City of Lies director says Johnny Depp is being used as a scapegoat as former FBI agent speaks out

Johnny Depp’s ‘erratic behavior’ was wrongly given as the reason a controversial new film about the 1997 murder of rapper Biggie Smalls was axed, claims the director in charge of the movie.

Depp, 55, is being sued for ‘maliciously and forcefully’ punching Gregg ‘Rocky’ Brooks on set, saying he’d pay the location manager $100,000 to ‘punch [him] in the face’ in April 2017, according to reports.

However, the man at the helm of City of Lies, Brad Furman, insists the troubled actor did not overstep the mark during filming – and the book’s author, Randall Sullivan, believes DreamWorks was ‘scared off’ releasing the movie because of pressure from the police.

Lawsuit: Depp has argued that any violence brought upon the man was because Johnny ‘feared for his safety’; seen on set in 2017

‘The Los Angeles Police Department is the most politicized police department in the country, and its relationships with financial powers and political powers in the city, and in the state, and even in the country are, I think, unprecedented,’ Sullivan said to The Daily Beast.

‘I saw the way they were able to marshal resources to oppose making this movie…There may have been other things, I don’t think it was based mainly or entirely on political pressure, but [DreamWorks was] clearly scared by the things they were getting told, they were getting scared off this project.’ 

He wrote LAbyrinth, book the motion picture is based on, and plans on releasing a sequel just as riveting.

‘I think Johnny is being made a scapegoat and frankly, it p***es me off,’ he told the publication. 

Furman added to The Daily Beast he only found out the film was axed in August, despite it officially being shelved July 19 and due for release September 7.

Voletta Wallace, could ‘absolutely completely bury’ the Los Angeles Police Department if Johnny Depp’s movie City of Lies was released according to a story from The Daily Beast

Furthermore, the director says he asked Depp’s people what they knew and found out they had not yet been told of the decision. 

Several insiders believe production company Global Road were pressured by law enforcement to back out.

‘I can’t exactly prove this, but there are too many arrows pointing in that direction (of political intervention). Too many people have called me, too many cops I’ve spoken to, that there’s no way it wasn’t discussed.’

The director says a law enforcement officer warned him to get a burner phone and cover the camera on his computer. 

It has caused him to check his doors at night out of fear for what could happen to him. 

A former FBI agent who also spoke to the publication says Biggie Smalls’ mother, Voletta Wallace, could ‘absolutely completely bury’ the Los Angeles Police Department if Johnny Depp’s movie City of Lies was released and created a buzz.

The family was seeking $400million in a 2002 wrongful death lawsuit that was dismissed 2012 but is eligible to be refiled. 

Speculation about the reason for the movie being shut down continued in writing, the story states. 

‘Also, they were being warned, even threatened, with the consequences of releasing a film that pointed such a large and sharp finger at the LAPD, and that would put the City of Los Angeles at risk of tremendous liability,’ Sullivan wrote in an email to Furman, reports The Daily Beast. ‘I’ve seen up close how powerful those threats can be.’  

City of Lies is about the investigations into Notorious B.I.G (left) and Tupac’s (right) murders

Director, David Furman, expresses how annoyed he is the lead actor was being used as reason for City of Lies getting blocked

It’s what he goes into in his forthcoming book. 

‘I describe the frightening political machinations that prevented the federal case of LAPD involvement in the Biggie murder from being prosecuted. Truly outrageous,’ he told the publication about Dead Wrong.

Depp plays a role Leonardo DiCaprio was originally taking.

However Sullivan thinks Global Road – that Variety reports could be facing bankruptcy – spent money on sci-fi film A.X.L instead.   

Also starring Forest Whitaker, City of Lies is about the investigation into the killing of Biggie, aka Notorious B.I.G., which was shut down in 2005 due to lack of evidence. 

It also surrounds the slaying of his rival Tupac Shakur. 

Trouble: While Johnny Depp doesn’t necessarily deny assaulting Gregg ‘Rocky’ Brooks on the City of Lies set, his actions were out of self-defense, according to The Blast; seen in 2017

Depp’s attorney later shared a statement to DailyMail.com: ‘Despite false media reports suggesting otherwise, Johnny Depp never touched the person suing him, as over a dozen witnesses present will attest. In a court filing we have generally denied all claims and we will fight these latest sham allegations.’

In Gregg’s legal documents, the crew member slammed the Lone Ranger star over his conduct, alleging the actions were ‘intentional and malicious and done for the purpose of causing plaintiff to suffer humiliation.’

Brooks also claimed Johnny’s ‘intoxication and temper created a hostile, abusive and unsafe work environment,’ which eventually resulted in him being assaulted by Johnny during filming of the crime thriller when he tried to enforce a permit restriction during a late night of filming.

Gregg claimed he was eventually fired from the movie when he refused to sign a release waiving his right to sue over the incident.

His attorney, Arbella Azizian, said in a statement: ‘My client wants to make sure Mr. Depp is held accountable for his conduct on set so that, in the future, others will not be put in the same situation.’

Action: City of Lies – which is based around the murder investigations of Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur – was originally scheduled to be released next month, but has been axed