“Schitt's Creek” star Emily Hampshire apologizes for dressing as Johnny Depp for Halloween
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Emily Hampshire is admitting that her Johnny Depp Halloween costume wasn't savvy.
The Schitt's Creek actress, 42, issued a public apology Wednesday for her and her friend's "insensitive" decision to dress up as the Pirates of the Caribbean star and his ex-wife Amber Heard in the wake of the former couple's acrimonious defamation trial.
"I want to address what is one of the most thoughtless, insensitive, and ignorant things I've ever done," Hampshire said in a statement posted to Instagram. "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."
Gonzalo Marroquin/Getty; Rocco Spaziani/Archivio Spaziani/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Emily Hampshire and Johnny Depp
Hampshire initially posted photos of the costumes, which resembled Heard and Depp's courtroom attire, on social media, only to delete them after a backlash.
The heart of the criticism centered on the costumes appearing to make light of the two actors' highly public legal battle over domestic abuse accusations. Hampshire's Depp costume included an anthropomorphic turd, presumably referencing a detail in the 2022 trial alleging that human feces were left in the couple's bed. Hampshire's friend also posed with an exaggeratedly sad expression on her face, seemingly mocking Heard's emotional testimony during the trial.
"Domestic abuse is never, ever funny," Hampshire's statement continued. "These are real issues with real people and I REALLY regret my actions. In the future I will do better. I'm so sorry."
In the trial, jurors ultimately found that Heard had intentionally and maliciously defamed Depp when she wrote a 2018 op-ed in the Washington Post about her experiences as a domestic abuse survivor. Depp was awarded $15 million in damages, which were reduced to $10.35 million by the judge. Heard scored a small victory as the jury found partly in favor of her defamation countersuit and awarded her $2 million.
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