Details from Johnny Depp's marriage to actor Amber Heard, which spanned from 2015 to 2017, are being unearthed in a defamation trial, currently unfolding in Fairfax, Virginia.
Depp is suing Heard for $50 million over a Washington Post op-ed she wrote in which she identified as a victim of sexual abuse, NBC reports. While Depp is never named in the column, his lawyers argue that he is implied as the subject, writing in the complaint the op-ed is a “clear implication that Mr. Depp is a domestic abuser.” Heard countersued for $100 million, per NBC.
This is the second of two lawsuits that the couple has been involved in. In 2020, Depp and Heard were in court after Depp sued the executive editor and publisher of The Sun for calling him a "wife beater" in a headline. Depp lost the court case, per the New York Times.
Depp denies all allegations of abuse. “Since I knew that there was no truth to it whatsoever, I felt it my responsibility to stand up, not only for myself in that instance, but ... for my children," Depp said in his testimony, per NBC, explaining his reasoning for the lawsuit.
Depp's past relationships have also come up during the proceedings. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Depp reportedly has to turn over correspondence with past romantic connections.
Ellen Barkin testified during the U.K. and U.S. trials; Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis provided written statements for the U.K. trial, per Variety.
With scrutiny on Depp's love life, here's a walk through the actor's public relationships, and what associated parties have said.
Lori Anne DeppDepp was married to Lori Anne Allison from 1983 to 1985. Allison, a makeup artist, introduced Depp to Nicolas Cage, who encouraged him to get into acting, per a Playboy interview.
Depp spoke about his first marriage in a 1997 interview with Boulevard Magazine. “I was married when I was 20 (to Lori Allison). It was a strong bond with someone but I can’t necessarily say I was in love. That’s something that comes around once, maybe twice, if you are lucky. And I don’t know that I experienced that before I turned 30.”
In 2015, Allison described Depp in an interview with the Miami Herald: "Well, we all know he’s a talented actor and can pull off the pirate thing like nobody’s business, but he’s also an extremely talented guitar player."
Sherilyn Fenn
Depp dated "Twin Peaks" star Sherilyn Fenn when he was new to L.A., meeting in 1985.
Fenn spoke about their relationship in an interview with The Big Issue in 2017: "We were so young. I met him when I was 19 and he was 21. We went out for two-and-a-half years when we were just starting out in the business. He was very sweet. He was my first love."
Jennifer Grey
According to a recent interview with Drew Barrymore, Grey started dating Depp in 1989 after breaking up with fiancé Matthew Broderick. Depp and Grey got engaged after two weeks.
“It was really a sign that there was trouble afoot on my part,” Grey told Barrymore about being engaged to two men in the same month. “I just thought it was God rescuing me from one bad situation and just lovingly plopping me into a Johnny Depp souffle.”
They were engaged for nine months, per Grey's memoir, "Out of the Corner."
Winona Ryder
Depp met Winona Ryder in 1989. “There’s been nothing in my 27 years that’s comparable to the feeling I have with Winona,” Depp told People. At the time of their meeting, Ryder was 17.
They got engaged five months after meeting, Depp told Rolling Stone in 1991, and starred in "Edward Scissorhands" during that time. Depp got a tattoo in her honor, which said, "Winona Forever" (which he later changed to "Wino Forever"). They split up in 1993, per the Guardian.
Depp's "Wino Forever" tattoo was mentioned during the trial in Virginia. Heard said Depp first hit her after asking about the tattoo, per the Telegraph.
During the U.K. trial in 2020, Ryder contributed a witness statement, saying Depp was “never violent” or “abusive,” per Deadline.
“I understand that it is very important that I speak from my own experience, as I obviously was not there during his marriage to Amber, but, from my experience, which was so wildly different, I was absolutely shocked, confused and upset when I heard the accusations against him,” Ryder said.
Kate Moss
Depp and model Kate Moss were together from 1994 to 1997. Vanity Fair columnist George Wayne introduced them at Cafe Tabac, a New York hangout, per his recollection in an Instagram post. "I had no idea that they would then become the IT couple for seasons to come," Wayne wrote.
In a 1998 interview with HELLO! conducted post-breakup, Depp said he was "horrific" to live with, and took responsibility for the relationship's ending: "I’m the one who has to take responsibility for what happened — I was difficult to get on with, I let my work get in the way and I didn’t give her the attention I should have done."
