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Courier-Mail
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Courier-Mail
New book exposes truth behind Depp-Heard Hollywood romance
Don't miss out on the headlines from Hook Ups & Break Ups. Followed categories will be added to My News. 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. Amber Heard and Johnny Depp's doomed marriage became one of the most talked about Hollywood romances in recent memory. Picture: Steve Helber/AFP 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. The pair fell in love after meeting on-set in 2011. Picture:for Art of Elysium 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. It's been a decade since Heard filed for divorce from Depp after 15 months of marriage. Picture: AAP Image/Dave Hunt 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. Johnny Depp Joins Alice Cooper on stage in tribute to Ozzy Osbourne Video Player is loading. Play Video This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. 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This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. 00:26 SUBSCRIBER ONLY Johnny Depp Joins Alice Cooper on stage in tribute to Ozzy Osbourne more more Depp made a surprise appearance at a Judas Priest and Alice Cooper concert at London's O2 Arena on Friday, July 25, to pay tribune to late Ozzy Osbourne. American actor and musician Johnny...... ... more 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. Johnny Depp: Wild Child: Rebelling against his pretty-boy looks, Depp purposely carved out a career playing weirdos and antiheroes. His unique trajectory is traced in this 2022 doco. Originally published as 'Really in love': Truth of Johnny Depp, Amber Heard romance
Spectator
30-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
The trials of ‘the sexiest man alive'
This is an account of the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard court cases with a top-dressing of pretentious tosh about the meaning of celebrity, etc – but you can easily ignore the tosh because the basic story is so gripping. Depp was 46 and already a global superstar when he met Amber Heard in 2009. She was a relatively unknown 22-year-old actress, but he auditioned her for the female lead in a film he was making of Hunter S. Thompson's The Rum Diary. Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson were also up for the role, but as soon as he saw Heard he decided 'Yep… That's the one.' Amber arrived for filming with her girlfriend Tasya van Ree, whom she introduced as her wife. The director Bruce Robinson panicked: 'She's gay?!' But Depp reassured him: 'Don't worry, no leading lady of mine stays gay for very long.' People magazine had voted him the Sexiest Man Alive for the previous two years. But he was supposed to be in a long-term relationship with the Parisian actress and singer Vanessa Paradis, the mother of his two children. Nevertheless, he split from Vanessa and married Amber in February 2015. All his friends urged him to get a prenup, but he didn't. He was supremely insouciant about money. He spent $500,000 a month just on storing his collections of Hollywood memorabilia, vintage guitars and cars, and he owned 14 properties around the world, including a private island. He spent a further fortune on drugs and alcohol. The marriage lasted only 15 months and was characterised by violent fights from the start. Depp's bodyguard apparently noticed that 'every time I see him, he's got marks or scratches. She has a scary, scary temper.' One time when they were filming in Australia, Depp apparently showed him his bloody hand and said: 'She cut my finger clean off… she slapped me with a vodka bottle.' The bodyguard dragged him to a car to take him to hospital while Heard kept screaming: 'You're a fucking coward, you big man.' The butler managed to find his severed fingertip, but it was too late to sew it back on, and Warner Bros put out a press release that Depp had been injured in a go-karting accident. In May 2016 Heard filed for divorce, accusing Depp of 14 incidents of domestic violence, and was granted a $7 million settlement which she said she would donate to charity. She then had a relationship with Elon Musk, which Depp later described as 'brutal'. Musk's brother Kimbal said: 'She was just so toxic.' On 27 April 2018 the Sun described Depp as a wife-beater, and he sued for defamation. Then Heard wrote an article for the Washington Post, speaking out against domestic violence. It didn't mention Depp by name, but still he sued for $50 million and she countersued. The Sun defamation suit opened at the Royal Courts of Justice in July 2020. Heard was the paper's star witness and testified to 14 different incidents of domestic violence. The judge believed her in 12 of the incidents and ruled that the Sun had not defamed Depp when it called him a wife-beater. He also rejected Depp's case that Heard was responsible for him losing a finger in Australia and found that he had in fact assaulted Heard on that occasion. Warner Bros then dropped Depp from its forthcoming Fantastic Beasts film. The bigger Washington Post trial was delayed by Covid for almost a year, and Heard spent the time having another lesbian relationship and producing a daughter, Oonagh, by surrogate. The trial was held in the town of Fairfax, Virginia, where the Washington Post was printed. The place was quickly overrun by TV teams and fans who queued all night to get a wristband admitting them to the courtroom. (One of the wristbands later fetched $4,000 oneBay.) Many fans came dressed as Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean – but there was also a woman who appeared as a turd, in reference to 'Poopgate', when Depp's housekeeper claimed to have