Latest news with #JohnnyDepp
News.com.au
a day ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Amber Heard's dad tried to bring meat into Australia while she fretted about dog-smuggling fallout, new book reveals
Few will forget the debacle that unfolded when Amber Heard smuggled her and Johnny Depp's dogs into Australia – and a decade later it's been revealed that the actress' dad also fell foul of customs officials … with a haul of Texan meat. David Heard tried to enter the country with 'a massive amount of frozen meat' when he and wife Paige joined their famous daughter and then-son-in law on the Gold Coast in 2015, according to a new book. When told he couldn't proceed with his tucker – presumably brought out with the aim of barbecuing up a storm at the family's rented mansion – because of Aussie biosecurity laws, Heard asked airport officials to keep it in their freezer until his departure two weeks later. The beefy bungle is yet another anecdote from Hollywood Vampires: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard and the Celebrity Exploitation Machine. The book – about the couple's tumultuous relationship and its fallout, which led to court cases in both the US and UK – shines a light on their time Down Under while Depp was filming for Pirates Of The Caribbean: including an infamous night of mayhem at the mansion, the role of a former Buckingham Palace butler who was Depp's right-hand man and Elon Musk's part as Heard's partner post-Depp. As it eventuated, Heard Senior's unwitting smuggling operation was small fry compared to his daughter's. Amber memorably brought teacup Yorkies, Pistol and Boo, into Australia having falsified her customs declaration, declaring that she was travelling without animals. Barnaby Joyce, then Agriculture Minister, gave the couple 50 hours to get the dogs back to the US or they'd be euthanised. The couple would address the viral story by releasing a video saying they were 'truly sorry' – but behind the scenes Heard was panicking about the potential career impact, according to Hollywood Vampires, which will be published in Australia by HarperCollins on August 12. Heard had recently auditioned for the part of Mera, an aquatic warrior princess in the superhero epic Aquaman, also set to film in Australia. 'The film had the potential to propel her career to a new level of stardom,' write authors Kelly Loudenberg and Makiko Wholey. 'What if she was banned from entering Australia?' Depp reached out to Warner Bros on her behalf and ultimately Amber got the job. Yet by the time it came to return to Australia in 2017 to film the movie, Heard's marriage to Depp was over and it was her new boyfriend, tech billionaire Elon Musk, accompanying her. According to the authors, executives at SpaceX and Tesla were not impressed with their boss's infatuation. 'It would be a Tuesday night and she would keep him up all night,' said a source close to Musk. 'She did more to slow the advancement of electric cars than the CEO of Exxon Mobil.' While the couple eventually split, Musk later described the relationship to his biographer as the most agonising of all his romantic endeavours. He admitted he was lovesick. 'It was brutal,' he said.
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
‘Really in love': Truth of Johnny Depp, Amber Heard romance
It's been almost a decade since Amber Heard first filed for divorce from Johnny Depp, in what became one of the most talked-about breakups in Hollywood history. In the bitter disputes that followed, each accused the other of violence and addiction issues, and startling stories emerged about Depp severing his own finger to scrawl messages on a mirror with the bloodied tip. Heard, meanwhile, was accused of relieving herself in the marital bed (she blamed their dogs, teacup Yorkshire terriers Pistol and Boo). It was genuinely shocking stuff. And journalists Kelly Loudenberg and Makiko Wholey were in the box seat to witness every sad and sordid detail, which they now unpick in their HarperCollins book Hollywood Vampires: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard And The Celebrity Exploitation Machine. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Loudenberg said she hoped the book would remind readers that there was genuine love between the couple before the divorce became a media circus. 'We tried to write that into the story,' she said. '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.' Her co-author, Wholey, also weighed in, saying, '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. It's hard to find love in a hopeless place.' Certainly, theirs was a classic Hollywood love story of a famous older actor falling for his much younger co-star, when Depp, now 62, and Heard, 39, met on the set of 2011 movie The Rum Diary. They tied the knot in 2015, on Depp's private island in the Bahamas, where they enjoyed an intimate celebration of dinner, dancing and drugs with their nearest and dearest. Depp's son Jack was in the wedding party, but his actress daughter Lily-Rose refused to attend. Fifteen months later, Heard filed for divorce, unleashing a deluge of mudslinging that has made Brangelina's legal stoush look like a fairytale uncoupling. Nobody came out a winner. Depp lost the first round when a UK judge found a 'great majority' of Heard's accounts could be proven on the balance of probabilities. The ruling led to the Pirates Of The Caribbean star being sacked from the Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore. The