Johnny Depp has been speaking about his turbulent relationship with Amber Heard in the Sunday papers
Johnny Depp has opened up with some rare thoughts about his past relationship with Amber Heard, including their widely publicized trial that captured the world’s attention.
The two met back in 2009 while working together on the set of The Rum Diary. Although the film wrapped, their bond seemed to deepen afterward, with their romantic relationship believed to have started in late 2011 or early 2012.
By January 2014, the couple had gotten engaged, and just over a year later, in February 2015, they tied the knot in what many thought would be a lasting union.
But that marriage quickly began to unravel. Depp and Heard separated in 2016, and unfortunately, their story didn’t end there.
The drama continued with a high-profile legal battle after Heard published an op-ed in 2018 in The Washington Post, stating she was a survivor of domestic abuse.
Even though Depp’s name wasn’t mentioned in the article, he filed a defamation lawsuit in 2019, arguing that the piece clearly implied he was an abuser. He called the claims “categorically and demonstrably false”, according to The Independent.
The trial played out in the public eye
JIM WATSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
In response, Heard launched a $100 million counter-suit, which only heightened public interest in their legal dispute.
The trial concluded in 2022. The jury sided mostly with Depp, awarding him $10.35 million in damages. However, they also awarded Heard $2 million for one of the points raised in her countersuit.
Now, three years later, Depp has sat down with The Sunday Times to speak about Heard and their complicated relationship.
“If you’re a sucker like I am, sometimes you look in a person’s eye and see some sadness, some lonely thing and you feel you can help that person.” the actor shared during the interview.
“But no good deed goes unpunished, because there are those who, when you try to love and help them, will start to give you an understanding of what that malaise, that perturbance was in their eyes. It manifests itself in other ways.”
“And the interesting thing is that it is merely a sliver of my life I have chosen to explore.”
In the same interview, Depp also talked about the trial itself, offering a glimpse into how he felt during such a turbulent time.
The 62-year-old reflected on that chapter and said: “Look, it had gone far enough. I knew I’d have to semi-eviscerate myself. Everyone was saying, ‘It’ll go away!’ But I can’t trust that. What will go away? The fiction pawned around the f****** globe? No, it won’t.”
Johnny Depp has been speaking about his relationship with Amber Heard
Taylor Hill/Getty Images
“If I don’t try to represent the truth, it will be like I’ve actually committed the acts I am accused of. And my kids will have to live with it. Their kids. Kids that I’ve met in hospitals.”
“So the night before the trial in Virginia, I didn’t feel nervous. If you don’t have to memorize lines, if you’re just speaking the truth? Roll the dice.”
Despite knowing the road ahead wouldn’t be smooth, Depp explained that he wasn’t afraid. He accepted it all, ready to face whatever came with it.
“I’ll fight until the bitter f**king end.’ And if I end up pumping gas? That’s all right. I’ve done that before.” he added.
He also expressed that throughout the ordeal, he felt like a kind of ‘crash test dummy’ caught in the middle of the MeToo movement and its cultural wave.
“And I sponged it, took it all in. And so I wanted from the hundreds of people I’ve met in that industry to see who was playing it safe.” he noted.