found faeces in his bed. This time the trial did not go all Heard's way. Depp's lawyer established that she had not actually donated her $7 million divorce settlement to charity as she claimed. She said she had 'pledged' it, and 'I use pledge and donation synonymous with one another'. But the fact was the charity hadn't received it. Then jurors were shocked by an audio recording of Heard ranting at Depp, calling him a 'washed up piece of shit', where she was obviously goading him into a fight. And there was photographic evidence that her face could look bruised one day and flawless the next. After a six-week trial, the jury found in favour of Depp and awarded him $10 million damages. One of the jurors later claimed that they believed him rather than her because her evidence had so many inconsistencies and also 'having him on the stand was a breath of fresh air'. After the verdict, Depp retreated to his island in the Bahamas with his personal therapist Beechy Colclough and Heard moved to Spain. The newspapers wrote heavy op-eds asking if this marked the end of the #MeToo movement, and maybe it did. Anyway, the circus had moved on.
Daily Mail
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Johnny Depp claims he was betrayed by three of his closest friends who deserted him after he was accused of abuse by ex-wife Amber Heard
Johnny Depp has spoken out about how he was 'deserted' by three of his closest friends after he was accused of abuse by his ex-wife Amber Heard. Jonny married Amber in 2015 after the pair met on set of The Rum Diary (2011). However, she filed for divorce the following year, and it was finalised in 2017. The Hollywood star, 62, always strenuously denied the claims made by Amber, 39, during the couple's divorce proceedings in 2016. The couple's alleged violent relationship sent shockwaves throughout the industry and both parties were dropped from work projects at the time. Johnny was recast in the Fantastic Beasts series by Mads Mikkelsen, while Amber claimed she lost out on opportunities due to the online backlash. As well as being axed from jobs, Johnny has now claimed he was also let down by some of the people in his inner circle who attended his children's birthday parties. Speaking to the Sunday Times, Johnny criticised the actions of three of his close friends and claimed he had been a 'crash test dummy for the #MeToo movement'. He said: 'I'll tell you what hurts. There are people, and I'm thinking of three, who did me dirty. Those people were at my kids' parties, throwing them in the air.' 'And, look, I understand people who could not stand up [for me], because the most frightening thing to them was making the right choice.' Johnny's agent of 30 years who was sacked in 2016, Tracey Jacobs, spoke out against him during the highly publicised defamation trial. Tracey claimed that studios were 'reluctant' to hire Johnny because of his reputation for being late to work. He said of Tracey: 'My loyalty is the last thing anybody could question. I was with one agent for 30 years, but she spoke in court about how difficult I was.' During the Depp v. Heard trial that came to an end in June 2022, Johnny received a rally of support from fans at the Fairfax County courtroom in Virginia. Johnny and Amber's publicised legal issues began when he filed a libel lawsuit against The Sun's publisher and it's executive editor Dan Wootton over a 2018 article which included claims that he was a 'wife beater.' But in 2020, the High Court of Justice ruled in favour of The Sun's publisher and Wootton, but Johnny later sued Amber in 2019 for defamation over a 2018 op-ed article she wrote for The Washington Post. She countersued her ex-husband in 2020 and the trial officially began in April 2022. Two months later, the jury's verdict was in favour of Johnny. At the time, the star had offered his reaction to the ruling and expressed that the 'jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled.' He star also expressed, 'Speaking the truth was something that I owed to my children and to all those who have remained steadfast in their support of me. I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that.' Amber has since moved and settled in Spain - where she raises her three children, a daughter born in 2021 via surrogacy and she announced in May that she had also welcomed twins. Johnny has also made his return to the big screen following the trial, such as Jeanne du Barry (2023). Last year in October, Johnny insisted that he 'holds no ill will towards anyone' following the legal drama and bitter divorce from Heard. '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,' he told The Hollywood Reporter. '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 actor added, 'The thing is, it simply just was, and it simply just is. So, for me, it happened. I learned, man. 'Everything that we experience, whether you're given a snow cone or walking your dog, you learn something somewhere along the way.' Johnny then explained, '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?' Johnny is preparing to hit the big screen once again for the upcoming thriller Day Drinker. The movie is being directed by Marc Webb and also stars Penelope Cruz, Madelyn Cline, Manu Rios and Javier Botet. The premise is: 'An enigmatic stranger forms an unlikely bond with a grieving bartender who lost her lover, their lives intertwining in unexpected ways,' per IMDB. A first look photo was recently released which shows an unrecognizable Depp stepping into the shoes of his character - which includes graying hair and a beard. When questioned by The Sunday Times if he has any regrets, the actor admitted, 'I have no regrets about anything - because, truly, what can we do about last week's dinner? Not a f***ing thing.'