US actor then took the battle back to home soil, suing Heard for $77 million over an op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post in which she claimed to be a survivor of domestic abuse. Heard sued back, with a $154 million counterclaim against Depp. The American jury sided with Depp, awarding him more than $23 million in damages. He was also found to have defamed Heard via his lawyer, and ordered to pay her $3 million. The proceedings, which saw actress Ellen Barkin take the stand and Depp's private texts with Paul Bettany shared in open court, were broadcast live. So feverish was the interest that large crowds of spectators would gather outside the courthouse each day. Some even arrived hours early to wait in line for a coveted spot inside the courtroom. While giving her evidence, Heard described the toll of the attention: 'I am harassed, humiliated, threatened every single day. 'Even just walking into this courtroom, sitting here in front of the world, having the worst parts of my life, things that I've lived through, used to humiliate me. People want to kill me, and they tell me so every day.' Heard has now largely retreated from the public eye, moving to Spain to raise the three children she has since welcomed alone. By contrast, Depp is on the comeback trail. His first major Hollywood film since the trial, Day Drinker, alongside his Pirates co-star Penelope Cruz, is in production. And he's also the face of Hyde in a graphic novel series being produced by Ridley Scott based on the Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde novella by Robert Louis Stevenson. But, with his once sparkling brand still tarnished, how that goes remains to be seen. Dive further into this ugly tale with these documentaries on Tubi: Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial: Actors Mark Hapka and Megan Davis play the famous warring couple in this 2022 dramatisation of their embittered legal proceedings. Johnny Depp: Surviving Amber Heard: This 2023 two-parter takes a deep dive into Depp and Heard's relationship and their patterns of behaviour as individuals and as a couple.
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
‘Trail of blood': New book walks through horror night at Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's Aussie mansion
The tempestuous relationship of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard comes under the microscope in a new book by journalists who covered the A-list couple's courtroom battle. This extract from Hollywood Vampires dives into that infamous night of mayhem in Australia when everything came to a head. Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were still celebrating their nuptials when Johnny's freelance butler Ben King pulled into the palatial carport at Diamond Head, a colonial estate and riverfront mega mansion on Australia's Gold Coast. Soon the newlyweds would arrive at the estate. There was no time for a honeymoon after their February 2015 wedding; both Johnny and Amber were due back at work to start shooting their new films. Diamond Head's owner, Aussie motorcycling champion Mick Doohan, was away on tour. Mick had previously rented his place to Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Pink. Now the mansion would be Johnny and Amber's home for several months while Johnny filmed the fifth instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Dead Men Tell No Tales. The film would be shot exclusively in Australia after the Australian government offered Disney $20 million in tax incentives. It was the largest international feature film shoot in the country's history and the newest instalment would be an emotional exploration of Jack Sparrow's backstory. At Diamond Head, Ben scoped out the movie theatre and gym then entered the primary suite. He was surrounded by stacks of suitcases containing everything Johnny and Amber would need for their home away from home. There was a box filled entirely with candles. Several more suitcases were filled with art supplies. Then he unpacked and hung Johnny's clothes, mostly an assortment of tattered, patched, and stained bohemian garb. Nathan Holmes, Johnny's long-time assistant, had arrived earlier in the week. Between him and Ben, everything had been taken care of for Johnny and Amber's arrival. Nathan rented go-karts for the racetrack outside. He also found an art teacher for Amber because she wanted to take painting classes. The two men were soon joined by Chef Russell. Johnny arrived in Australia first and Amber a couple of weeks later. Immediately they began to fight. According to Johnny, Amber was 'irate' and 'possessed' over discussions of a postnuptial agreement following their failure to execute a prenup before the weddings. He said Amber believed he was trying to 'trick her' into receiving nothing from the postnup and complained that she wasn't even listed in his will. Without a pre- or postnup, per California law, Amber would automatically be entitled to 50 per cent of everything Johnny made during their marriage if they split. On the evening of Friday, March 6, Johnny and Amber were snuggled under a blanket to watch TV when Chef Russell said goodbye for the weekend. He reminded the pair that he'd prepared meals for the weekend that only needed to be reheated. On Sunday, Malcolm Connolly, Johnny's bodyguard got a call from Jerry Judge, Johnny's head of security. 'Something's happened with the boss, man,' Jerry said. 