03/06/2022 Johnny Depp Ethereum NFTs Surge After Actor Wins Defamation Suit Against Amber Heard

The NFT collection on OpenSea features images of several figures that Depp calls “friends and heroes.”

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An NFT collection featuring artwork by 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 0.52 ETH (around $944) as of this writing. Before the televised defamation trial, the collection had not seen much traction since March 11, when its floor price peaked at 1.64 ETH. At that time, Ethereum was trading at $2,664, per CoinMarketCap. The collection first launched in January with a starting price of 0.70 ETH.

The "Never Fear Truth" collection of generative art on OpenSea isminted onEthereum, featuring artwork by Depp. The project wasverified as authenticby 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 of the pieces feature Depp himself.

Never Fear Truth Collection by Johnny Depp

Image: Never Fear Truth on OpenSea

“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 actorIce-Tlaunched 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.

Of course, NFTs have become 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 onproof of workblockchains like Ethereum that is in the process of shifting to aproof of stakealgorithm.

Arts

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