ANAHEIM, CA — Some days it just doesn’t pay to be a pirate.Four actors who played Jack Sparrow — the sexy swashbuckler portrayed by Johnny Depp in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean movie trilogy — have been fired by Disneyland amid rumors the character’s very presence at the theme park was enough to send some young women over the edge of propriety.
“They lost control when they saw Jack Sparrow,” former Sparrow stand-in Brandon Pinto told Los Angeles television station KTLA.
Disney confirmed the firings but denied they were related to rumors young women flashed the actors late at night. Instead, the theme park’s management said the actors were downsized due to declining relevance and diminishing visitor requests for Sparrow’s presence.
The breast-flashing rumors are “absolutely false” and “simply not true,” Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown told KTLA.
The Sparrow stand-ins greeted visitors at the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and posed for pictures with fans of the movies. They wandered around Tom Sawyer Island and New Orleans Square, as well.
Disneyland management promised the character will return “some day.” For now, though, the staff spots have been filled with additional fairies, presumably to promote the new Disney release Tinkerbell.