'You need to extract him. Just extract him, take him out of there.' Malcolm and Johnny's driver raced to Diamond Head. When he walked in the door, Amber was wearing a cardigan and a shiny slip, and screaming at Johnny. Johnny screamed back at Amber, clutching one of his fingers. 'She cut my finger clean off …' Johnny said. 'She slapped me with a vodka bottle.' He leaned over to Malcolm showing him the injured appendage. The claims were later disputed in court. Malcolm looked at Johnny's finger and thought, 'This looks like a captain cigar, like what you see in the cartoons.' He said to Johnny, 'Let's move, get in the car.' He crossed over to Johnny and pushed him toward the door. Johnny and Amber continued to argue as Malcolm tried to pull Johnny away and into the car outside. 'Johnny, that's all you do. You f**k off. You f**k off with your guys. You're a fucking coward, you big man,' Amber screamed at him. Johnny kept running back up the stairs to continue the fight, begging Malcolm, 'Let me stay for a few more minutes.' Finally, Malcolm pulled him down the stairs and out of the house. He put him in the car and walked around to the other side to sit behind Johnny in the back seat. 'Johnny, LET'S GO!' Malcolm demanded. With Johnny in the back seat wailing, Malcolm and the driver raced back to Malcolm's apartment in Broadbeach. 'It's going to be all right, boss,' he reassured Johnny. The driver parked in the underground garage and Malcolm snuck Johnny inside through a back passageway. As Malcolm washed Johnny's bloody hand, he could see the bone sticking out of his finger. There was dirt and paint in the wound too. He sat Johnny down on his bed and phoned Nurse Debbie Lloyd who, along with Dr Kipper, a specialist in addiction care, had been engaged by Johnny's team the previous year. Both had flown out to Australia and were installed in apartments near the mansion to be on call. 'Get here fast,' he said. Johnny moaned behind him. Kipper and Debbie arrived at Malcolm's apartment, took one look at Johnny's hand, and drove him to the hospital. Inside the ER, Johnny, still wearing his sunglasses, laid on a stretcher, his bloody finger wrapped in a green napkin laid on top of a large fabric pad. Malcolm stood next to Johnny, fuming. 'I stood on top of a chair and I took pictures of him. I had enough.' Malcolm wanted to document Johnny's injuries. 'Every time I see him, he's got marks or scratches. It really was dangerous, man, dangerous. I thought I could show up one morning and he'll be dead.' Back at the Diamond Head mansion, Dr Kipper and Nurse Debbie tried to locate Johnny's missing fingertip. There was still time to stitch it back on. At some point that morning, Amber's cell phone had been positioned on the first floor near the front entrance. Still actively recording audio, it captured Dr Kipper and Nurse Debbie's conversation. When questioned about it later, Amber explained that Johnny 'took her phone and pressed record' before security got there. The recording would eventually become a significant piece of evidence at trial. Amber would later assert that on that Sunday morning, she was fresh out of a 'three-day hostage situation,' in which Johnny inflicted grievous bodily harm on her, including rape with a glass liquor bottle. But on the recording, in the presence of her doctor and a nurse, Amber didn't mention any of the bloodied cuts and gashes covering her arms or her 'shredded' feet caused by several broken glass bottles. As the medical team tried to find Johnny's finger, Amber became fixated on returning to Johnny and being by his side, but Dr Kipper wouldn't hear it. Amber sobbed in the background – 'He needs me right now! Me!' - while Kipper and Debbie discussed what meds to give her to calm her down. Jerry Judge urged Amber to go back home to Los Angeles, but she remained reluctant. She believed the relationship would be over if she did. 'I can't leave, I can't leave. It'll be the end if I leave,' she said. While Amber was sequestered upstairs, Jerry Judge called Christi Dembrowski, Johnny's sister and business partner, filling her in on what had happened that morning. The audio recording captured his end of the conversation. 'There's been bottles thrown, and she – she admits to me she threw the first – she threw a bottle at him.' Amber would claim Johnny was out of his mind on drugs, having taken ten ecstasy pills at once, as well as cocaine and liquor. She said she'd watched him smash a wall phone into pieces and lose his fingertip that way, though no evidence was found of a smashed phone. Plans were made for Amber to fly back to Los Angeles early the next morning, March 9, 2015 and Ben King returned to Diamond Head to find the rental home wrecked. Ben said that when he walked through the aftermath, there was a clear trail of blood leading from one bedroom to the next, and in and out of several bathrooms. Inside one bedroom, the bed linens were covered in blood, and there was also a bloody iPad and a blood-smeared guitar. Both Johnny and Amber later claimed to have been hiding from each other in various rooms of the house. Ben followed another trail of blood to the downstairs bar, which was set back from a pool table, lit with blue lighting. On the floor was a bloody paper towel sitting next to cans, bottles, and broken glass. Inside the towel was Johnny's fingertip. Ben went upstairs and placed the flesh inside a zip-lock bag and put the bag in a bowl of ice inside a plastic container. The fingertip was rushed to the hospital to give it to the doctors, but according to Ben, 'The fingertip didn't find its way back to his finger, because it was too late.' In the end Ben escorted Amber back to LA. On the ride to the airport, Amber talked on her phone to several people, one of them Johnny. She'd later testify that he called her from the hospital to ask if he had 'killed it,' meaning the relationship. As they taxied down the runway, Ben asked the question that had been burning into him. 