Johnny Depp’s shock appearance at the 2022 VMAs sends the internet into meltdown

Like a bat outta hell, Johnny Depp has been dropped back into the public eye with a bizarre appearance at the VMAs 2022 as an astronaut.

You’d be forgiven for wondering why on Earth a certain Johnny Depp was anywhere near the VMAs, but frankly, in the year we’re in, is anything surprising? Depp’s appearance was heavily speculated upon in the days and hours leading up to the awards ceremony, and now it’s finally here, the internet has some strong opinions.

If you were to predict when Depp was to return, you would absolutely never guess it’d be the VMAs. His face emblazoned upon an astronaut was most definitely nobody’s first prediction. The reaction overall is a negative one, surprise surprise. MTV giving Depp airtime for one gag amidst what went down in the defamation trial has rubbed many the wrong way.

Perhaps the most simple way of summing it up came as soon as it came out: “why is his goblin ass face” at the awards show.

There’s a lot going on with Depp’s reappearance, and the biggest question is why it happened. MTV has seemingly taken a side in the Depp-Heard defamation trial by having him appear at all, and this alone could be seen as proof that “cancel culture” simply does not exist in the eyes of many.

There were some positive reactions to Depp’s appearance, but it must be prefaced with a report from July which found a vast majority of pro-Depp comments and anti-Heard ones made on social media were made by bots.

Regardless, Depp is making a return despite what critics will say. His first big role post-trial will be as King Louis XV in Jeanne du Barry, which is set to be directed by Maïwenn. Meanwhile, Amber Heard is still struggling in wake of the trial as the world has made their minds up on both of them.