Friends and Family Rally Around Johnny Depp Amidst Abuse Allegations
The complicated and contentious divorce between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp has recently become more muddied, as family and friends of Johnny Depp have rallied behind him amidst allegations that he abused his wife of 15 months.
Last week, Heard filed for divorce from Depp just three days after Depp's mother passed away. It was revealed that at around the same time, Heard asked for, and was granted, a restraining order from Depp after he allegedly threw an iPhone in her face. Heard was granted the restraining order after she showed up to court with visible bruises around her eyes.
Depp, through his lawyers, has maintained his innocence through the ordeal.
In a social media post by Depp's daughter Lily Rose Depp, the 17-year-old actress and model came to her father's defense and also shared a photo of him pushing her around as a toddler.
"My dad is the sweetest most loving person I know, he's been nothing but a wonderful father to my little brother and I, and everyone who knows him would say the same," she captioned in the throwback photo.
Depp's ex-girlfriend, French model and actress Vanessa Paradis, also reportedly penned a letter in support of Depp's character. The letter, posted by TMZ, has not been verified yet.
“Johnny Depp is the father of my two children,” Paradis writes. “He is a sensitive, loving and loved person, and I believe with all my heart, that these recent allegations being made are outrageous.”
"In all the years I have known Johnny, he has never been physically abusive with me, and this looks nothing like the man I lived with for 14 wonderful years."
Actor and comedian Doug Stanhope has also come to Depp's defense, claiming that Heard is using "blackmail" with Depp in order to get what she wants out of the divorce.
In an op-ed to The Wrap, Stanhope writes, "Bingo [Stanhope's girlfriend] and I were at Johnny’s house for most of that Saturday until just before the alleged assault. We assumed initially that his dour mood was because of his mother’s death the day before. But he opened up in the most vulnerable of ways that it was not only his mother, but that Amber was now going to leave him, threatening to lie about him publicly in any and every possible duplicitous way if he didn’t agree to her terms. Blackmail is what I would imagine other people might put it, including the manner in which he is now being vilified."
"Johnny Depp got used, manipulated, set up and made to look like an a–hole. And he saw it coming and didn’t or couldn’t do anything to stop it."
"I stand up for my friends and I tell the f—ing truth," he concludes.
Heard's lawyers have since sent a statement claiming that Stanhope's allegations of blackmail are "unequivocally false."