In 2012, Moss said of the relationship in an interview with Vanity Fair, “There’s nobody that’s ever really been able to take care of me. Johnny did for a bit. I believed what he said. Like if I said, ‘What do I do?,’ he’d tell me. And that’s what I missed when I left. I really lost that gauge of somebody I could trust.”
During her testimony, Heard mentioned Moss' name. Heard said her sister, Whitney Henriquez, was near a staircase while trying to break up a fight between them.
“(Whitney’s) back was to the staircase, and Johnny swings at her,” Heard said, per People. “I don’t hesitate, I don’t wait — I just, in my head, instantly think of Kate Moss and stairs, and I swung at him.”
Heard appeared to reference a fight between Moss and Depp at the Mark Hotel in New York in 1994. Depp was arrested on charges of criminal mischief. The charges were dropped, but Depp had to pay $10,000 in damages, per the New York Times. Neither Moss nor Depp has spoken publicly of that evening.
Moss testified during the trial and denied that Depp had pushed her down the stairs. “He never pushed me, kicked me or threw me down any stairs,” Moss continued.
Rather, Moss said she slipped while on vacation in Jamaica.
“We’re leaving the room and Johnny left the room before I did. And there had been a rainstorm. And as I left the room, I slid down the stairs and I hurt my back," Moss said.
“I screamed because I didn’t know what happened to me and I was in pain, and he came running back to help me and carried me to my room and brought me medical attention.”
Ellen Barkin
Barkin and Depp met while filming the 1998 film "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."
Barkin testified during the trial in the U.K., per Reuters, saying that Depp threw a wine bottle in her direction during that time. At the libel trial, Depp said the claims were "untrue," per Reuters, and that Barkin held a grudge.
Barkin testified for the defense during the defamation trial unfolding in Fairfax, Virginia. During her testimony, given in a pre-recorded deposition in 2019, Barkin characterized Depp as exhibiting "controlling" and "jealous" behavior during their "sexual" relationship.
“I had a scratch on my back that once got him very, very angry because he insisted it came from me having sex with a person who wasn’t him,” she said.
Barkin also addressed Depp's substance intake. “He was always drinking and smoking a joint,” she said.
Regarding the bottle incident, Barkin said Depp once “threw a wine bottle across the hotel room" at her and other people while filming "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," but it didn't hit anyone.
Vanessa Paradis
Depp began dating French singer Vanessa Paradis in 1998 after reconnecting in Paris.
“We saw each other sometimes over the course of four years. But then, the day we found each other in Paris, we were both in the same world and free and it was just instant. There was no more time to waste — just no way around it," Paradis said in 2008, per People. She called him a “a very charming person.”
They had two children together, daughter Lily Rose and son Jack.
“I could make an endless list of all the things I admire about him,” Paradis told Marie Claire in 2010. “We understand that, if we want our relationship to continue, we must give each other space, allow each other to go off on our own, and trust each other. Not everyone is lucky enough to be given space and trust.”
The couple split in 2012, per People. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Depp characterized the end of their relationship "a bit bumpy."
During the U.K. trial, Paradis provided a witness statement. “From my personal experience of many years, I can say he was never violent or abusive to me,” Paradis said, per the Hollywood Reporter, going on to describe him as being “kind, attentive, (and) generous.”
Amber Heard
Depp met Amber Heard on the set of "The Rum Diary" and began dating in 2012, per Variety. They were engaged in 2014 and married on his private island in the Bahamas in February 2015.
Heard filed for divorce in 2016. “Johnny has a long-held and widely-acknowledged public and private history of drug and alcohol abuse,” she said in her filing, per People. “He has a short fuse. He is often paranoid and his temper is extremely scary for me as it has proven many times to be physically dangerous and/or life-threatening to me.”
Depp denied Heard's allegations at the time.
Depp and Heard reached a divorce settlement out of court in 2016. The divorce was finalized in 2017.
Details from their relationship are emerging at the 2022 defamation trial. Heard alleges domestic violence and sexual assault. In testimony, Heard described him as the "man who beat me up for five years" and an "abuser."
In her courtroom testimony, per NBC, Heard said she believed she "wouldn't survive" if she didn't leave the marriage. "I knew I wouldn’t survive it if I didn’t so I filed for divorce,” she said, later adding, “I knew if I didn’t, I’d likely not literally survive.”