Over three years after the explosive defamation trial that captivated the world, Johnny Depp is looking back on his tumultuous relationship with ex-wife Amber Heard and the impact it had on his views of love, pain, and public perception. In a rare interview with The Sunday Times, the 62-year-old actor opened up about the emotional toll of his marriage to Heard and how past personal experiences shaped his attempt to “help” someone he believed was in pain.
“So, what were my initial dealings with what we call ‘love?’” Depp mused. “Clearly obtuse.” The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star said he once believed he could heal others through love. “Sometimes you look in a person’s eye and see some sadness, some lonely thing, and you feel you can help that person,” he shared. “But no good deed goes unpunished… 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.”
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s Turbulent Journey from Love to Legal War
His comments come years after his high-profile and deeply contentious legal saga with Heard. The pair first met in 2011 on the set of “The Rum Diary” and tied the knot in 2015. But just over a year later, in May 2016, Heard filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences and requested a temporary restraining order amid allegations of domestic violence. The couple reached a $7 million settlement that August.
In 2018, Heard wrote a Washington Post op-ed describing the backlash she said she faced after coming forward with abuse allegations, without naming Depp, and called for more support for women who speak out about violence. In response, Depp filed a $50 million defamation suit in 2019, claiming the piece damaged his career and reputation.
The legal drama escalated when Depp lost a U.K. libel suit in 2020 against The Sun for referring to him as a “wife-beater.” The British court deemed the tabloid’s claims “substantially true,” a decision Depp unsuccessfully appealed in 2021.
The most publicized chapter began in April 2022 with a six-week, televised defamation trial in Virginia. Both actors took the stand and made graphic, emotional allegations of abuse against each other. On June 1, the jury found Heard liable on all three counts of defamation related to the op-ed, awarding Depp $10.35 million in damages. However, Depp was also found liable for one claim in Heard’s countersuit and was ordered to pay her $2 million.
Though both sides filed appeals, the legal saga ended in December 2022 with a mutual agreement: Heard would pay Depp $1 million, which he vowed to donate to charity. Now, reflecting on the chaos and controversy, Depp says the ordeal represents only “a sliver” of his life, one that he’s chosen to explore, but not be defined by.
