Johnny Depp has struck up a bizarre friendship with Saudi Arabia‘s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after the kingdom’s ruling family invested millions into the actor’s latest film.
MBS has spent billions under his Vision 2030 plan to make Saudi Arabia, plagued by accusations of human rights abuses, a cultural and economic powerhouse by investing in the arts, sports and forging personal connections with stars.
Depp, 60, first met MBS, 38, in the summer of 2022 after filming Jeanne du Barry, in which Saudi Arabia had invested millions.
‘They made a genuine connection. It’s a shock to many of the people who know [Depp], but it’s what happened,’ a friend of Depp’s told Vanity Fair.
Both men have faced a reckoning in the public perceptions of their carefully crafted images in recent years.
Depp was found to have domestically abused his ex-wife Amber Heard when he lost a libel case in the UK in 2020.
Johnny Depp, 60, first met MBS, 38, after filming Jeanne du Barry, which Saudi Arabia had invested millions, in the summer of 2022 (pictured at the Red Sea International Festival in 2023)
Two years later, a series of further disturbing details, including accusations of sexual abuse, were made public after he successfully sued Heard for libel.
MBS, once a favorite among Western leaders who considered him a great reformer, irrevocably harmed his image by sanctioning the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Depp insists that Saudi Arabi is experiencing a ‘cultural revolution.’
‘Though I admit I was somewhat naïve at first to what was transpiring in the region, I’ve since experienced firsthand the cultural revolution that is happening there,’ Depp told Vanity Fair.
The country has ’emerging young storytellers radiating fresh ideas and works of art to a blossoming film infrastructure and a newfound curiosity for innovation’ he explained.
Adding: ‘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.’
As part of a ‘Vision 2030’ plan, MBS has spent hundreds of billions on sports, tourism, the arts and other ventures such as real estate to move the country away from its dependence on oil money.
He has made the entertainment industry, including film production, a key focus – hoping it will buoy tourism numbers and improve cultural perceptions of the controversial kingdom while also encouraging the country’s 30 million residents to increase their domestic leisure spending.
Depp met with Prince Badr (left), the kingdom’s culture minister in July 2022 while filming his French period film
Depp told Vanity Fair that Saudi Arabi is experiencing a ‘cultural revolution’
Depp was found to have domestically abused his ex-wife Amber Heard when he lost a libel case in the UK in 2020
The Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has invested millions in establishing the LIV Golf tournament, attracting players such as Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia.
The PIF also provided the bulk of the funds for a Saudi takeover of Newcastle United football club in 2021, a controversial deal that became a hot button issue for the UK government.
‘We’re making up for lost time and making sure that our country realizes its potential,’ a Saudi government adviser told Vanity Fair.
Depp previously associated with another Saudi prince, Abdulaziz bin Fahd, but a member of his entourage was convicted of raping a woman in 2012 at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, where the prince had rented out a block of rooms.
Prince Abdulaziz stopped appearing in public in 2017, having been detained by MBS along with 300 of Saudi Arabia’s richest men on suspicion of corruption.
The prince eventually reemerged, smiling for a photo with MBS, but he has kept a very low profile ever since.
The sudden disappearance reportedly made Depp wary of an initial meeting with any further Saudi royals.
However, he was talked around and met with Prince Badr, the kingdom’s culture minister in July 2022.
A few months later he flew to Jeddah for the 2022 Red Sea Film Festival and during the trip was introduced to the Crown Prince.
Depp visited again in early 2023 and was invited to MBS’s royal camp in the mountains.
The actor also flew on multiple occasions by helicopter to MBS’s yacht, one of the largest in the world.
The two men are now close friends, according to Vanity Fair, and friends of Depp told the publication he values the friendship and doesn’t want anything in return.
However, Depp’s team are in talks with the Saudi government are in talks over a seven figure deal for him to attend events and shoot films in the country, the outlet reported.
