OPINION - Disgrace and rehab are now part of the A-list life cycle

London is suddenly bursting with Johnny Depp. There he is on the escalator, peering prosthetic-nosed though distinctive as Ebenezer in the projected Christmas cinema hit. Next he smoulders at the bus stop, peddling Sauvage cologne for Dior.Meanwhile, we have it on good authority that the one-time pariah of Hollywood is set to command megabucks when he returns as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean 6. As comebacks go, Depp turned his into an artform.More than ever before, disgrace and rehabilitation are part of the life-cycle of celebrities, statesmen and royals. From minor gaffe to major cancellation, it is all but impossible to tread a path in the public eye without a tumble. What is interesting is how best to get back up.Historically it was all about the big three: apology, taking responsibility and doing some sort of public penance. When Jeffrey Archer died last month aged 86, he was treated by MPs and royals alike as a national treasure PA ArchiveWhen Jeffrey Archer died a few weeks ago, the great and the good swarmed to pay homage. Despite, or perhaps because of, a four year prison sentence for perjury and perverting the course of justice (to cover up a sleazy sex scandal), by the time of his death in October, Archer was treated by MPs and royals alike as a national treasure. A roguish one, but a national treasure nonetheless. Queen Camilla called the author “as rich, varied and colourful as any of the characters in his books, with as many surprising plot twists”. While Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the party he once brought into disrepute, praised “his storytelling, vibrant life force and charitable support”. In short, his prison time cleansed his brand.Humble pie or unrepentance?These days a penal sentence can happily be replaced with a laceratingly humble and confessional interview or a reality TV stint. The more humiliating the better. I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here is the obvious example of reputation rehabilitation earned in the televised stocks. Good-natured scrotum eating affords a clean slate. Matt Hancock might have gone into the jungle a hypocritical Covid groper but he emerged, in third place, a remarkably palatable figure.This is decisively not the road that Depp has trod. Although he lost his libel lawsuit against The Sun, who had accused Depp of being a wifebeater, in 2020, he has never accepted this charge let alone apologised for any of his conduct. Behind every fallen celebrity marches a team of shadowy figures who have managed their path back into the public’s affectionShored up by a successful subsequent lawsuit in the US in 2022, in which he took Amber Heard to court for writing a blind piece in The Washington Post about domestic abuse, Depp has maintained an almost Trumpian stance of unrepentance. The President prescribes to the mantra of his mentor Roy Cohn, who famously taught his young acolyte to, “never waste time on regrets, never show any doubts and never, ever apologise.”Depp is mightily abetted in this position by the best PR wizards that money can buy. Celebrity crisis relations have long been big business, and behind every fallen celebrity (Winona Ryder, Will Smith, Boris Becker, Prince Harry) marches a team of shadowy figures who have managed their path back into the public’s affection. The way that they function has changed radically in recent years though. For mega stars, such as P Diddy and Kevin Spacey, the war of their reputation is not tearfully fought on a chat show couch anymore, but on social media, the secret hands that control the content and the bots that manipulate how scandals are reported and received.Depp sued his ex-wife Amber Heard (pictured together in 2015) for writing a blind piece in The Washington Post about domestic abuseAFP via Getty ImagesWhen it comes to civil court it is fascinating to note that although the initial claim in the Blake Lively v Justin Baldoni saga was over sexual harassment and hostile work environment, the most bitterly contested charge argued by each of them was of reputational harm.Don’t botch your rehabilitationTe only thing worse than the obscurity of disgrace and ostracisation is the disaster of a botched comeback. Huw Edwards is the poster boy for this. Edwards resigned from the BBC in 2024 after revelations that he had been in a secret relationship with a 17-year-old boy, and was charged with three counts of making indecent images of children. Read MoreSince then Edwards has taken the worst conceivable path to reputation redemption, in turns apologetic then belligerent and most recently taking the ill fated decision to take to Substack to defend, what most would agree, is the indefensible.The only thing worse than the obscurity of disgrace and ostracisation is the disaster of a botched comebackWhether Edwards will one day claw his way back into public life seems unlikely, though not impossible. The sight of convicted rapist Mike Tyson in the White House briefing room must have sent a gust of hope to many an indicted public figure plotting their big comeback. Apart from the ignominy of public disgrace, perhaps the real torture is the patience and forbearance needed to weather the storm.When the mighty fall, the best advice that can be given is to bide your time, says reputation management consultant Ralph Ward-Jackson. This, for most celebrities used to the instant gratification of public adoration, is the great agony. An agony made all the more excruciating if they feel, as 99.9 per cent seem to, a passionate sense of injustice at their pillorying.There is something both tantalising and frustrating about a celebrity in abeyance. It is fun to speculate about what Sarah Ferguson will do next, or how Diddy will relaunch himself when the shackles come off. We know they are frothily champing at the bit. What would be less fun would be to be the person charged with reining them in until that moment comes.Alice Cockerell is a freelance writer