'What happened to the house?' He said Amber turned to look at him. 'Have you ever been so angry with someone, you just lost it with them?' Meanwhile, Jerry Bruckheimer's production company, JBF Inc., needed a story to give the public explaining why production on Pirates 5 had come to a halt. Three days after the finger incident, a press release with their 'official' story was released: 'Pirate steers off course! Johnny Depp injured his hand GO-KARTING at motorbike champion's luxury estate – forcing the star to fly home.' Photos showed Johnny boarding his private jet, flashing a gold-toothed grin for the paparazzi. He held his injured hand like a sock puppet against his chest, his forearm and hand sheathed in black skull-and-crossbones fabric that was sloppily wrapped up with silver duct tape. Soon he'd be on an operating table in Los Angeles for a skin grafting, in which skin from another part of his hand would be used to cover the portion of his finger that had been severed. A pin would also be placed in the broken bone. After the operation, Johnny posed for a picture, flipping off the camera with a massive middle finger bandaged up in pink gauze patterned with little purple hearts. As for Disney, they lost US$350,000 for every day that the production was shut down.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Armie Hammer admits getting Johnny Depp ‘super stoned' during Lone Ranger Press Tour
Armie Hammer is revisiting a wild moment from his 'Lone Ranger' days. He got nostalgic in an episode of his podcast and revealed that he once got co-star Johnny Depp 'super stoned' ahead of a press junket. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Reflecting on that period in 2013, Hammer admitted, 'I was smoking upwards of 15 to 20 joints a day'. 'I loved poisoning people': Armie Hammer's wild confession sparks concern On the July 28 episode of Armie Hammer Time podcast, he made a startling admission. He said, 'I loved marijuana roofie-ing people,' he said with a laugh, adding, 'I loved poisoning people.' His longtime friend and co-host Ashton Ramsey quickly stepped in, urging him to 'self-censor.' Ramsey then introduced what he called Hammer's most infamous moment: 'The most trouble you ever got into was when you basically got Johnny super stoned.' Armie Hammer says he was banned from Depp during press tour 'They never let me hang out with Johnny on the press tour after that,' Armie Hammer recalled on his Armie HammerTime podcast, referring to his 'Lone Ranger' co-star Johnny Depp. 'They would always keep us apart. They were like, 'You two cannot hang out anymore.'' 'A bite of tradition': Armie Hammer's hunting ritual sparks fresh outrage Earlier this year, Armie Hammer made headlines yet again by sharing a story that apparently aired on The Louis Theroux Podcast, released on February 11. E! News reported that the 'Call Me By Your Name' star claimed to have eaten a bite of a living animal's heart on a hunting trip and called it some sort of tradition that lasted thousands of years. 'You don't eat the whole heart. One of the traditions is you take a bite out of the heart,' Hammer explained, adding that he was 'goaded on' by friends during the expedition. He emphasized that the act was not rooted in violence or sexual gratification, but rather an exaggerated male initiation ritual. Armie Hammer defends animal heart ritual amid past allegations On The Louis Theroux Podcast, released February 11, Armie Hammer recounted a controversial moment from a hunting trip, where he took a bite out of a living animal's heart. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 'It's sort of like an overly charged male rite of passage when you go hunting for the first time,' he explained. 'Everyone I know who went hunting for their first time had to do something similar.' Hammer emphasized that the act was not rooted in violence or sexual intent, saying he cut out the heart 'not for the purpose of any cannibalism or any sexual gratification.' Addressing the 2021 allegations of cannibalistic fantasies, he added pointedly, 'You know what you have to do to actually be a cannibal? You have to actually eat human flesh. So no'. Johnny Depp returns to Hollywood in Day Drinker, Reuniting with Penélope Cruz Johnny Depp is currently working on Day Drinker, his movie with Penélope Cruz and Madelyn Cline. This is the fourth time Depp has worked with Cruz, 51, and it appears to be his highly anticipated return to Hollywood for Depp, and it will be his first major studio job since 2018's Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Last month, Johnny Depp made a splash at the U.K. showing of 'Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness,' his first directorial project in 20 years. The audacious film is based on Dennis McIntyre's play about a chaotically dark moment in the life of Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani. Riccardo Scamarcio plays the tortured artist, and Al Pacino plays art collector Maurice Gangnat.
