A line of dialogue in The Fall Guy is already causing some discourse among some viewers, prior to it opening in theaters.
In the David Leitch-directed action-comedy, starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, Hannah Waddingham’s character, Gail Meyer, at one point makes a reference to Johnny Depp and Amber Heard‘s turbulent relationship.
In the scene, Waddingham, who plays an executive producer in the movie, reportedly walks into a trailer while looking disheveled and tells director Jody Moreno (Blunt), “It’s like Amber and Johnny were just in here.”
Some viewers have since taken to social media to criticize the line, with one user writing on X (formerly Twitter), “‘The Fall Guy’ made a distasteful “joke” about the domestic abuse amber suffered at the hands of johnny. it’s 2024, why are we writing these kinds of lines into movies? nasty work.”
Another social media user wrote that the film “allegedly makes a cheap Amber / J*hnny joke. would love to ask the writer what he thinks is so funny about domestic violence.”
Depp and Heard got married in 2015, but their relationship ended 15 months later. However, their split became highly publicized in 2019 when Depp sued his ex-wife for defamation over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed she wrote about domestic violence, though she didn’t name Depp in the article.
Following an intense court battle that was also broadcast live and included both actors making bombshell allegations against each other, a jury ruled in Depp’s favor on all three claims that he was defamed by Heard’s op-ed and was awarded millions in damages.
Heard also brought a countersuit against Depp, in which she won one of three defamation claims and was awarded $2 million in damages.
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Universal Pictures, The Fall Guy’s distributor, for comment.
The movie is set to hit theaters on Friday.
