar to one the Pirates of the Caribbean star wore to court, along with fake tattoos and a drawn-on goatee. Her friend wore clothes similar to Heard and, as reported by Entertainment Weekly, posed with an exaggerated sad expression in the photos. Photos that Hampshire posted to Instagram also featured a fake piece of poop with googly eyes, which was an apparent reference to Depp claiming during the trial that Heard had defecated on his side of their bed as revenge.
The costumes received backlash online, and Hampshire deleted the post. Now, she has apologized for her costume choice.
"I want to address what is one of the most thoughtless, insensitive, and ignorant things I’ve ever done," the 42-year-old wrote on Instagram on Nov. 1. "For Halloween, I stupidly thought it would be funny to dress as Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. I am deeply sorry and ashamed for putting something that awful out in the universe."
Hampshire continued, "Domestic abuse is never, ever funny. These are real issues with real people and I REALLY regret my actions. In the future I will do better. I’m so sorry."
Comments on Hampshire's apology post include people defending her and saying that she didn't need to apologize, as well as Instagram users explaining why the costumes were a problem in the first place.
"I don’t think your intention was to make fun of domestic abuse…I think the intention was to make fun of the spectacle the trial became. I thought it was funny," one commenter wrote. Another shared, "your apology should be addressed to Amber. and the people in your comments thinking you shouldn’t have to apologize must be so lucky to be unaware of the brutality and severity of that trial and a woman’s pain that you carelessly mocked with your poorly done costume."
Depp and Heard's trial took place from April to June of 2022. Depp sued Heard, to whom he was married for two years, for defamation in regards to an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in 2018. In the op-ed, Heard said that she had experienced domestic abuse. She didn’t mention Depp by name, but the Edward Scissorhands star claimed it was obvious he was the person being referred to as the abuser and that this implication harmed his career. Heard countersued Depp for defamation regarding a claim his legal team made about her claims of abuse.
The jury trial ended when it was decided that both Heard and Depp had defamed each other. Both were ordered to receive damages, but Depp was awarded million more than Heard—$10 million versus $2 million, as reported by NPR. Afterward, Heard and Depp both filed appeals, but they dropped their appeals and settled the case in December 2022, according to The Guardian.
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