Daily Mail
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Johnny Depp claims he was betrayed by some of his closest friends who deserted him after he was accused of abuse by ex-wife Amber Heard
Johnny Depp has spoken out about how he was 'deserted' by his closest friends after he was accused of abuse by his ex-wife Amber Heard. Jonny married Amber in 2015 after the pair met on set of The Rum Diary (2011). However, she filed for divorce the following year, and it was finalised in 2017. The Hollywood star, 62, always strenuously denied the claims made by Amber, 39, during the couple's divorce proceedings in 2016. The couple's alleged violent relationship sent shockwaves throughout the industry and both parties were dropped from work projects at the time. Johnny was recast in the Fantastic Beasts series by Mads Mikkelsen, while Amber claimed she lost out on opportunities due to the online backlash. As well as being axed from jobs, Johnny has now claimed he was also let down by some of the people in his inner circle who attended his children's birthday parties. Speaking to the Sunday Times, Johnny criticised the actions of three of his close friends and claimed he had been a 'crash test dummy for the #MeToo movement'. He said: 'I'll tell you what hurts. There are people, and I'm thinking of three, who did me dirty. Those people were at my kids' parties, throwing them in the air.' 'And, look, I understand people who could not stand up [for me], because the most frightening thing to them was making the right choice.' Johnny's agent of 30 years who was sacked in 2016, Tracey Jacobs, spoke out against him during the highly publicised defamation trial. Tracey claimed that studios were 'reluctant' to hire Johnny because of his reputation for being late to work. He said of Tracey: 'My loyalty is the last thing anybody could question. I was with one agent for 30 years, but she spoke in court about how difficult I was.' During the Depp v. Heard trial that came to an end in June 2022, Johnny received a rally of support from fans at the Fairfax County courtroom in Virginia. Johnny and Amber's publicised legal issues began when he filed a libel lawsuit against The Sun's publisher and it's executive editor Dan Wootton over a 2018 article which included claims that he was a 'wife beater.' But in 2020, the High Court of Justice ruled in favour of The Sun's publisher and Wootton, but Johnny later sued Amber in 2019 for defamation over a 2018 op-ed article she wrote for The Washington Post. She countersued her ex-husband in 2020 and the trial officially began in April 2022. Two months later, the jury's verdict was in favour of Johnny. At the time, the star had offered his reaction to the ruling and expressed that the 'jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled.' He star also expressed, 'Speaking the truth was something that I owed to my children and to all those who have remained steadfast in their support of me. I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that.' Amber has since moved and settled in Spain - where she raises her three children, a daughter born in 2021 via surrogacy and she announced in May that she had also welcomed twins. Johnny has also made his return to the big screen following the trial, such as Jeanne du Barry (2023). Last year in October, Johnny insisted that he 'holds no ill will towards anyone' following the legal drama and bitter divorce from Heard. '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,' he told The Hollywood Reporter. '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 actor added, 'The thing is, it simply just was, and it simply just is. So, for me, it happened. I learned, man. 'Everything that we experience, whether you're given a snow cone or walking your dog, you learn something somewhere along the way.' Johnny then explained, '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?' Johnny is preparing to hit the big screen once again for the upcoming thriller Day Drinker. The movie is being directed by Marc Webb and also stars Penelope Cruz, Madelyn Cline, Manu Rios and Javier Botet. The premise is: 'An enigmatic stranger forms an unlikely bond with a grieving bartender who lost her lover, their lives intertwining in unexpected ways,' per IMDB. A first look photo was recently released which shows an unrecognizable Depp stepping into the shoes of his character - which includes graying hair and a beard. When questioned by The Sunday Times if he has any regrets, the actor admitted, 'I have no regrets about anything - because, truly, what can we do about last week's dinner? Not a f***ing thing.'
