"I killed my dogs and ate them," Johnny Depp jokingly said when a member of the press asked if he brought his dog to Venice to have them experience a famous gondola ride. The actor was answering questions from the press while attending a press conference about his forthcoming film, "Black Mass."
Depp's coy response was in reference to Australian Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce, who in May deported the actor's two dogs, Pistol and Boo, from Australia, 9News reported. One of Depp's handlers tried to evade the question but Depp decided otherwise and had fun with his answer.
"No, I killed my dogs and ate them, under direct orders of some kind of, I don't know, sweaty, big-gutted man from Australia," Depp was quoted as saying.
During filming of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales," Joyce accused Depp of illegally flying his dogs via private jet to Australia. The Australian official said the actor failed to have them undergo the required quarantine.
"If we start letting movie stars - even though they've been [voted] the Sexiest Man Alive twice - to come into our nation, then why don't we just break the laws for everybody?" Barnaby was quoted as saying at the time by The Sydney Morning Herald. The official added, "It's time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States."
Joyce also told a radio interview back then that if Boo and Pistol stayed in Australia, then the proper authorities would "have to euthanize them." The radio host, Kyle Sandilands, found the comments inappropriate. A heated argument ensued, which ended with the host calling Joyce a "wanker," "fool," "loser," "ponce" and "a gerbil of a thing," The Sydney Morning Herald said in a related report.
Joyce then filed a complaint at the Australian Communications and Media Authority against Sandilands. He accused the host of breaching decency and language standards set by the board.
In his complaint, a copy of which was obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald, Joyce said the radio host had used "language and behavior that is outside the acceptable standards and norms of robust political debate and common decency in public broadcasting." The complaint, however, was found to have no merits.
According to the board, the word "wanker" was used by Sandilands consistently with its definition given by Macquarie Dictionary. The dictionary defines the word as "1. Someone who masturbates 2. A foolish or objectionable person. 3. A self-indulgent or egotistical person," The Syndey Morning Herald reported, citing the board's 24-page document that details its finding.