Jenna Ortega Reacts to Rumor She Was in 'Serious Relationship' with Johnny Depp: 'I Don't Know That Person'

Jenna Ortega still can't believe those online rumors linking her to Johnny Depp.

While the actress took part in BuzzFeed's puppy interview series as she promoted her movie Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Ortega recalled rumors that swirled in August 2023 that she and Depp, 61, were dating.

Asked to name the craziest rumor she has heard about herself, Ortega, 21, said, "Probably that I was in a serious relationship with Johnny Depp and I wanted everybody to leave us alone. It's so insane to me. I never spoke on that, I never said anything like that."

"Articles really do just make up their own quotes, but I thought that was pretty hilarious," she added.

Ortega said Richard E. Grant once asked her about the rumor on set. "He came up to me and he just said, 'Oh, so you and Johnny?' and I laughed, because I don't know that person." 

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The celebrity gossip social media account DeuxMoi published a rumor that Ortega and Depp were dating in late August 2023, as NME reported at the time.

At the time, NME cited a since-deleted Instagram Stories post allegedly from Ortega that read: "This is so ridiculous I can’t even laugh. I have never met or worked with Johnny Depp in my life. Please stop spreading lies and leave us alone."

According to both NME and HuffPost articles published at that time, a rep for Depp also discounted that rumor in a statement that said he "has no personal or professional relationship with Ms. Ortega whatsoever."

"He has never met her or spoken to her. He is not involved in any project with her, nor does he intend to be," the statement read, as reported by those outlets. "He is appalled by these baseless and malicious rumors that are intended to harm his reputation and career.”

Ortega stars in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice sequel with returning cast members Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton as Astrid Deetz, the daughter of Ryder's character Lydia Deetz from the original 1988 movie.

The film makes its world premiere at the 2024 Venice Film Festival on Aug. 28 and opens in theaters Sept. 6.