Substance abuse… sexual assault allegations…
claims of cheating — it's safe to say Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's marriage was never
quite perfect.
So, how does James Franco figure into all of this?
Keep watching to find out.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard met on the set of The Rum Diary back in 2009.
Sparks appeared to ignite for the pair following the filming of a steamy shower scene.
However, despite their obvious chemistry, the co-stars were both in respective relationships
at the time.
Depp was in a long-term relationship with Vanessa Paradis while Heard was in a domestic
partnership with Tasya van Ree, a Hawaiian artist.
Even though they were both in relationships with other people, Depp sensed a romantic
connection with Heard.
The actor explained in court:
"It felt like something I should not be feeling, because she had her wife, and I had Vanessa.
I think there was something in the kiss in the shower that was real."
The actor confessed that the two then shared an off-screen kiss in his trailer which ignited
the affair.
But it wasn't just the kiss that did it.
According to Depp, he became smitten with his co-star once he realized they shared common
niche interests.
He saw her as a perfect match for him, explaining:
"She seemed to be very knowledgeable about old obscure blues music that I listened to.
She was literate, she was sweet, funny, nice, all those things."
However, the actor alleged that all of this changed over time, claiming:
"Things started to reveal themselves."
During his testimony, Johnny Depp recalled that things were great at the beginning of
his relationship with Amber Heard.
Perhaps, a little too great.
Depp stated,
"From what I recall ... she was too good to be true."
Depp went on to testify that he considered his ex-wife to be wonderful for the first
year and a half of their romance.
Pinpointing the exact moment he suspected something may be amiss in his relationship,
he described an alleged incident wherein Heard became upset about a disruption to their daily
routine.
He explained that the couple had a daily ritual wherein Heard would offer him a glass of wine
before removing his boots for him.
Depp explained that one day Heard was preoccupied with something else when he had arrived home,
so he removed his own shoes, allegedly upsetting Heard by doing so.
Depp recalled in court:
"She said, 'That's my job.
That's what I do.
You don't do that.
[...] I did take pause, the fact that she was visibly shaken or upset that I had broken
her rules or routine."
The Sleepy Hollow star also suggested that he then began questioning some of her other
behaviors, such as her purported insistence that they go to bed at the same time as each
other.
"I didn't understand why I…was not allowed to go to sleep when I wanted to."
Apparently, Johnny Depp's daughter, Lily-Rose Depp, refused to attend her father's wedding
ceremony with Amber Heard.
The actor made the claim during his testimony wherein he alleged that not only were his
daughter and ex-wife on bad terms but that both his children could see Heard's alleged
faults long before he could.
Depp claimed in court:
"My kids are far more intelligent than I am and they refused to be around her anymore.
They didn't like the way she treated me, which was written in a very elegant letter by my
daughter, actually, to Ms. Heard."
Lily-Rose once told The Face that her parents raised her to value her privacy as a person
in the public eye.
However, she was once quite publically vocal in defending her father.
In a since-deleted Instagram post from 2016, she highlighted his gentle, affectionate nature
and praised his skills as a parent, writing,
"He's been nothing but a wonderful father to my little brother and I, and everyone who
knows him would say the same."
In court, Johnny suggested that being the best father possible was his main and biggest
goal in life.
He alleged that his ex-wife would suggest otherwise, claiming,
"There were several occasions where Ms. Heard would tell me what a bad father I was and
that I had no idea how to parent."
In 2020, the Daily Mail published leaked audio recordings wherein Amber Heard appeared to
confess to hitting Johnny Depp during a fight.
In the clip, the Donnie Brasco star can be heard accusing his wife of having punched
him, to which she appears to offer blunt clarity for her behavior.
In the recording, Heard is purported to have said:
"I did not hurt you, I did not punch you, I was hitting you."
It's worth noting that the audio recording may also insinuate mutual instances of violence.
In what sounds like an attempt to make peace, Depp seems to say,
"I just couldn't take the idea of more physicality, more physical abuse on each other."
In another part of the conversation, Depp appears to accuse Heard of throwing items
like pots, pans, and vases at Depp during arguments.
For his part, Depp can be heard admitting to having thrown items at her in Australia
in retaliation for her having thrown cans at him.
During his testimony, Depp suggested that he would often lock himself in bathrooms to
avoid her alleged abuse.
In the recording obtained by the Daily Mail, both he and Heard appear to reference how
he'd remove himself from arguments.
Depp appears to say in the recording:
"If things get physical, we have to separate.
We must, there can be no physical violence towards each other."
One of the biggest things to have come out about Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's relationship
involved a severed finger.
In 2016, TMZ reported the horrifying news that Depp had lost the tip of his fingertip
during an argument with his then-wife.
Per Heard's account of the incident, Depp was using drugs and alcohol at the time, and
his injury was self-inflicted and accidental.
She also claimed that he'd dipped what was left of his finger in paint to scrawl accusations
of infidelity on a mirror.
