A few hours after the news broke that Amber Heard sought a restraining order against Johnny Depp after years of physical abuse, I told my mom. She didn’t believe Amber’s story at first. Then I mentioned that part of Amber’s claim against Depp was that he had a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde type of abusive personality, and that drugs and alcohol almost certainly played a big role in Johnny-as-abuser. Suddenly Amber’s story clicked into place for her. I think the (alleged) drug-and-alcohol abuse might have been one of the reasons why Amber stayed too – because Johnny was a different, kinder, gentler person when he was sober. Because it’s easy to look at an abusive addict and see a broken man who needs “help” and “support” and “the love of a good woman.” But what happened here is the same thing that happens to so many women and men caught in a cycle of addiction and abuse: it just kept getting worse.
I was thinking about all of that as I read Entertainment Tonight’s latest exclusive, which is almost certainly from Amber Heard or her team. It seems Amber saved a series of text messages between herself and Johnny’s then-assistant Stephen Deuters. The text messages are from 2014, shortly after Johnny and Amber had gotten engaged. The messages seem to reference an incident of violence the previous night, and Deuters has been tasked with bringing Amber back to Johnny after he (Depp) kicked her.
ET has exclusively obtained never-before-seen text messages that a source says are between Amber Heard and a man purported to be Johnny Depp’s assistant, Stephen Deuters, that date back to before the estranged couple was married — and long before other alleged incidents Heard previously detailed in court records claiming that Depp was physically abusive with her. The text exchange, which the source says is from May 2014, begins with a message from “Stephen” who is apologizing on behalf of a man, purportedly to be Depp.
“Think he’s just texted you. He’s incredibly apologetic and knows that he has done wrong,” Stephen’s alleged text reads. “He wants to get better now. He’s been very explicit about that this morning. Feel like we’re at a critical juncture.”
The recipient of the text, which ET’s source says is Heard, responds, “Yes but I don’t know how to be around him after what he did to me yesterday. I don’t know if I can stay with him.”
Stephen purportedly answers, “He wants to see you so much. He’s distraught.” Heard texts back, “Obviously he has no idea what he did or the extent that he did it. If someone was truly honest with him about how bad it really was, he’d be appalled. I’m sad that he doesn’t have a better way to really know the severity of his actions yesterday. Unfortunately for me, I remember in full detail everything that happened.”
Stephen allegedly reiterates that the man purported to be Depp has no recollection of the events that occurred. “He was appalled,” Stephen writes. “When I told him he kicked you, he cried. It was disgusting. And he knows it. He’s a little lost boy. And needs all the help he can get,” Stephen allegedly continues. “He is so very sorry, as he should be.”
Heard responds, “He’s done this many times before. Tokyo, the island, London (remember that?!), and I always stay. Always believe he’s going to get better…And then every 3 or so month [sic], I’m in the exact same position.”
ET has reached out to Depp’s rep and Deuters in regard to these texts.
I’m including ET’s video below, which has screenshots of the text messages. The portrait is of an addict and abuser who gets blackout drunk/stoned/high and becomes increasingly violent as the drugs and alcohol kick in. It sounds like the pattern was that Depp would be okay for a few months, then something would “set him off” or he would be partying too hard and then he would use Amber’s face and body as a punching bag, or in this particular instance, a kicking bag. And how pathetic is it that Depp was using his assistant as a go-between? How many times did Amber leave him or walk away, only to have Depp cry and promise (through intermediaries) that if she only came back, this time it would different?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Wow. Just wow. I really hope this Stephen guy comes out and confirms these messages are real. Maybe then some of the rampant Johnny defenders will realize Amber is telling the truth.
Same! Sick and tired of reading comments of people who still defend Depp after all this evidence.
My annoyance with those people is they keep moving the goal posts. Now with a fair amount of evidence they say they will side with her if his is convicted in a court of law. She may not go that route, which would be her prerogative, after all this backlash from filing for divorce I would be cautious for a number of reasons. It just seems weird that their can only be one villain and one hero and as the victim she is presumed to be the villain until proven otherwise. She doesn’t get the same innocent until proven guilty protection he does.
Went down the rabbit hole and read some of those comments yesterday. Wow, the world has no problem consistently reminding me of why I prefer my pets to humans. The vitriol is insane. I hope Amber does get a good payout because she’ll need to disappear from the public eye for awhile.
Disgusting. Johnny has completely surrounded himself with enablers. Stephen should be ashamed of himself for pressing Amber to continue an abusive relationship. I assume he was well compensated for his vile actions.
I made the mistake of looking at TMZ yesterday and they had an article about how two different Doctors they talked to say that she wouldn’t have gotten the bruise she had last month by the way she said she did.
He wont.
@Lindsay, exactly. I saw a meme on Twitter that I wish I could find and re-post here, but will have to paraphrase:
‘The top said “We must do more to help victims of domestic violence”
Photo of Amber with the bruise
I need 62 videos, 1,346 photos and 15 witnesses or else I don’t believe her
Johnny Depp says it’s not true. I believe him”
Ugh.
I am one of those people who did not initially believe. I always hold a healthy amount of skepticism because my personal experience with the news is that it changes from day to day; a story looks one way this week and completely different the next. I was firm about my position that abuse is NEVER ok, but neither is sabotage or character assassination.
I only said that I was waiting until more facts rolled in, and they are here.
I fully believe Amber.
I think Johnny needs help.
