After Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Film Festival provided financial support for his latest film 'Jeanne du Barry', the 60-year-old has reportedly 'made a genuine connection' with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
- Feb 15, 2024
AceShowbiz - As unlikely as it sounds, Johnny Depp has developed a "bromance like no other" with a Saudi Arabia prince. The actor has reportedly grown close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after shooting his movie "Jeanne du Barry" in the country back in 2022.
"They made a genuine connection," a friend of Depp's tells Vanity Fair in a new profile. It appears that the 60-year-old's friendship with the prince came as a surprise to his inner circle as the friend adds, "It's a shock to many of the people who know [Depp], but it's what happened."
Depp's bromance with MBS started after Prince Badr bin Farhan Al Saud, Saudi Arabia's culture minister who is also a cousin of the de facto leader of the country, invested millions in his movie "Jeanne du Barry" via Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Film Fund.
Prince Badr asked for a meeting with the star. After a few days of back-and-forth, Depp reluctantly agreed to the meeting. Months later, the Hollywood star met with MBS and became real friends with the prince.
Over the past year, Depp has spent more than seven weeks in Saudi Arabia, staying in royal palaces and camps, traversing the country by yacht and helicopter, and even flying to London and back on MBS's personal 747 for a quick trip to attend the Jeff Beck Memorial Concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
He is now reportedly eying a possible seven-figure deal to become a global cultural ambassador as he shoots movies in the country. The Red Sea Film Foundation, via its financing arm, has already announced investment in Depp's next directorial effort, "Modi", a biopic about the life of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani and starring Al Pacino.
So much he apparently gained the trust of MBS that Depp gained the courage to ask the 38-year-old about what happened to the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents in 2018. The magazine profile notes that with an "earnest expression, MBS began laying out his argument that Khashoggi had become a rogue operative working with the country's enemies to undermine the crown prince's reform agenda."
The magazine profile insists MBS did not see Khashoggi as a journalist, but "a corrupt enemy of the state, putting its future at risk for hidden motives." But an order by MBS to arrest Khashoggi had been apparently misunderstood by Saudi operatives. "Consistent with his public statements, MBS told Depp he didn’t order the murder but nonetheless took responsibility," the magazine reports.
In a statement to Vanity Fair, Depp says, "Though I admit I was somewhat naive at first to what was transpiring in the region, I've since experienced firsthand the cultural revolution that is happening there." He adds, "I've had the opportunity to meet people from various parts of the region who have been most welcoming in sharing with me their culture, their traditions, and their stories."