On the contrary, Depp alleged that Heard was the one who sliced off the tip of his finger
while throwing a bottle of vodka at him.
According to People in 2019, Depp claimed that the fight kicked off when he'd asked
Heard for a post-nuptial agreement.
In a statement obtained by the outlet, he alleged,
"She went berserk and began throwing bottles at me."
According to TMZ, the actor allegedly didn't receive medical attention for the wound for
almost 24 hours, so his fingertip couldn't be reattached.
"The tip of my finger had been severed."
In the statement published by People, he claimed to have received three surgeries to reconstruct
his finger and contracted MRSA three times.
Depp said in 2019:
"I feared that I would lose my finger, my arm, and my life."
In 2022, Depp claimed that he'd initially taken the blame for his finger in a bid to
protect Heard's reputation.
In 2022, dark text messages sent between Johnny Depp and British actor Paul Bettany were revealed
which appeared to feature jokes about murdering Amber Heard.
"Paul Bettany's a good friend.
Yes."
The messages were read aloud in court and appeared to show Depp writing, quote, "Let's
burn Amber."
Bettany allegedly responded that Depp's then-girlfriend could be drowned like a witch, instead.
In response, the actor was shown to have written:
"Let's drown her before we burn her!!!"
In court, the actor appeared to show regret for the texts but also attempted to highlight
the need to understand them within context.
The actor alleged that the messages were referencing a Monty Python sketch about the burning and
drowning of witches.
Depp was referencing a scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail wherein a mob of men dress
a woman up like a witch, hurl fake accusations at her, and then demand she be burned or drowned
to prove their point.
The actor suggested in court:
"This is a film we'd all watch when we were 10.
It's just irreverent and abstract humor."
For his part, Bettany told The Independent that having ten years worth of emails and
texts scrutinized by lawyers for the case was a horrifying experience.
Bettany confessed to the outlet:
"All I can tell you is that it was an unpleasant feeling."
In 2020, Johnny Depp denied accusations that he slapped Amber Heard three times for making
fun of his "Wino Forever" tattoo.
The alleged incident was said to have taken place in 2013 and was brought up during his
libel case against The Sun.
The actor was alleged to be using alcohol and drugs at the time after achieving 160
days of sobriety.
Depp maintained his innocence during his defamation trial against Heard, saying,
"It didn't happen.
I've never struck Ms. Heard.
[...] I'm certainly not going to strike a woman if she decides to make fun of a tattoo
on my body."
"Nor have I ever struck any woman in my life."
The tattoo in question was dedicated to his ex-girlfriend, Winona Ryder.
It initially said "Winona Forever," but was changed when the two broke up in 1993, after
dating for four years.
In 2020, Ryder wrote a statement defending her ex-fiance against Heard's allegations
against him.
In the statement, Ryder claimed that Depp had never been violent or abusive towards
her in any way, writing,
"The idea that he is an incredibly violent person is the farthest thing from the Johnny
I knew and loved [...] He has never been violent or abusive towards anybody I have seen...
and I felt so very, very safe with him."
James Franco and Amber Heard go way back, having starred together in the 2008 comedy
Pineapple Express.
The two co-stars were then reunited for the thriller The Adderall Diaries, which appeared
to be in production in 2014.
Depp said that he would get insecure about his ex-wife's potential infidelity and time
spent with others.
That apparently included Franco, as well as Billy Bob Thornton, with whom she filmed scenes
in 2013 for the much-delayed mystery film, London Fields.
Per TMZ, Thornton denied that he'd had an affair with Heard.
In an audio recording from a discussion between Depp and Heard, the Black Mass actor broached
the issue directly and appeared to say,
"I become irrational when you're doing movies.
I become jealous and [...] weird and we fight a lot more."
According to Page Six, Franco witnessed the bruises that Heard alleged were caused by
Depp throwing a phone at her during the 2016 fight which appeared to end their marriage.
In 2020, Heard testified that Franco visited their apartment the day after the alleged
incident and was shocked by what he saw.
In a video clip, Heard and Franco can be seen standing close together in an elevator.
Heard's team argued that this was due to the fact that the actor simply lived in the same
building as the couple.
During Amber Heard's testimony, the actor alleged that Johnny Depp had made attempts
to control her Hollywood career.
Heard claimed that her ex-husband would become incensed when she'd audition for movie roles
without his knowledge or permission.
She went on to allege that he accused her of having affairs with two of her co-stars,
Eddie Redmayne and James Franco.
Heard also alleged that Depp was particularly controlling about the type of roles she was
taking, explaining,
"He said, 'I'm trying to look out for you.
You're saying you don't want to be objectified but you're doing it.'
It got more narrow and more narrow about what I could do."
However, she proceeded to accept movie roles so she could maintain independence and support
her family financially — despite alleged offers from Depp that he could take care of
her financially.
