Ex-partners tell UK court Depp wife beater claims nothing like 'true Johnny'

Actor Johnny Depp [Photo: Hannah McKay]

Hollywood star Johnny Depp’s former long-term partner Vanessa Paradis and his ex-girlfriend actress Winona Ryder said accusations that he had abused his ex-wife were false and did not reflect the person they knew, London’s High Court was told. Depp, 57, is suing the publisher of Britain’s Sun newspaper for libel over an article which labelled him a “wife-beater” and says it was he who suffered domestic violence at the hands of Heard during their volatile relationship.

The paper argues its story is true and the court has been told Heard, 34, accuses her ex-husband of attacking her on at least 14 occasions between 2013 and 2016 when enraged after drinking or taking drugs to excess. In witness statements submitted to the court and released on Thursday, two of Depp’s former partners, Paradis and Ryder said he was never violent towards them and had been kind and protective. Paradis, with whom he spent 14 years and had two children, said Heard’s allegations about Depp were nothing like the “true Johnny” she knew. “I have seen that these outrageous statements have been really distressing, and also caused damage to his career because unfortunately people have gone on believing these false facts,” her statement said.