How Johnny Depp developed an ‘epic bromance’ with Saudi Crown Prince MBS

Johnny Depp has a surprising new friend: not his longtime collaborator Tim Burton, but Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, also known as “MBS.” 

According to Vanity Fair, the unlikely friendship – which has “alarmed” Depps’ friends in London – started in July of 2022, when Depp, 60, was filming the French period piece “Jeanne du Barry.”

While on set, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star was told that MBS’s cousin, ​​Prince Badr bin Farhan Al Saud, wanted to meet him. 

“No way,” Depp said, per the outlet. “I didn’t sign up for this.”

However, Prince Badr had invested millions in the film via Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Fund, so Depp agreed, which eventually led to meeting MBS. 

According to the outlet, in 2023, Depp spent over seven weeks in Saudi Arabia, staying in royal palaces and traveling in yachts and helicopters. In May 2023, he flew to London and back on MBS’s plane to attend the Jeff Beck Memorial Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. 

“They made a genuine connection,” an unnamed friend of Depp’s said. “It’s a shock to many of the people who know [Depp], but it’s what happened.” 

A source told The Post, “There is a friendship there based on an appreciation of film, culture and regional progress. They do not discuss or align on global politics.”

Insiders claim that Depp is considering a seven-figure annual contract to promote Saudi Arabia’s cultural renaissance.

“Though I admit I was somewhat naive at first to what was transpiring in the region, I’ve since experienced firsthand the cultural revolution that is happening there—from emerging young storytellers radiating fresh ideas and works of art to a blossoming film infrastructure and a newfound curiosity for innovation,” Depp told the outlet in a statement. 

“I’ve had the opportunity to meet people from various parts of the region who have been most welcoming in sharing with me their culture, their traditions and their stories,” he added.

“The trips to Saudi are actually healthy for him,” one of Depp’s friends said – referring to the fact that drinking is prohibited in Saudi Arabia.

In 2022, court photos showed Depp unconscious in chairs and on a hotel room floor after drinking, his ex-wife, Amber Heard, 37, said during the ex-couple’s defamation trial, for which Heard was ultimately found guilty. 

“He’d pass out, get sick, lose control of himself. People would pick him up and clean it and fix it,” Heard alleged on the stand.

“He wouldn’t either remember, or he would deny it, or he would accuse me of saying that this had happened when it didn’t. And there was no one to back me up,” she said.

Depp’s ex-flame, Ellen Barkin, also took the stand during the 2022 trial. “He was drunk a lot of the time,” Barkin said about Depp in a recorded deposition.

She said Depp was “drunk all the time” and “out of control,” and she witnessed him doing cocaine and hallucinogens as well as smoking weed. 

“He was always drinking and smoking a joint,” she said.

Sina Taleb – who has been described as a French “wheeler-dealer” with a slew of famous pals, including Leonardo DiCaprio – reportedly helped broker the introduction between Depp and MBS’s cousin, Prince Badr, which then led to Depp’s “bromance” with MBS.

When Taleb and Badr met in Cannes and discussed more A-list actors supporting Saudi Arabia’s film industry, Taleb suggested that Badr invest in films because entertainment is reportedly part of MBS’s “Vision 2030” plan to give Saudi Arabia revenue streams away from oil. 

“It’s not just a prince saying I want to have Tom Cruise come here,” producer Jonathan Gray told VF. “It’s the economy.”

Grey, who knows MBS, said the Prince is a sci-fi enthusiast. “It’s really the capacity to escape your mind, thanks to worlds so different from ours, that makes it special for him,” he said. 

According to the outlet, Depp asked MBS what really happened to the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed and dismembered by Saudi operatives in 2018.

MBS allegedly denied ordering the hit to the “Edward Scissorhands” star when Depp asked.

A 2021 US intel report stated, “We assess that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.”