"Pirates Of The Caribbean" star Johnny Depp has broken his silence regarding the recent stir created during the transporting of his Yorkshire terriers Down Under and in a witty exchange referred to Australia's Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce as "big gutted" and "sweaty."
During a media briefing at the Venice Film Festival for Depp's upcoming movie "Black Mass" a question was asked if he was thinking of taking his dogs on a gondola ride in the Italian city, according to E Online.
The "Mortdecai" star's media assistant had flagged the question as being inappropriate hoping to brush it off but the actor responded with a bit of humour saying "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."
The comment stems from an incident which took place earliar on in the year when Depp and his wife Amber Heard ignored Australian animal importation laws and brought with them their pets Pistol and Boo into the country without permits or undergoing a quarantine period.
The actor was in Australia to film the fifth installment of the "Pirates Of The Caribbean" franchise titled "Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" at the time, according to ABC News.
Subsequently after it was discovered that the couple had travelled with their dogs, Australia's Minister Joyce began accusing Depp of smuggling his dogs aboard his private jet and gave the actor an ultimatum that either he remove the dogs from Australian soil in 50 hours or have them put down.
Minister Joyce was quoted to have said "It's time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States."
Meanwhile, Heard has been issued with a summons over a biosecurity breach by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. She is set to appear in court in Queensland, Australia this month.