Johnny Depp Ethereum NFTs Surge After Actor Wins Defamation Suit Against Amber Heard

An NFT collection featuring the art of Johnny Depp has seen its price jump after the actor won a defamation suit against ex-wife Amber Heard yesterday.

The 3,850 “Never Fear Truth” NFTs have a floor price of 0.517 ETH (around $944) as of this writing. Before the televised defamation trial, the collection did not see much traction since its launch in late January, when the collection had a starting price of 0.70 ETH, with peak sales logged on March 11 1.64 ETH.

Prices fell to 0.55 ETH the following week. At the time, Ethereum was trading at $2,664.56 per coin, according to CoinMarketCap.

The “Never Fear Truth” collection of generative art on OpenSea is minted on Ethereum, featuring artwork by Depp. The project was verified as authentic by MakersPlace last month. Among the collection are images of “Friends and Heroes” from Depp’s past, including Heath Ledger, Tim Burton, River Phoenix, Elizabeth Taylor, Al Pacino, and Hunter S. Thompson.

607 pieces feature Depp himself.

“In this first public exposure of Johnny’s art, he has focussed on people he has known well, and who have inspired him as a person,” the description reads. “Each image is an intimate reflection of their character in Johnny’s eyes; a portrayal of how they have revealed themselves to him.”

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are cryptographically unique tokens linked to digital (and sometimes physical) content, providing proof of ownership. According to the OpenSea listing, each “Never Fear Truth” NFT will act as a membership to a creative community and future releases by Depp.

Depp is not the first controversial celebrity to enter the NFT marketplace. In December, the rapper turned actor Ice-T launched an NFT collection with Niftify. Ice-T’s 1992 album “Body Count” was nationally controversial for the protest song “Cop Killer,” written from the perspective of a character fed up with police brutality.

NFTs are themselves controversial, with gamers and artists pushing back against what they see as a cash grab or, worse, a scam, not to mention the environmental impact of NFTs minted on proof of work blockchains like Ethereum that is in the process of shifting to a proof of stake algorithm.

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