Disney Bans ABC Affiliates From Talking To Johnny Depp About His New Movie

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by Jon Bershad | 2:39 pm, October 24th, 2011

» 9 comments

Did you know that Johnny Depp has a new movie out now in which he plays another wacky, rum-swilling drunk? Well, if the Walt Disney Company has its way, you’ll never ever know. That’s why they’re using the magic of corporate synergy to ban all of their Disney-owned ABC affiliates from talking to Depp about his new movie, The Rum Diary.

Yes, apparently someone at Disney is terrified, just terrified, that the public may somehow confuse a 1950s-set, hard R-rated, Hunter S. Thompson adaptation about a naive journalist going up against a slick real estate developer in Puerto Rico with one of their Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Clearly an easy mistake to make. So a clause in Depp’s Pirates contract disallowed their affiliates from talking to the actor or even videotaping him at the movie’s Austin Film Festival premiere.

This didn’t sit well with the clearly peeved KVUE reporter Shelton Green who made the contract the focal point of his Film Festival report. Reporting from down the street away from the premiere and with his cameraman zooming in on the mob surrounding Depp in the distance, Green explained the situation:

“We came here expecting to talk to one of the biggest names in Hollywood, but apparently, Disney doesn’t want Johnny Depp’s new movie premiering here at the Paramount [Theatre] to get more exposure than his new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. So, they wouldn’t allow us to interview him nor would they even allow us to get video of him.”

Yes, it sure would be terrible if that movie got a lot of exposure thus totally distracting people from a fifth Pirates movie (which, by the way, won’t even start production till next summer). Oh well, thank you Disney for keeping us from getting confused!

Watch KVUE’s report below, followed by the trailer for The Rum Diary. Don’t be surprised if it doesn’t feature any pirates.

(h/t The Playlist)

abc, Johnny Depp, The Walt Disney Company

http://en.gravatar.com/robb714 Robb714

Don’t feel bad Johnny, the Guardian.uk.co banned me for http://newsflavor.com/world/middle-east/robbs-deposed-despot-dictator-rehab-ranch/ Apparently free speech is under siege!
Anonymous

It is not about free speech. These reporters are employees of ABC/Disney and their affiliates and are obligated to their employer. Nobody stopped them from talking about it. They were not allowed to interview or film the star in accordance with his contract.
Anonymous

…so…

If someone doesn’t appear in an ABC/Disney property, publicly blacklisting them is perfectly fine.

BTW, its not about Depp or his contract. It’s about the reporter, his journalistic integrity and his obligation to the public trust…

…in so far as it relates to Johnny Depp.
Guyoxim

Wow. There’s three minutes of my life I’ll never get back. The page says the owner is a writer. If that’s so he needs to hire a proofreader. If The Guardian banned you, maybe you should look inward. That was just stupid.
Anonymous

As long as they are under contract with Disney and an appropriate clause is in the contract, yes.

As far as the reporter’s integrity, he knew the rules when he took the job.

Public trust? Now that is funny! We are talking movie premiere here, not Congressional redistricting.
Jimmy32

There are two problems with this story:

1. KVUE is not owned by Disney. It is owned by Belo Television.

2. ABC or Disney has not ordered any of its television stations to refrain from talking to Depp. I cannot say if the issue is with Depp’s contractual agreement but it is not with the ABC Owned Stations.

One would think a simple call to ABC would have easily cleared this up.
lazzzlo

Check out Bill Murray doing Ghostbusters while also doing Somerset Maugham’s “The Razor’s Edge” at the same time.

It’s a boutique film that is allowed as part of their contract.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_RNSWPA3IN6TGSTFVDV2CVTJPFU Tina Bhapur

Pirates 4 DVD went on sale this week. The promo tour for The Rum Diary and events leading up to it have been a little wild – Depp gave a lovely, but apparently boozy, tribute to Keith Richards at the recent GQ awards, Depp’s profane Vanity Fair article which ended with him being found passed out in the john, Depp’s fall on the Walk of Fame, the Rum Diary cast showed up at the premiere having already partied, a prickly encounter with a student at the Berkeley Q&A, director Bruce Robinson’s sozzled appearance at the Austin Q&A.
http://en.gravatar.com/robb714 Robb714

maybe you’re just stupid and should go fux yourself from both ends at once with a stick of TNT while smoking a cigar!