As she claimed to the court, Heard's career was allegedly a constant source of conflict
between the two, and she found herself having to defend her job.
In another unsettling claim about the couple, Johnny Depp accused Amber Heard of leaving
human fecal matter on their bed following their break up.
In his testimony, Depp alleged that Heard tried to blame the defecation on their 4-pound
teacup yorkies, but didn't believe their tiny dogs could have been responsible.
The alleged incident kicked off when Depp was late for Heard's 30th birthday dinner,
after attending an important meeting about his finances.
The star then accused his ex-wife of becoming verbally and physically abusive against him
after her celebrations had come to an end.
After removing himself from the scenario and leaving the apartment for the night, he returned
the next morning to discover the defecation on his side of the bed.
Depp told the court:
"I mean, I laughed.
I could only laugh."
Starling Jenkins III, who had worked for Depp as a chauffeur and security guard, testified
in court that he'd given Heard a ride to Coachella the day after her birthday.
During that car journey, he alleged that the actor told him about what she'd done and described
it as "a horrible practical joke gone wrong."
Following their breakup, the question as to whether Amber Heard had ever sported visible
evidence of her alleged abuse from Johnny Depp was a hot topic.
During his libel case against The Sun in 2020, for instance, a stylist who worked with Heard
during her appearance on The Late, Late Show with James Cordon testified that she didn't
witness any injuries on the star — despite her suggestions otherwise.
In 2022, Heard's attorney, Elaine Bredehoft, argued this was because the actor was applying
heavy makeup to disguise any visible damage.
Bredehoft then presented a makeup palette by the beauty brand Milani to stake her case.
Afterward, the cosmetics company made a TikTok video wherein they refuted Heard's claim because
the palette in question wasn't released until 2017, one year after the couple's divorce.
However, the attorney never claimed that this was the specific palette used by the star
at that time.
Meanwhile, Depp suggested that his ex-wife once faked a bloody nose with makeup.
The actor claimed that his then-wife applied the fake wound after an alleged physical altercation
between the two.
As he told it, Heard left for the bathroom and then returned with a tissue covered in
what resembled blood.
Depp alleged to the court,
"I inspected it pretty closely and realized it was nail polish."
During her opening argument for Amber Heard, Elaine Bredhoft also alleged that Johnny Depp's
lifestyle choices were key to his allegedly volatile behavior.
During his own testimony, the Oscar-nominated actor admitted to having used various drugs
and alcohol since he was a teenager.
However, he claimed to have only become addicted to opiates following an on-set injury.
Depp allegedly attempted to get sober during his relationship with Heard.
A doctor who had worked with the star claimed that the actor was attempting to detox himself
from substances including alcohol, benzodiazepines, stimulants, and the aforementioned opiates.
When Depp's sister, Christi Dembrowski, took the stand, she admitted to having texted Heard
to say she thought her brother needed help with his misuse of substances.
Dembrowski said,
"I wanted to help him with the medication he was on ... I wanted to be able to be helpful
... because [Heard and Depp] were arguing all the time."
In 2018, during a bombshell interview with Rolling Stone, the actor's alleged hedonism
and extravagant lifestyle were put under scrutiny.
Depp told the magazine,
"It's insulting to say that I spent $30,000 on wine.
Because it was far more."
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's marriage counselor, Laurel Anderson, claimed that by her professional
estimation, both partners were mutually abusive with one another throughout their relationship.
The therapist testified that she thought Depp had previously controlled his outbursts for
several decades, but that something in the couple's relationship altered him.
Anderson told the court:
"He had been well controlled ... for almost 20-30 years, and with Ms. Heard, he was triggered."
Anderson also noted that the former couple were both brought up in abusive households,
which may have contributed to the alleged behavior on both sides.
While the couple's therapist revealed that Heard experienced physical abuse from her
father, Depp stated in his testimony that his mother verbally and physically abused
him.
The therapist also suggested that Heard was usually the one to initiate fights because
she would rather fight it out than feel abandoned by her former husband.
In one of the most disturbing claims regarding their relationship, Amber Heard alleged that
Johnny Depp had penetrated her with a bottle of liquor in the midst of an argument.
Heard wept on the stand as she recounted the alleged assault, which took place in 2015.
The couple were in Australia at the time while Depp was filming Pirates of the Caribbean:
Dead Men Tell No Tales.
Heard claimed that Depp had written slurs about her on the walls and surfaces of the
premises in blood and paint after cutting his finger.
He then allegedly chased her around the house, tore off her nightgown, and penetrated her
using a liquor bottle.
She claimed that the attack progressed to punches and that at one point he was kneeling
on her back, restricting her oxygen.
Heard told the court,
"I could just hear him say that he was going to kill me."
Heard had previously testified details of the alleged sexual assault during Depp's libel
case against The Sun in 2020.
Back then, however, her testimony had remained confidential.
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National
Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233.
You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.