LOA ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Canadian actress Emily Hampshire, best known for her role Stevie Budd in 'Schitt's Creek', has apologized for her controversial Johnny Depp-Amber Heard costume for Halloween.
However, the internet did not back off from slamming the actress despite her issuing an apology statement on her Instagram account on November 1. They criticized the actress for making fun of domestic abuse, which was a major point in the Depp-Heard trial.
On October 31, the 42-year-old actress and her friend dressed as the former Hollywood couple, mimicking a low point from their defamation trial period. She shared the photos on her Instagram account and later removed them from her feed due to extreme backlash. TMZ published the deleted images on November 1.
Depp and Heard's legal battle unfolded between April and June 2022, starting with the former filing a $50 million defamation lawsuit against Heard after she published an op-ed in The Washington Post calling herself a domestic abuse survivor.
Emily Hampshire is 'deeply sorry' for 'insensitive' Halloween costume
Hampshire imitated Depp's facial hair and tattoos by wearing a beige pinstriped suit with makeup. Her friend recreated one of Heard's outfits from the trial period in a ruffled button-down, black skirt, a white shirt, and sheer black tights. They posed with a wine bottle and fake poop, referring to a moment from the trial that had gained a lot of public attention.
Hampshire was enough to remove the images from her feed as she began to receive backlash.
She apologized for the costume, saying it was the most "thoughtless, insensitive, and ignorant thing" she has ever done.
She wrote, "I was to address what is one of the most thoughtless, insensitive, and ignorant things I've ever done. For Halloween, I stupidly thought it would be funny to dress as Johnny Depp and Amber Heard."
"I am deeply sorry and ashamed for putting something that awful out in the universe," continued the actress, "Domestic abuse is never, ever funny."
She concluded her post, saying, "These are real issues with real people and I REALLY regret my actions. In the future I will do better. I'm so sorry."
Internet calls Emily Hampshire's costume 'disgusting'
Hampshire taking down the post did not prevent the internet from voicing out their harsh criticism of the actress' "insensitive" Halloween costume after news of her deleting the post surfaced on X, formerly Twitter.
One user explicitly stated, "That's so disgusting."
Another user called out Hampshire's behavior by saying, "Coward! If you're gonna dress up like that and post pics, have the guts to accept the repercussions!"
"She takes the time to recreate Johnny Depp's tattoos but doesn't reflect for a second on the message she's sending by mocking DV. Maybe she doesn't know that Depp lost a libel trial in the UK?" stated a third user.
Another user said, "Deleting is not an apology, Emily."
"Domestic violence is not a costume, @emilyhampshire!" said one user. At the same time, a sixth user asked, "Gross. Why do people act like domestic violence is funny?"
Another user stated, "Absolutely vile and disgraceful @emilyhampshire"
"Disgusting behaviour xx," said one user.
The actress is not off the hook for her costume even after her apology. As news of her apology spread on X, formerly Twitter, several people still slammed her.
One person said, "You knew what you were doing.." and another called her out, saying, "You are unscrupulous miserable people making fun of a man's pain, what he has been through.Shame on you for having no respect for the abuse that goes on in this world i mean both men and women."
A third said, "I don’t understand how some people can be so stupid," as they saw news of the incident elsewhere.
