This is one recent consequence from last month of a studio not including a morals clause in an actor's contract.
From the NY Post:
Johnny Depp will still get paid more than $10 million for the third “Fantastic Beasts” movie — despite filming only one scene before being dumped in disgrace over his “wife-beater” court ruling, according to a report.
The 57-year-old actor was forced out on Nov. 3, a day after a UK judge ruled that a UK tabloid headline declaring Depp beat his ex Amber Heard was “substantially true” — a case that was sparked by his initial casting in the five-part franchise.
He had only appeared in one scene on the latest installment, which started filming in London on Sept. 20 — but Warner Bros. will still have to pay his full salary, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Depp had a so-called pay-or-play contract, requiring full pay even if his character, dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, was recast — and in a contract that had no morality clause, the trade mag said.
The salary was at least eight figures, the report said — meaning more than $10 million.
The franchise was central to his downfall, with his sensational court loss coming after he tried suing the Sun newspaper over a headline that asked, “How Can J.K. Rowling Be ‘Genuinely Happy’ Casting Wife Beater Johnny Depp in the New Fantastic Beasts Film?”
Depp was due to get equal screentime with Jude Law and Eddie Redmayne, but was getting more money because of his box-office track record thanks to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, The Hollywood Reporter said.
The actor said he was “asked to resign” by Warner Bros. — with the mag saying it was not clear what recourse the studio would have had if he had refused to do so.
Depp insisted that his “life and career will not be defined by this moment in time” — although the major studios are increasingly wary of anyone tarnished by #MeToo or domestic violence scandals, the report noted.
