The French luxury fashion house and cosmetics giant, which stood by the star even when he faced choppy PR waters amid his legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard, has signed Depp to a massive deal, marking the biggest men’s fragrance pact ever.
Sources peg the three-year deal at upwards of $20 million, which eclipses Robert Pattinson’s $12 million deal to serve as a spokesperson for Dior Homme and Brad Pitt’s $7 million pact to promote Chanel No. 5. A source familiar with the fragrance industry says most A-listers with fragrance deals pull in around $2 million-$4 million per year like Chris Pine, whose deal with Armani is valued at $4 million a year over 3 years.
Dior didn’t respond to a request for comment. A rep for Depp declined comment.
Since 2015, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star has served as the face of Dior Sauvage, with an ad campaign that leaned into his image as a wild rocker. The company faced pressure to drop Depp after a U.K. court ruled against him in his 2020 libel suit against The Sun over its description of him as a “wife beater” with regards to Heard. But Depp’s image and marketability improved dramatically last year after he prevailed in a closely-watched defamation trial against Heard, and Dior Sauvage sales skyrocketed, with Bernard Arnault, CEO of Dior’s parent company LVMH, citing the “image of Johnny Depp” as one of the main reasons why the cologne had been “a remarkable success.”.
In last year’s case, which took place in Virginia and was live-streamed online, a seven-member jury found that Heard defamed Depp and awarded him $10 million in compensatory damages plus $5 million in punitive damages, the latter capped by the state at $350,000. The jury of seven essentially threw cold water on Heard’s 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she claimed to be a survivor of domestic abuse.
Depp’s new Dior deal coincides with a high-profile showing for him at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, where he will be on hand for the May 16 world premiere of Maïwenn’s historical drama “Jeanne du Barry,” in which he plays King Louis XV. He is expected to attend a Dior dinner on May 17 before heading to London the following day for a Jeff Beck tribute, where he will perform alongside Eric Clapton and Rod Stewart. Sales will also kick off at the Cannes market for Depp’s first directorial effort in 25 years. The film, titled “Modi,” centers on the life of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani (Riccardo Scamarcio) and features a cast that also includes Al Pacino. Sales outfit The Veterans is shopping “Modi,” which will shoot in the fall.
The lucrative Dior pact, which was negotiated by Depp’s reps at Range Media, could help pave the way for the actor’s return to movies from the major studios, which had been hesitant to work with him prior to the Virginia verdict. The lost wages were significant given that Depp’s team had closed a deal for Depp to be paid $22.5 million for “Pirates 6” in 2017 – a figure that came out during the Virginia trial.
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