Hindustan Times
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Johnny Depp admits being a ‘sucker' during his marriage to Amber Heard
Johnny Depp recently opened up in rare comments about his past relationship with Amber Heard. The 62-year-old actor, who recently surprised kids during a visit to a hospital in Spain, spoke to The Sunday Times about his troubled marriage and the intense 2022 defamation trial. Johnny Depp didn't hold back when describing himself. He called himself a 'sucker' when it came to love. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)(AP) He did not hold back as he called himself a 'sucker' when it came to love. He married Heard in 2015 after they met while filming The Rum Diary in 2011. However, by 2016, she filed for divorce, which was finalized in 2017, as cited by the Daily Mail report. During the 2022 trial, which ended in June, Depp received major support from fans inside and outside the courthouse in Fairfax County, Virginia. At one point, he was asked how it felt to see the public turn against Heard-- someone he once loved. Also Read: Johnny Depp reflects on raising Lily-Rose and Jack with Vanessa Paradis in France: 'I was papa' Depp opens up about his marriage with Heard Depp said of their relationship, 'So, what were my initial dealings with what we call 'love?' Clearly obtuse. And what that means is, 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.' He continued, '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.' The actor added, 'And the interesting thing is that it is merely a sliver of my life I have chosen to explore, because it is my mother and my father. Do you know what I'm saying?' Depp briefly touched on the subject of his childhood and said, 'I wouldn't say it was a house without love... But it was an intense love and I would not say that myself, or my siblings, or my pop and mom, experienced any great love or bliss.' His legal fight with Heard became public after he sued the publisher of The Sun and editor Dan Wootton over a 2018 article that called him a 'wife-beater.' In 2020, the court ruled in favor of the publisher. Depp later sued Heard for defamation over a 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post. 'And what that means is, 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,' he repeated, during a March appearance in NYC. Amber countersued Depp in 2020, and the trial officially began in April 2022. The jury reached a verdict in June that year, siding with Depp. Depp expresses gratitude towards the jury in his trial Depp shared about his reaction after the trial was over. He revealed, 'The jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled.' He also said, 'Speaking the truth was something that I owed to my children and to all those who have remained steadfast in their support of me. I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that.' Amber has since moved to Spain, where she is raising her three children. One daughter was born via surrogacy in 2021, and she recently welcomed twins. Depp, meanwhile, has returned to acting. He starred in Jeanne du Barry in 2023. He also reflected on how people close to him turned their backs on him during the trial. He said, 'As weird as I am, certain things can be trusted. And my loyalty is the last thing anybody could question. I was with one agent for 30 years, but she spoke in court about how difficult I was.' He went on, 'That's death by confetti, these fake motherf****** who lie to you, celebrate you, say all sorts of horror behind your back, yet keep the money—that confetti machine going—because what do they want? Dough.' Johnny added, 'There are people, and I'm thinking of three, who did me dirty...' He explained they had once been close friends, 'And, look, I understand people who could not stand up [for me], because the most frightening thing to them was making the right choice. I was pre-MeToo. I was like a crash test dummy for MeToo.' In an October 2024 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Depp said he doesn't hold any grudges: '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.' He added, '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. Everything that we experience, whether you're given a snow cone or walking your dog, you learn something somewhere along the way.' 'As weird as I am, certain things can be trusted. And my loyalty is the last thing anybody could question.' He also explained, '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 delves into his new project Depp is now gearing up for a new movie, Day Drinker, directed by Marc Webb and co-starring Penélope Cruz, Madelyn Cline, Manu Ríos, and Javier Botet. According to IMDb, it's about "an enigmatic stranger" who forms an unexpected connection with a grieving bartender. A new photo from the movie showed the actor nearly unrecognizable, with graying hair and a beard. When asked if he had any regrets, Depp told The Sunday Times, 'I have no regrets about anything—because, truly, what can we do about last week's dinner? Not a f***ing thing.' (By Varnika Srivastava)
