Johnny Depp doesn’t live his life with regrets.
Even when the fallout of his relationship with Amber Heard led to a legal battle—with the world bearing witness—the Pirates of the Caribbean star was adamant in a recent interview he has no regrets over the lengthy court case.
And on whether it was difficult to face his ex in that particular setting, Depp reflected on how his tumultuous childhood affected his relationship with love.
“Well, that is the thing,” he said in his interview with The Sunday Times, published June 21. “‘That I had been in love with.’ That’s where we could start, to look at the roots of ‘in love with.’ Because with regards to how I was raised, 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.”
“It was almost as if I was used to conflict,” he said about his childhood. “It was not abnormal. I did my best to just step in and out.”
Which, the 62-year-old explained, would later affect how he fell in love with Heard, to whom he was married between 2015 and 2017.
“So, what were my initial dealings with what we call ‘love’?” he mused. “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.”
But, he continued, “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. 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.”
The Edward Scissorhands actor went on to explain how his mother Betty Sue Depp, who passed away in 2016, “liked to escape from reality from time to time and learnt how to live in a miserable state.”
“So, I’m not surprised,” he continued, “I allowed myself to experience something—in some little psychological sphere—to help understand what it was like between my parents. I had to understand how my father dealt with it. So, it would be dumb for me to carry any bitterness.”
He added, “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.”
A learning experience that ultimately cost the actor millions of dollars and saw the pair viciously battle it out in court. Following Depp and Heard’s divorce in 2016, Heard alleged the actor had been verbally and physically abusive, and a settlement was reached within the year that said Depp would pay her $7 million.
At the time, the pair released a statement saying their relationship was “bound by love there was never any intent of physical or emotional harm.”
Two years later, Depp would sue The Sun and its publisher News Group Newspapers for libel, after they called him a “wife beater” in an article—a suit the actor lost in 2020.
The legal battle eventually came stateside in 2019 when Depp sued Heard for libel over an article she wrote in The Washington Post in December 2018 titled, “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.” The six-week court battle was livestreamed, fueling a social media circus which was generally against Heard. And in June 2022, the jury ruled in favor of Depp, saying he had been defamed.
“I knew I’d have to semi-eviscerate myself,” he said of the trial. “Everyone was saying, ‘It’ll go away!’ But I can’t trust that. What will go away? The fiction pawned around the f--king 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.”
He added, “So the night before the trial in Virginia I didn’t feel nervous. If you don’t have to memorize lines, if you’re just speaking the truth? Roll the dice.”
Keep reading to revisit the headline-making trial.
Furry Followers
A Johnny Depp fan showed her support for the actor by bringing two alpacas to the Fairfax County Circuit Court on April 25 in Fairfax, Va. One of the animals wore a sign that read: "We're with you, Johnny."
Little Black Book
On April 27, Depp was spotted carrying a notebook marked "Built to Last" and decorated with a green figure wearing a crown on its cover. Those following the court case online noticed that the actor often drew in the notebook during breaks, with one Twitter user writing that it was "actually so heartwarming" to see.
Real-Life Willy Wonka
Was this a case of life imitating art? Throughout the trial, Depp was photographed with small piles of confections on his desk, including gummy bears and jellybeans. At one point, camera footage from the legal proceedings captured the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory actor handing what appeared to be candy to someone in the courtroom.
Pre-Court Playlist
In a video captured outside of the courthouse, Depp was seen stepping out of his car as "Exodus" by Bob Marley loudly played on its speakers. He then quipped to the cameraperson, "Back in the little room again."
When the footage made its way online, social media users didn't hold back on expressing their thoughts about Depp's choice in music. "Johnny Depp blasting ‘Exodus' by Bob Marley to the defamation trial is a big vibe," one Twitter user wrote, while another tweeted that they had watched the clip "about 20x…it just never gets old."
Vaping Witness
The courtroom was left perplexed on April 27 after a pre-recorded video deposition of Alejandro Romero, the front desk attendant at Depp and Heard's former Los Angeles apartment building. The conversation showed him vaping from the inside of a car as he gave his statement, before driving away while continuing to answer questions. In a candid remark, Heard's attorney called it "the most bizarre deposition."
The judge agreed. "I just got to say, I've never seen that before," Judge Penney Azcarate replied. "I've seen a lot of things, but I've never seen that."
Depp's Doodles
During his court appearance on April 27, Depp was seen drawing something on a post-it note before passing it to his lawyer. In a video footage of the exchange, Depp's attorney put on his glasses to examine the sketch and nodded as the Pirates of the Caribbean star whispered something in his ear.
One fan tweeted, "crying over Johnny Depp's lawyer looking at his doodle like a proud dad."
Similar Styles
Eagled-eyed social media users noticed that the former couple had been wearing similar-looking suits and near-identical ties throughout the trial, prompting some to suspect that Heard "intentionally recreated" Depp's look as a subtle message.
"Man Amber Heard is literally playing with Johnny Depp's mind in the court room copying his outfits the next day, copying every move he makes," one Twitter user wrote. Meanwhile, another chimed in, "Can we talk about how Amber Heard is literally mocking Johnny every day in court," adding, "Whatever he wears, she copies the NEXT DAY."
E! News reached out to Amber's rep for comment but did not hear back.
Muffins on the Mind
Social media users were fascinated with a discussion about muffins as Dr. Shannon Curry, a clinical and forensic psychologist who was hired by Depp's legal team to evaluate Heard, took the stand. When Heard's attorney Elaine Bredehoft, in an attempt to sort out Curry's testimony, asked the psychologist if her husband had brought the Aquaman actress baked goods on the day of her evaluation, Curry replied, "May I clarify what occurred so we can stop talking about the muffins?"
Curry went on to explain that she was running late that day and had asked her husband "to pick up the muffins for me" from a local bakery for the office, not specifically for Heard.
"He brought the muffins back to the house. I brought them into the office. Ms. Heard and I enjoyed the muffins together," Curry said. "I think I made a comment to her along the lines of 'my husband got these for us today,' meaning he purchased the muffins we are now enjoying them because of him."
The bizarre exchange led to numerous TikTok videos, with some comparing it to the "Muffin Man" interrogation scene in Shrek.