There’s hope for outcast designer and rapper Ye, with Johnny Depp’s representatives confirming the controversial actor will appear in the next streamed show for Rihanna’s lingerie brand Savage x Fenty.
Rihanna has been lauded for her brand’s focus on size, gender and race inclusivity, but many fans are concerned that the singer-turned-entrepreneur has opened the doors to the Fenty kingdom too wide, following Depp’s public disputes with ex-wife Amber Heard in court.
Johnny Depp at the SiriusXM on October 12 and Rihanna at the premiere of the sequel to Black Panther.Credit:AP, Getty
“This would have to be the most divisive decision that Rihanna has made,” says fashion consultant Julie Otter, who has worked with sass & bide, MAC Cosmetics and Jeanswest.
“Rihanna’s shows are always outstanding and about inclusivity and her work with Fenty Beauty and charities reflects that. Fenty is all about authenticity and truth for her. Knowing what she’s been through herself, there must be a level of authenticity.”
In 2009 Rihanna was violently attacked by her then-boyfriend, rapper Chris Brown, who pleaded guilty, receiving five years of probation.
The decision to cast Depp as the first male guest star in the fourth elaborate Savage x Fenty production, streaming on Amazon Prime Video on November 9, is controversial because of the 2020 ruling by a British High Court judge that The Sun newspaper did not defame the Pirates Of The Caribbean star by labelling him a “wife beater” in a 2018 online article.
Kornbread Jeté is seen during Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 4, streaming on November 9.Credit:Getty
In June, a six-week trial in the US finished with a verdict in Depp’s favour against Heard for defamation, following an opinion piece written for The Washington Post entitled: “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change”.
The trial featured a text message from Depp to his friend, British actor Paul Bettany (WandaVision), where Depp wrote: “Let’s burn Amber!!!”
On Twitter critics of the decision to feature Depp in the show have been posting with the hashtag #AmberHeardDeservesBetter.
“If Rihanna wanted to create a talking point, she’s done it,” Otter says.
While the Savage x Fenty show is part of a Rihanna comeback, having released her first new music in six years with the song Lift Me Up from the soundtrack of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever it is also the latest step in Depp’s makeover.
During the most recent trial supermodel Kate Moss testified as a rebuttal witness supporting her ex-boyfriend Depp, saying that “he never pushed me, kicked me or threw me down any stairs.” Depp went on to appear in the MTV Video Music Awards in August.
Depp returned as the well-worn face of the Dior fragrance Sauvage in August, a role he began in 2015. Dior is part of the LVMH luxury conglomerate, which backs Rihanna’s Fenty line through its incubator Kendo.
If Depp’s appearance goes ahead it will be the latest example of fashion and beauty brands airbrushing uncomfortable details from the past. Controversial comments by Italian designers Dolce & Gabbana haven’t stopped the Kardashians and Delta Goodrem from wearing their dresses, former Dior creative director John Galliano has made amends for his anti-Semitic comments in 2011 and works for Maison Margiela, and Burberry remained relatively unscathed after a 2019 show featured a model wearing a hoodie with strings tied in the shape of a noose at during London Fashion Week.
Instead of barging into the offices of Skechers, following his dumping by Adidas, Balenciaga and the Gap for anti-Semitic comments, Ye might be better off giving Rihanna a call.
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