Johnny Depp has poked fun at the official apology video he released after illegally smuggling his dogs Pistol and Boo into Australia.
The actor and his wife Amber Heard recorded a surreal apology message - which has amassed nearly five million views – expressing remorse and instructing visitors to obey Australia’s strict quarantine laws.
At a London press event for his new Alice in Wonderland film, the 52-year-old Hollywood actor has now made light of his formal sorry message.
“I’m going to do this everywhere I go,” he announced dryly.
“I would really like to apologise for not smuggling my dogs into England because it would have been a bad thing to do,” he quipped, shaking his head in faux shame, as the audience erupted into laughter.
Australia’s highest profile criminal quarantine case, which was whimsically dubbed 'Australia’s War on Terrior', ended with Heard avoiding conviction for illegally bringing the Yorkshire terriers into Australia. In the middle of April, Heard pleaded guilty for making a false statement on her immigration card about the dogs while travelling to Queensland to visit Depp while he was filming the latest Pirates of the Caribbean film.
Heard received a one-month good behaviour bond. If she breaks the bond she will be ordered to pay A$1,000 (£540).
At the time, the couple’s sombre deadpan apology was widely mocked by talk show hosts and on social media, with numerous people likening it to a North Korean or ISIS hostage video and creating their own spoof versions.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Barnaby Joyce, who first made headlines for threatening to kill the couple’s dogs, also made fun of the awkward video. “I don't think he'll get an academy award for his performance... He looked like he was auditioning for The Godfather,” Joyce said.
A representative for Depp did not immediately respond to request for comment.
