Johnny Depp Settles Assault Case With Male Crew Member He Punched

Johnny Depp has privately settled with a crew member who alleges the actor physically assaulted him while they were filming the thriller City of Lies in 2017. Court documents show Depp and Gregg Brooks, a location manager on City of Lies, reached an agreement this week, and on Monday, a Los Angeles judge delayed the civil trial that was set to take place on July 25 to next January.

The case will be dismissed altogether if Depp fulfills his end of the agreement with Brooks, People reports. It’s not clear at this time what the settlement between Brooks and Depp entails.

Brooks sued Depp in 2018, alleging that Depp became angry while they were filming a scene, punched Brooks twice in the ribs, and screamed, “Who the fuck are you? You have no right to tell me what to do.” According to Brooks, Depp then offered him $100,000 to fight back and punch Depp, which Brooks declined. Brooks reportedly sought protection from an LAPD officer, and Depp was removed from the set by his own bodyguards.

Curiously enough, Brooks has yet to be called a liar for claiming Depp harmed him. We’ve yet to hear details about his alleged, salacious extramarital affair with James Franco, rendering him too slutty to be believed, nor any history of mental illness that makes him too crazy to be credible. I’ve personally yet to stumble upon TikToks debunking his claims about using makeup to cover up the injuries he sustained from Depp’s assault.

Depp’s A-lister friends have yet to dole out lengthy social media posts detailing anecdotes of all the times Depp has been wonderful to them or their children, meaning he couldn’t possibly be violent with someone else since their individual experience with him must be universal.

If you’re curious, puzzled even, about why you’re not seeing any smear campaign about Brooks on your social media feed, it’s not complicated: Brooks is a man. He isn’t alleging sexual or domestic violence, and so his claims won’t be held to the same innately sexist scrutiny. His lawsuit against Depp isn’t seen as a broad threat to the power and privilege of men—particularly wealthy, powerful, white men—to do whatever they want to women, and still somehow emerge as the victim when women speak out against them.

If, for whatever reason, you want a taste of what that might look like, look no further than Depp’s victory over ex-wife Amber Heard in his defamation lawsuit against her earlier this year. The trial was full of scorched earth tactics deployed by his legal team, as well as harmful myths about domestic violence that will inevitably help abusers across the country for years to come.