Schitt’s Creek star Emily Hampshire apologizes for dressing as warring exes Johnny Depp and Amber Heard for Halloween: ‘I am deeply sorry and ashamed’
Schitt’s Creek star Emily Hampshire has apologized for dressing up as feuding exes Johnny Depp and Amber Heard on Halloween. She called the costume one of the “most thoughtless, insensitive and ignorant things” she had ever done.
Hampshire, 42, and a friend dressed up as the former couple on Tuesday night, but the costume quickly offended countless fans, and the actress released a statement on Wednesday apologizing for the costume slamming.
“I want to comment on one of the most thoughtless, insensitive, and ignorant things I’ve ever done. For Halloween, I stupidly thought it would be funny to dress up as Johnny Depp and Amber Heard,” she posted on her Instagram.
“I am deeply sorry and ashamed for putting something so horrible out into the universe. Domestic violence is never funny,” she continued. “These are real issues with real people and I REALLY regret my actions.
In the future I will do better. I’m sorry.’
The original costume included several props that referenced the brutal defamation trial that took place last year, including a plastic turd stuffed into Emily’s suit.
Apologize: Schitt’s Creek star Emily Hampshire has apologized for dressing up as warring exes Johnny Depp and Amber Heard for Halloween, calling the costume one of the “most thoughtless, insensitive and ignorant things” she had ever done
Releasing a statement: Hampshire posted this apology statement a day after facing backlash
Emily went along as Johnny, complete with a drawn-on moustache, tattoos and slicked back hair, while her friend dressed as a haunted Amber.
She held a bottle of wine and stuffed the ‘turd’ into her suit jacket as she sat next to ‘Amber’, who made several crying faces.
While the images – captioned “Happy Halloween” with two jack-o-lantern emojis – were eventually deleted from her account, the on-screen messages were hacked by offended viewers who shared them with others on social media.
‘It really is a special depravity to keep the costumes going a year and a half later. @emilyhampshire clearly felt the need to take on the task,” an angry X user posted on the social media site, along with images of the costumes.
Another disappointed X user reposted the images as she expressed her disappointment.
“This is so disappointing to see from @emilyhampshire. “Words cannot express how disappointed and disgusted I feel,” they wrote.
The backlash continued on the social media site Reddit.
‘Wow. This is clearly in bad taste, but the wine bottle support? Gross,” one Reddit user wrote.
“Well, this is insanely disappointing. Even though it’s not offensive, this costume comes so late to the party,” wrote another.
Schitt’s Creek star: Hampshire, pictured second on the distant R in the suit, played Stevie Budd in the hit series
Offended fans: Hampshire held a bottle of wine as she sat next to an emotional-looking ‘Amber’ in photos that upset fans
Scandalous: The costumes made several references to the brutal libel case that took place last year between the former couple
Disgusting! She referenced the courtroom drama by stuffing a plastic turd into her suit pocket
Disappointed: Fans expressed their frustrations with the image on social media
Courtroom drama: Depp sued Heard over a 2018 Washington Post article she wrote about abuse, which his lawyers said was about Johnny
Sensational trial: The trial caught the public’s attention and Netflix even released a documentary about it, Depp v Heard
“So yuck. Apparently it was active for about 10 minutes, which indicates to me that the comments were immediately negative. I didn’t realize she was so stupid that she would 1) choose this costume in the first place 2) think her audience would let this go. I don’t remember if she liked anything during the process, but this is a shock to me. I have lost all respect for her,” wrote another.
‘What an absolutely despicable person.
Good luck with her flop career,” said one Reddit user.
Another wrote: ‘It’s sick to think this costume is funny. It’s psychological to think this costume is funny in 2023.”
In 2016, Amber, 36, accused Johnny of domestic violence and the actor lost a libel case in Britain after suing The Sun for calling him a “wife beater.”
The public’s attention was also drawn after Depp sued Heard over a 2018 Washington Post article she wrote about abuse, which his lawyers said was about Johnny.
The trial was highly publicized at the time and the jury returned a verdict that largely sided with Johnny, although Amber won one of her three counterclaims.
In December 2022, Amber said in a statement on Instagram that she had made the “very difficult decision” to settle the case.
The trial became a sensation and was the subject of a Netflix documentary, Depp v. Heard.