Amber Heard's Ex-Girlfriend Claims Her Behavior While They Dated Made Her 'Believe All Of' The Johnny Depp Abuse Allegations

Yahoo

4 hours ago

Amber Heard's ex-girlfriend, Bianca Butti, is showing support for the actress's claims of abuse during her marriage to Johnny Depp, citing trauma responses she witnessed firsthand.
In the book "Hollywood Vampires," the authors explore the volatile relationship between Heard and Depp, noting it began with genuine love but spiraled due to substance abuse and emotional turmoil.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's bond reportedly ignited on the set of "The Rum Diary," evolving from on-screen chemistry to real-life infatuation.
In the new book "Hollywood Vampires: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, and the Celebrity Exploitation Machine" by Kelly Loudenberg and Makiko Wholey, Heard's ex, Butti, showed support for the actress's claims of abuse during her marriage to Johnny Depp.
The cinematographer, who dated Heard following her divorce from Depp, reflected on watching the actress recount her experiences in court.
"It almost sounded like someone else was talking," Butti said, per People Magazine. "By the time you tell it a million times, you remove yourself from emotional content."
She added, "I believe all of it. Especially as someone who was her intimate partner. If I made a sudden move during an argument, she would recoil. It was clear to me that she was in a very violent relationship."
According to Heard's ex-girlfriend, the dynamic between the "Aquaman" actress and Depp "didn't allow them to express themselves in a proper way."
Butti explained: "She was trying to stand her own ground, and he just wasn't having it. He was blacked out and drinking, a lot of drug doing, alcohol, and that is always a recipe for disaster."
Butti and Heard were first romantically linked in 2020, four years after Heard finalized her divorce from Depp. However, their relationship came to an end in late 2021.
According to The Mirror, the two quietly parted ways after spending significant time apart, with Butti based in Los Angeles and Heard filming "Aquaman 2" in the UK at the time.
In June 2022, Heard faced a major legal defeat when she lost the defamation trial brought against her by Depp.
The actor had filed a $50 million lawsuit in 2019, claiming that Heard's 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post, which alluded to being a victim of abuse, had harmed his reputation. The court sided with the "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor, awarding him $10 million in compensatory damages and an additional $350,000 in punitive damages.
Just a few months after the trial concluded, Heard relocated to Spain with her daughter, Oonagh Paige. Recently, the "Justice League" star revealed she welcomed twins, Agnes and Ocean, after facing fertility struggles.
Despite the eventual chaos and courtroom drama that came to define Heard and Depp's relationship, those close to the former couple insist it began with "genuine love."
Speaking to Fox News Digital, Loudenberg, one of the authors of "Hollywood Vampires," revealed that interviews with mutual friends from both camps painted a picture of a real emotional connection.
"The people, the friends we talked to on both sides, said there was genuine love between them and that it was authentic," she explained. "We tried to write that into the story. We feel that there was a love they had for each other. There was a special connection to each other, which makes it all the more tragic and sad."
Wholey echoed that sentiment, adding that "It's probably why it exploded so much."
"It did seem like they really were in love with each other for a time. But we brought it back to this idea of Hollywood, the machinations of Hollywood, making everything distorted for people," she said. "It's hard to find love in a hopeless place."
Depp and Heard's connection reportedly sparked the moment they met during the casting process for the 2011 film "The Rum Diary," shot in Puerto Rico.
According to the new book, "Hollywood Vampires: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, and the Celebrity Exploitation Machine," Depp was instantly struck by Heard's presence, allegedly thinking, "Yep… That's the one… she could definitely kill me."
At the time, Heard was in a relationship with Hawaiian artist and model Tasya van Ree. Still, Depp reportedly joked to director Bruce Robinson, "Don't worry, no leading lady of mine stays gay for very long."
When van Ree left Puerto Rico and returned to Los Angeles, sources on set claimed Depp and Heard quickly grew inseparable, describing their dynamic as a "death dance" of "mutual infatuation."
Their on-screen chemistry bled into real life during a kissing scene that reportedly didn't feel staged. "It didn't feel like a normal scene," Heard later admitted. "It felt real."
In October last year, Depp was asked by The Hollywood Reporter to weigh in on his past remark about how his life "turned into a soap opera" amid his drama with Heard and if he still felt that way.
He replied, "Honestly, I can sit here this very second and think about all the hit pieces and how everybody was against me, and yeah, yeah, yeah, he is off the map … endless stuff."
"I can remember it all. Went through it all. Some of it was not the most beautiful time, some of it was hilarious. Some of it was mad. The thing is, it simply just was, and it simply just is. So, for me, it happened. I learned, man," Depp continued.
"Everything that we experience, whether you're given a snow cone or walking your dog, you learn something somewhere along the way," he added. "So I don't have any ill feelings toward anyone. I don't have this great reserve of hatred because hatred requires caring. Why carry that baggage?"
Depp has since moved on in his love life and is also reportedly preparing for a Hollywood comeback, which includes a major dental makeover.