Johnny Depp. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
Johnny Depp joked about needing work during a bizarre cameo appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards in New Jersey on Sunday night.
The Hollywood actor returned to the spotlight for his first public appearance since his highly-publicised defamation battle with ex-wife Amber Heard to appear at the awards show dressed as the VMAs’ fabled moonman in a pre-recorded sketch which involved him flying across the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
He made a series of appearances throughout the evening and during one skit, he joked: “I just want you guys to know that I’m available for birthdays, Bar Mitzvahs, Bat Mitzvahs, weddings, wakes, any old thing you need. And you know what? I needed the work.”
Depp later told the audience: “VMAs let's get back to the f*****g music, shall we?”
It’s believed to be the actor’s first major TV appearance in the US since his 2017 turn on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
And it marks the 59-year-old “Edward Scissorhands” star’s return to the limelight since he triumphed in his legal battle against ex-wife Heard earlier this year.
A seven-strong jury decided in June that Heard had defamed the actor on all three counts over an op-ed piece she wrote for the “Washington Post” about being a victim of domestic abuse which didn’t name the actor.
Depp was awarded $10 million in damages, and Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages but zero in punitive damages, leaving her with a bill she insists she cannot afford to pay.
In July, Heard filed an appeal against the payment she owes, while 24 hours later Depp filed a notice to appeal the defamation award the jury ordered him to pay his ex-wife.