May 15, 1998
CANNES -- MORE FEAR, LOTS OF LOATHING: Johnny Depp stepped off a plane from the U.S. and straight into a censorship quagmire over TV ads for his new film, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. ABC-TV in the U.S. has banned the ads for the controversial movie in which Depp plays drug and booze besotted gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson.

"ABC (officials) have made this random blanket statement that the film is a pro-drug film and that the book (Thompson's 1972 novel) is pro-drug," Depp tells me yesterday in a media scrum to announce his new movie with Roman Polanski, the thriller, The Ninth Gate.

"It is a ludicrous statement! It is a ridiculous assumption that they have made!" says Depp.

"To get into a squabble with a network that runs on selling commercial time for mouthwash ads when you're talking about one of the greatest pieces of literature of the 20th century ... (pause)... I refuse to stoop down to their level!"

Fear And Loathing, directed by Terry Gilliam, plays Cannes in competition tonight and opens in North America next week. Depp is touted as a best actor candidate here.