Johnny Depp dines with Patti Smith and friends in New York City on Saturday–new photo

The picture at left shows Johnny Depp, with bodyguard Jerry Judge behind him, emerging from Da Silvano restaurant in New York City on Saturday night, June 27th. According to the New York Post, Johnny’s dinner companions were Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith and four (unnamed) friends. The Italian restaurant must have wonderful cuisine–Johnny also had dinner there after his appearance with David Letterman on The Late Show on Thursday night. To see a larger version of the photo, CLICK HERE.

Johnny is scheduled to be in London on Monday, June 29th, for the premiere of Public Enemies at the Empire on Leicester Square. But a widely-circulating internet story that claims he was in Glastonbury on Friday, playing guitar in a cafe (yeah–right), are 100% tabloid fiction–he was still in New York at the time. The Zone thanks Emma and Evochka for the update. –Part-Time Poet

"An outlaw outlook"–Rachel Abramowitz profiles Johnny Depp for the Los Angeles Times

Sunday’s Los Angeles Times carries a well-written, substantial profile of Johnny Depp written by Rachel Abramowitz, who interviewed JD in Beverly Hills before the LA premiere of Public Enemies. Noting that his role as John Dillinger “fits perfectly into Depp’s personal canon of larger-than-life rebels and outsiders,” Abramowitz documents JD’s “connection to Dillinger, the bold-yet-humble bank robber” who earned the affection of the public while flummoxing law enforcement. “The title of the film is Public Enemies, but I don’t see John Dillinger as an enemy of the public,” Johnny explains. But Dillinger would not be able to elude the authorities successfully today; modern technology would doom him to a quick arrest.

“Today, if there was a Robin Hood-type guy out there–we are in an age where we sell our privacy to television,” says Johnny. “Everyone out there has a camera, and a cellphone, and a BlackBerry, and in less then 10 seconds it’s on the Internet. So he [Dillinger] would have been sold out just like that today” . . . and according to Abramowitz, he snaps his fingers.

You can read all of Abramowitz’s profile on the LA Times website HERE ; the Zone thanks Emma for sharing it with us, and also for sharing the new photo shoot by Mark Boster, available HERE. Zoners are discussing the Abramowitz article on the News & Views forum, and the new photos on the Pit. To see a larger version of the photo above, CLICK HERE. –Part-Time Poet