Courier-Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Courier-Mail
Royal butler's role in Depp-Heard Queensland dog smuggling revealed
Don't miss out on the headlines from Books. Followed categories will be added to My News. A celebrity fixer drawn into the infamous Australian antics of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard was a former butler to the Queen who prides himself on his discretion, it has emerged. A new book documenting the Hollywood stars' tempestuous relationship reveals that British citizen Ben King, who worked as Depp's butler and house manager, began work at Buckingham Palace as a 20-year-old. He also worked for Nelson Mandela and Andrew Lloyd Webber before being hired as Depp's right-hand man, according to Hollywood Vampires: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard and the Celebrity Exploitation Machine. And King had a central role in the hullabaloo over the A-list couple's smuggled dogs. The comical scandal blew up – drawing in government ministers and making headlines around the world – after it came to light that Heard illegally brought their two teacup Yorkies, Pistol and Boo, into Australia in 2015. Back in California … Johnny Depp and Amber Heard at a film premiere in Westwood in November 2015, after their stay in Australia earlier in the year. 'Clean and elegant with impeccable manners' … Ben King testifies in Fairfax County Circuit Court in April 2022, after Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for libel. Described in the book as clean and elegant with impeccable manners, King and the drug-addicted Depp seemed an improbable pairing, but the butler employed the same approach he took with the late Queen Elizabeth. 'Trust and discretion are the two things required for the job,' he told the book's authors, journalists Kelly Loudenberg and Makiko Wholey. Yet it seems discretion was sorely lacking when King took the dogs to Queensland grooming parlour, Happy Dogz, while Depp was living in the state and filming the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise Dead Men Tell No Tales in 2015. STREAM FREE ON TUBI: DEPP/HEARD DOCUMENTARIES Requesting the salon trim back the dogs' hair and style their faces, King revealed to the staff that Pistol and Boo belonged to none other than Johnny Depp. Thrilled to be grooming two celebrity pets, the salon owner promptly posted the pictures of the dogs to Facebook, alerting Barnaby Joyce, then Minister of Agriculture. Doggy debacle … Boo and Pistol at the Gold Coast mansion rented by Depp from motorcycle champion Mick Doohan. Credit: Nine News In the doghouse … Amber Heard, accompanied by Johnny Depp, arrives at the Southport Magistrates Court in April 2016 to face two counts of breaching Australia's quarantine laws. She paid a fine but escaped conviction after pleading guilty and expressing remorse. While Joyce ordered the dogs be taken back to the US immediately or they'd be euthanised, King was frantic with fear that he'd lose his job, according to Hollywood Vampires. Depp reportedly told his butler not to worry and one of his team smuggled the Yorkies back to the US inside a hatbox placed on the actor's private jet. The fascinating relationship between the Hollywood stars and their entourage is laid bare in the book, which reveals how Depp demanded his team procure drugs for him and how they were left to clean up after he and Heard all but destroyed a rented Gold Coast mansion during a vicious argument. An extra hotel room was always rented in case a fight broke out between the couple and they needed to be sent to their own corners. Depp was already in an agitated state before Heard arrived Down Under to join him and texted his assistant Nathan Holmes asking for drugs. He said he'd been sober from booze for nine months but he was still taking ecstasy, according to the book. Ben King's former boss, Queen Elizabeth II. British music royalty Andrew Lloyd Webber. Holmes reportedly told his boss that 'the guy', a film crew member, could only carry two grams because if caught he faced two years in an Australia prison. Depp apparently exploded: 'Any ONE of ANY of you guys start to lecture me … I just do not want to hear it … No stupid bullshit about sappy bollocks.' It was Holmes and King who were faced with cleaning up after the couple's vicious row which led Depp to losing the top of his finger. The pair had to restore the damage to the house, estimated to be up to $300,000, without its owner, Aussie motorcycling champion Mick Doohan, learning about the drama. As part of the operation, King found a woman in the countryside to make a perfect copy of an antique lampshade on which Depp had painted 'Good Luck and Be Careful at the Top'. He also found someone to replace the chunk of marble that had come off the bar in the games room. New details … Hollywood Vampires will be published in Australia on August 12. Hollywood Vampires: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard and the Celebrity Exploitation Machine, by Kelly Loudenberg and Makiko Wholey, will be published in Australia by HarperCollins on August 12. Want to go further into the Depp/Heard story? Watch for free on Tubi: Documentary – Depp vs Heard: All the Line Docu-series – Surviving Amber Heard Dramatisation – Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial PLUS Star Couple's Night of Aussie Mayhem: Exclusive extract on Sunday. Originally published as Manager who looked after Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, their smuggled dogs and their trashed mansion was former royal man
