Johnny Depp reflects on betrayal by close ones during legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard: "People who did me dirty were..."

The Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard split up in 2016, but the fallout from their breakup had a lasting impact on his career.

Actor Johnny Depp recently slammed people who "did him dirty" after he was accused of domestic abuse by ex-wife and actress Amber Heard.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard split up in 2016, but the fallout from their breakup had a lasting impact on his career. When Heard wrote an opinion piece in which she identified herself as a victim of domestic abuse, things took a drastic turn.

She didn't mention Depp by name, but he said the article caused a lot of people to criticise him and caused business leaders to distance themselves. After being the focus of public criticism and professional repercussions, Depp later said he felt like a "crash test dummy" for the #MeToo movement.

Speaking to the Sunday Times about their legal battle over domestic violence accusations and all the backlash he faced, Johnny Depp said, "As weird as I am, certain things can be trusted. And my loyalty is the last thing anybody could question. I was with one agent for 30 years, but she spoke in court about how difficult I was. That’s death by confetti, these fake motherf***ers who lie to you, celebrate you, say all sorts of horror behind your back, yet keep the money — that confetti machine going — because what do they want? Dough."

He continued, "I’ll tell you what hurts. There are people, and I’m thinking of three, who did me dirty. Those people were at my kids’ parties. Throwing them in the air. And, look, I understand people who could not stand up [for me], because the most frightening thing to them was making the right choice. I was pre-MeToo. I was like a crash test dummy for MeToo. It was before Harvey Weinstein. And I sponged it, took it all in. And so I wanted from the hundreds of people I’ve met in that industry to see who was playing it safe. Better go woke!”

Depp first sued The Sun newspaper for libel after it called him a “wife-beater” in response to the accusations. But in the UK court, he lost the case. Unfazed, he sued Heard in the United States for defamation over her opinion piece. The widely reported trial exposed the turbulent and frequently upsetting aspects of the couple's personal lives, captivating viewers around the world.

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Even though the jury ultimately decided in Depp's favour and found Heard guilty of defamation, the court proceedings revealed intensely private and contentious elements of their relationship, which kept them in the public eye long after their marriage had ended. Johnny was earlier in a relationship with former partner Vanessa Paradis and they have two children- Lily-Rose (25) and Jack (22).

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were married from 2015 to 2017, but their relationship made headlines far beyond their brief marriage. What began as a high-profile Hollywood romance eventually turned into one of the most talked-about legal battles in recent celebrity history, with their post-divorce disputes unfolding publicly in courtrooms and the media alike.