From a near-fatal illness to an alleged aerial escape,
Lily-Rose Depp's young life has been anything but simple.
Lily-Rose Depp has opened up about struggling with Anorexia nervosa in her teen years. Being
thrust into the public eye since birth, she felt pressured to look a certain way. Unfortunately,
the beauty standards she sought took life-threatening measures to achieve.
Her eating disorder led people to make cruel and unsolicited comments about her
body through social media. Depp, who loves to pose for snapshots on her Instagram page,
faced a wave of backlash from her followers, who claimed she was too skinny.
She opened up to French Elle about how much the comments attacking her
physical appearance had hurt her. She told the magazine,
"I was much younger when I [was] faced with anorexia. It was very difficult to deal with
it. All who are familiar with this problem know how difficult it is to return to a normal life."
Fortunately, it seems as though she's made great progress in her
struggle against the illness. In the same French Elle interview, she added,
"I have battled an eating disorder for a long
time and am very proud of the results that I have achieved"
Lily-Rose Depp struggled with life-threatening health issues after contracting an E.Coli
infection from food poisoning. The Daily Mail reports that she was only seven years old when
she suffered the illness, which unfortunately led to kidney failure and nine days in the hospital.
Lily-Rose was so sick that Johnny Depp left his work obligations to be with her. In fact,
the actor, who was then working on "Sweeney Todd," told Entertainment
Weekly that he had thought of withdrawing from the Tim Burton film altogether due
to his daughter's condition. Depp told the outlet,
"To say it was the darkest moment, that's nothing. It doesn't come
close to describing it. Words are so small. But knowing that those people,
Tim [Burton] and the crew, shut down and stood by and waited... I didn't know if I
was coming back. I remember talking with Tim, saying, 'Maybe you need to recast.'"
Fortunately, his daughter made a full recovery,
and Johnny was able to return to filming. Furthermore, the incident inspired him to
be more involved by volunteering at children's hospitals while dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow.
On "The Graham Norton Show," Johnny discussed his volunteer work, saying,
"To be able to bring a smile or a giggle to these people, is uh —
it means everything in the world to me, you know."
Divorce is difficult for most families, but most divorces occur without all the
personal drama between ex-spouses getting documented for the entire
world to see. In Lily-Rose Depp's case, many of her celebrity parents' greatest
hurdles turned into front-page news during their 2012 divorce.
This was especially evident during the Johnny Depp and. Amber Heard's 2022 defamation trial.
During a particularly brutal cross-examination, her father was grilled for an email message he
sent Elton John about Lily-Rose's mother, Vanessa Paradis, in 2013. In the note, he painted Paradis
in a highly negative light, using derogatory terms to describe her, according to the Independent.
In a 2013 Rolling Stone interview, Johnny admitted how things weren't always easy
within their family unit. Speaking of his romance with Paradis, he said,
"Relationships are very difficult. Especially in the racket that I'm
in because you're constantly away or they're away,
and so it's hard. It wasn't easy on her. It wasn't easy on me. It wasn't easy on the kids."
In Amber Heard's testimony during the defamation case against Johnny Depp,
she alleged that Lily-Rose Depp struggled to cope with her father's addictions. During
one particularly harrowing incident, she described Lily-Rose's reaction to Depp
being in an alcohol-fueled state. Explaining the incident on the stand, Heard said it all
took place on a boat during a family outing on Johnny's private island. Heard told the jury,
"He was off the wagon again, but he didn't want to tell his kids,
so he was hiding it from them [...] He just kept drinking, and the behavior kept getting
more obviously drunk. And Lily-Rose, his daughter at the time, was young. She was
maybe 14. And she started to get panicky and started asking questions about his drinking."
Heard went on to say that Lily-Rose's discomfort
worsened to the point that she had a panic attack because of the event.
"Rapid breathing. Crying. Lots of questions." According to Heard, Johnny was violent toward
Heard, and it got so bad that she and Lily-Rose had to escape the situation by any means. Heard
alleged that they ended up calling a helicopter so she and Johnny's daughter could get off the boat.
During Johnny Depp's defamation trial, many of his friends, family, and former partners
spoke up to defend him. While Lily-Rose Depp understandably chose to stay under the radar
during this trying time, some of Depp's biggest so-called supporters took her withdrawal from the
public eye as a sign that she did not stand by her father's side. In response, strangers approached
Lily-Rose's Instagram page to criticize her in the comments sections of old posts. One user said,
"By the looks of it she doesn't care one bit about her dad,
how sad not to even show any support for what he's been going through."
While some people were kind to her, others kept insisting that the 23-year-old was
obligated to be vocal at the time to defend her father. Another wrote,
"Would love to see you post something to support your dad right now?"
Fortunately, many people have defended Lily-Rose on Twitter,
claiming that it is unfair to attack the young celeb for choosing to hold on to
her privacy. And based on her previous social media posts where she celebrated her birthday,
it seems like she refuses to let the hateful comments get to her. With her
dad's trial concluded, it seems like things are getting better for Lily-Rose Depp, day by day.
If you are struggling with an eating disorder, or know someone who is, help is available. Visit
the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline
at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).