Winona Ryder ‘shocked’ by abuse claims against ‘caring’ Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp’s ex-lovers Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis have reacted to allegations from his former wife Amber Heard.
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Winona Ryder says she was shocked by claims that Johnny Depp was violent towards his ex-wife Amber Heard, in a statement released at a London court.
Depp’s former flame backed him in his libel case against The Sun newspaper, which labelled him a “wife beater” in an article in 2018.
“The idea that he is an incredibly violent person is the farthest thing from the Johnny I knew and loved,” she said of her former fiance.
“I cannot wrap my head around these accusations. He was never, never violent towards me. He was never, never abusive at all towards me. He has never been violent or abusive towards anybody I have seen.”
Ryder, 48, who has been nominated for two Oscars, dated Depp for several years until 1993, when they were both major stars.
“I truly and honestly only know him as a really good man – an incredibly loving, extremely caring guy who was so very protective of me and the people that he loves, and I felt so very, very safe with him,” the Stranger Things star said.
And she appeared to take aim at Heard, adding: “I do not want to call anyone a liar but from my experience of Johnny, it is impossible to believe that such horrific allegations are true. I find it extremely upsetting, knowing him as I do.”
Vanessa Paradis, 47, who had two children with Depp, 57, has also backed him in the case.
The statements were released late on Thursday night Australian time after Depp’s lawyers said the women would no longer be required to give evidence.
The Sun did not argue that Depp was violent towards either Ryder or Paradis, only Heard, 34.
Journalists applied for the documents to be released because they had been referred to in earlier court hearings.
Heard has revealed allegations of 14 cases of domestic violence, and she was expected to give evidence next week.
Ms Paradis, a singer, actress and model, said that she had not seen Depp acting violently during their relationship.
“I have known Johnny for more than 25 years. We’ve been partners for 14 years and we raised our two children together,” she said.
“Through all these years I’ve known Johnny to be a kind, attentive, generous and nonviolent person and father.”
Ms Paradis claimed in her statement that Depp was popular and respectful.
“On movie sets the actors, directors and entire crews adore him because he is humble and respectful to everyone, as well as being one of the best actors we’ve seen,” she said.
Earlier, it was announced that Ryder and Paradis would no longer give evidence in his blockbuster libel case in London against The Sun newspaper.
The actor’s former lovers were excused because they were expected to support Depp and claim that he was not a “wife beater” as the newspaper had called him in a disputed 2018 article.
They had been expected to give evidence via video link from the United States, but the case has run long because of a detailed examination of evidence.
David Sherbourne, for Depp, said the actor’s former partners were not required because the newspaper was not arguing that he was abusive to them, but only to his ex-wife Amber Heard.
“There is no need to reschedule those witnesses, much as it would have been a pleasure to have them here,” Mr Sherbourne said.
Sean Bett, Depp’s former head of security, was the first witness called on Thursday night Australian time.
He had provided an incorrect photograph to the London High Court of an image that he claimed showed injuries on Depp that Heard had inflicted.
However, the time stamped date of the photograph did not match his statement.
Sasha Wash, QC for The Sun, pressed further saying that because of the mistake: “There is no photographic evidence to support your assertion that Mr Depp was injured.”
Bett replied: “Correct.”
Bett also claimed that Depp had visited Heard on the day after his mother died for only 30 or 40 minutes, however, CCTV date stamps showed they had been there for 90 minutes.
In heated exchanges Bett became frustrated with the questions from Ms Wass.
“You can call me a liar 100 times, I’m not lying, I’m telling the truth. I disagree, I wasn’t lying,” he said.
Ms Wass asked Bett about an incident at a penthouse on May 21, 2016, where Heard claimed that Depp had hit her, the night before they split up.
She asked if Ms Heard told Bett: “If he hits me one more time I’m going to call the cops.”
Bett replied: “Words to the effect, correct.”
However he said that he could not see any bruises or injuries to Heard, 34, on that night.
“You would see immediate redness, especially with her fair skin. I didn’t examine her, I looked at her from 20 feet away,” Bett said.
“She was shouting at the top of her lungs.”
Bett had said that he did not regularly see Depp drinking red wine early in the morning, unless he had been working late on a movie set or had been up all night.
He denied that he had seen him drunk, aggressive or incapable because of drugs, and there was a debate about whether Depp drank wine from pint glasses or regular sized glasses.
Bett said under questioning from Mr Sherbourne that he had seen injuries on Depp, which he claimed that Heard had inflicted.
The case continues.