Johnny Depp has blasted the people who “did [him] dirty” after he was accused of domestic abuse.
Johnny Depp has reflected on his legal battle with Amber Heard
The Pirates of the Caribbean actor split from then-wife Amber Heard in 2016 and his career went into freefall when she later wrote an op-ed about being a victim of domestic abuse, and Johnny believes he became a “crash test dummy” for the #MeToo movement, with people moving to distance themselves from him as a result of the allegations.
He told the Sunday Times newspaper: “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.
“That’s death by confetti, these fake motherf***ers 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.
“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. I was pre-MeToo. I was like a crash test dummy for MeToo. It was before Harvey Weinstein.
“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. Better go woke!”
Johnny sued The Sun newspaper for libel after they branded him a wife-beater, but he lost the case, and then went on to take action against Amber for defamation over her op-ed piece and while the jury ultimately ruled against the Aquaman actress, lurid details of the former couple’s personal lives were revealed in court.
However, the Black Mass star – who has Lily-Rose, 25, and Jack, 22, with former partner Vanessa Paradis – has no regrets about taking action because he was determined to salvage his reputation.
He 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***ing globe? No it won’t.
” 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 memorise lines, if you’re just speaking the truth? Roll the dice.
“Look, none of this was going be easy, but I didn’t care. I thought, ‘I’ll fight until the bitter f***ing end.’ And if I end up pumping gas? That’s all right. I’ve done that before…
“I have no regrets about anything — because, truly, what can we do about last week’s dinner? Not a f***ing thing.”
Johnny insisted he isn’t bitter about what happened between himself and Amber.
He said: “It would be dumb for me to carry any bitterness. Eternal hatred? You want to put curses on someone? No. I know who I am, what that was and, look, it was a learning experience.”
