From Kevin Spacey to Johnny Depp, what’s left of a career after turmoil?

As Johnny Depp and Amber Heard crucify themselves, Kevin Spacey’s career accused of misconduct seems to be slowly making a comeback. But he doesn’t make as many movies as he used to. Do filmmakers still dare to mess with actors who have made an (alleged) fake pass in the past?

On Thursday, it was announced that Spacey would make his “return”. 1242: West GateThis would be her biggest project since she was accused of sexual harassment in 2017. Yet this Hungarian production is still a Hollywood-level misery for the Oscar-winning duo.

Media scholar Simone Driessen closely monitors such issues in her research on cancellation culture in popular culture. “If you get the chance to come back, it’s still hard to predict how people will react to it,” he explains. “I also wonder why a director or producer would dare to work with Spacey.”

“Anyway, the crowds have not been that bad until now,” says Driessen. “Perhaps now viewers are starting to wonder and respond wisely. Now they dare to take the risk, because previous cases have not led to serious convictions.”

Spacey has yet to be spared, as a lawsuit has been filed against him in London. “You don’t just lose the cache of cancellation culture,” says the media scientist. “People may want to forgive, but we don’t easily forget that. If more news comes out of this case, the unrest could flare up again.”

Currently there is a lot of media attention for Johnny Depp, who is involved in a case with his ex Amber Heard.

“Depp seems to be using this as a tactic”

The lawsuit between Depp and Heard in particular recently attracted Driessen’s attention. “For a celebrity, it’s part of showing off a little bit of her personal life. But he seems to be even stronger with Depp, even as a tactic. It’s also interesting to see how we think.”

Heard is also not afraid to go into details about their toxic relationship. “They actually play the same game,” Driessen admits. “You look behind the scenes of two celebrities fighting. But remember that you are dealing with two talented actors who are very aware of the image they want to project to the outside world.”

The researcher says that Depp did this better than his ex. Invokes an online petition to be heard aquarius 2 It has now been signed nearly four million times. “You always have a good guy and a bad guy. Depp’s team so far have managed to make him friendly and humane, while Heard comes across as a killer.”

In this regard, the blow to Heard’s career may have been greater than Depp’s, but the latter took a huge blow when he already left the popular. fantasy monstersfranchise is out. In any case, the results are clear. Driessen says it also has to do with the times in which we live.

“The concept of disapproving and judging someone has been around for a while, of course. But since the MeToo movement, the term “undo” has come to life more and more. It appeared even more recently. It was a very different world when Mel Gibson was convicted of anti-Semitic defamation in 2006, and today social media plays an important role in how long and how quickly someone ends up.

We won’t know until later if Will Smith’s action at the Oscar premiere will have any impact.

Also depends on the player’s image

As of 2010, Gibson was able to continue his acting and directing career as if nothing had happened. Hollywood crisis manager Howard Bragman partly attributed this to the image the actor already had. “We would be confused if Tom Hanks made such statements. But with Mel Gibson, we kind of got used to it. You’re less sensitive to it when you’re with him.”

Wesley Snipes, who was sentenced to three years in prison for tax evasion, does not seem to have much trouble with public disapproval as an actor. “The type of crime probably also matters,” says Driessen. “There was no physical pain in this case. With this prison sentence, he has also paid his sentence, so that the fans can recover better.”

There are many players with a vulnerable image. For example, Will Smith has to be wary after his overdose at the Oscars premiere, and Alec Baldwin is under surveillance after the infamous on-set shooting. Peace† How quickly they recover and whether they will fully succeed depends on several factors. Everything is unpredictable.

‘Some people get away with something, others don’t’, sums up Bragman. “It could be because someone is making a lot of money or someone is already loved. Everyone in Hollywood has a different DNA, there are no strict laws. Two people can do exactly the same thing, one loses his career and the other loses the other.” the other just keeps going.” Can.”