Source: Entertainment Weekly

Johnny Depp has “no regrets” about how he handled his divisive legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard.

The Pirates of the Caribbean alum recently reflected on the defamation trial, its aftermath, and his feelings about the private details of his life being aired out so publicly.

“Look, it had gone far enough,” Depp said in a sprawling interview with the U.K.’s Sunday Times. “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.”

He continued, “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 memorize lines, if you’re just speaking the truth? Roll the dice.”

The six-week televised Virginia trial saw a jury rule in favor of Depp, who sued Heard for defamation over a 2018 op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post, entitled, “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath.” A jury ruled in favor of Depp, determining that Heard intentionally and maliciously defamed him, but she later scored a small victory as the jury ruled partly in favor of her defamation countersuit.

“Look, none of this was going [to] be easy, but I didn’t care,” Depp continued. “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.”

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Amber Heard attends the 69th Taormina Film Festival on June 24, 2023 in Taormina, Italy

Johnny Depp says his life turned into ‘a soap opera’ in wake of Amber Heard trial

Director Johnny Depp attends the ‘Modi, Three Days On The Wings Of Madness’ premiere during the 72nd San Sebastian International Film Festival at the Kursaal Palace on on September 24, 2024 in San Sebastian, Spain

He added, “I have no regrets about anything. Because, truly, what can we do about last week’s dinner? Not a f—ing thing.”

Depp went on to condemn those who spoke against him in the trial, a list that included his former agent Tracey Jacobs, ex-girlfriend Ellen Barkin, and his former therapist, Laurel Anderson.

“As weird as I am, certain things can be trusted. And my loyalty is the last thing anybody could question,” Depp said. “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.”

He added that he was particularly “hurt” by three individuals who he said “did me dirty.”

He continued, “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.”

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Depp then claimed that he did not receive vocal support because the trial predated Hollywood’s #MeToo movement. (However, activist Tarana Burke’s hashtag and movement were founded in 2006 but garnered widespread attention in 2017, the same year the New York Times and The New Yorker published exposés detailing accusations against Weinstein.)

“I was pre-MeToo,” he said. “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.”

After the jury ruled in Depp’s favor, Heard filed an appeal but withdrew it in late 2022 and settled.

“I finally have an opportunity to emancipate myself from something I attempted to leave over six years ago and on terms I can agree to,” she said in a statement at the time. “I have made no admission. This is not an act of concession. There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward.”

Prior to the contentious 2022 legal dispute between Depp and Heard, the duo were involved in a 2020 U.K. trial, which led to Depp suing British newspaper The Sun for libel after it referred to him as a “wife-beater” while addressing Heard’s abuse allegations. He lost after a judge ruled that the article was “substantially true” and “the great majority of alleged assaults of Ms. Heard by Mr. Depp have been proved to the civil standard.”

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