Former partner Vanessa Paradis has described actor Johnny Depp as kind and non-violent, according to British court documents in his libel case against The Sun newspaper.
Depp is taking legal action against News Group Newspapers that publishes The Sun and its executive editor Dan Wootton over accusations that Depp abused actress-model Amber Heard, to whom he was married from 2015 to 2017.
The newspaper wrote in an April 2018 article that Depp was a “wife-beater”.
A two-week trial was due to start in London on March 25 but it was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic and two of Depp’s lawyers had to self-quarantine. The new date is scheduled in July.
Depp’s legal representatives require evidence from his two former partners: Singer-actress Paradis, with whom he has two children, and actress Winona Ryder, his ex from back in the 1990s.
Paradis and Depp were together for 14 years. They split in 2012. Three years later, Depp tied the knot with Heard, while Paradis got hitched to French director Samuel Benchetrit in 2018.
Speaking as a witness, Paradis said that she had known Depp for more than 25 years and that they raised their children together. She said that Depp is a kind, attentive, generous and non-violent person and father.
Paradis testified that Depp was never violent or abusive towards her.
During a remote court hearing via Skype, Depp’s legal representatives also wanted testimony from Ryder. According to Ryder, she could not “wrap my head around” the allegations that Depp was abusive. She said that he had never been violent or abusive towards her.
In 2017, Depp and Heard settled a divorce out of court. Heard had requested a domestic violence restraining order against him in 2016. He denied accusations that he was abusive towards her. /TISG