I was a Depp apologist for awhile. I can not see how anyone could still be on his side, however. WAY too much evidence that he did, in fact, abuse her.
Not years. They weren’t together years.
Exactly. Why do some people’s ‘innocent until proven guilty’ stance only apply to the person being accused of abuse, but not to the person saying they were abused? I get that some of these people are PR plants though.
From the get go, I was saddened to read about the abuse allegations against Depp and believed that Depp most likely hit Amber with his phone in a drunken rage. However, like @Annaloo, I held off on immediately believing everything I read about these celebrities (on both sides). I’ve read books on DV since high school and learned through the years that it affects women of all socioeconomic levels and understand why women stay with their husbands (sometimes it has nothing to do with money). Yet at the same time, I had experiences with a woman who lied about being hit by her ex so she can get what she wanted during a divorce (she admitted to me that she lied years later which sucked because I believed her and supported her) and woman who didn’t lie.
If I know someone and they say they are being abused, I will immediately support them as I have in the past – I have called the National Domestic Violence Hotline on behalf of a friend before. But I don’t know Amber or Johnny personally. I don’t know what or whom to believe. All I know is that if someone I know needs help, I will be there for them.
Yes, years, @Llamas. They were together for 4 years total and married for over 1 year.
welp amilu, now I feel stupid. I guess that shows how little I cared for their relationship. Always thought something was off and I didn’t like their pairing. Didn’t seem right.
@Carol – I feel we were both being prudent in holding our opinion of the situation, but also standing firm that abuse is never acceptable. Character assassination is a very real thing today . I would not change how I processed this.
I also want to thank the Celebitchy commenters that were respectful of this and didn’t attack me for it. I think in presenting the way I felt about it – wait til more information comes in – was respected. That is so rare on any internet board, as people are quick to condemn and lambast others from behind their keyboards. This is one of the principle reasons I have followed this site for almost 10 years (!)
Again, I Hope Amber is ok and receives the justice she is due and hope that Johnny receives the help to recover and never find himself in this way again.
annaloo. Me, too. Wow.
Until now, it seemed to me this was just another HeSaidSheSaid, ThreeSidestoEveryStory celeb divorce. And I thought, I really can’t waste another summer of my life on this stuff, I just can’t…
But this is pretty damning and undeniable evidence. Now I have to say for the record here before I go, I believe Amber.
Oh the Irony. The perfect rep for “Sauvage” men’s cologne (dior)
So many commenters on other sites saying the texts are fake. Because reasons. Why would she keep them so long? Why does one time read 1:30 and the other 3:12?
It’s like people selectively choose when to acknowledge that they know how to use an iPhone, or take a screen capture.
The text thread started at 1:30 and she took screenshots a little after 3 the same day. And she kept the pictures. It’s not that hard to understand.
Wouldn’t a personal assistant have a NDA?
He probably does, but I don’t think a NDA would cover something like this. He (Depp) assaulted her, that’s a crime and shouldn’t be covered by a privacy agreement.
very likely but if Depp would invoke that he would look even worse.
it is still unlikely he will talk because as an assisant you obviously dont want be talking to the press at all if you want to be hired.
Which is why the “texts” are being disclosed. You don’t know if it’s Amber or him disclosing them. It’s a clever way of backing her up. He must feel sorry at the dragging she’s getting in the press.
Unfortunately Amber is not filing a police report, so no crime has been committed where he’d have to break the NDA.
I believe it was a friend of Amber who released the texts.
All PAs sign a NDA, but celebs can permit them break their silence on a case-by-case basis. Obviously Depp would grant permission for the PA to deny writing the texts, so Deuters’ silence is very telling. Deuters can’t be forced to talk to the police, but he can be forced to testify under oath if subpoenaed.
Amber: I’m a victim of domestic violence.
People: We need 749292 kinds of evidence to believe you.
Amber: Gives evidence
People: Ok wow somehow you were able to take photos/text at a time like that? Seems like a setup to me.
🙁
that’s so f*cking accurate and it sickens me.
Seriously.🙁 It’s disgusting. & it just shows anyone who is currently hiding the fact that they are living with DV that no one will believe them, even if they have proof.
Exactly. There’s pretty much no situation in which these people will admit “OK, yeah, Johnny beat Amber and that was horrible and wrong.” Either she’s lying or she set him up.
Yep.
I just read a comment on another site that Amber and Stephen are having an affair and they are in cahoots to blackmail Depp.Same Sh##,Different Day.The text message are photoshopped,the bruises are from makeup,etc.Why is so hard to believe a guy who assaulted security guard,paparazzi and cause $10K in damages to hotel could be violent when he is drunk?
If she was aware and experienced his abusive behavior then why did she marry him and why did she stay? Many women are forced to stay because they have no money and no where to go. You leave the first and only time a man hits you.
@crtb – are you suggesting she deserves the abuse because she stayed?
There are many reasons people stay or come back, even when they seemingly have all the resources available to them e.g. Rihanna
Amber has left now, why isn’t that good enough?
@crtb Please educate yourself
@crtb
Yeah? I’m glad that you have the means to do that, but don’t judge that do not.
Many people are still in love with their abusers. Want them to change desperately, but still love them.
So many people are willing to support Depp over Heard, but you can’t see why Heard, a woman who loved(maybe even still loves) Depp might choose, at least initially, to believe he could change.
@crtb
It seems pretty clear to me that one of the reasons she stayed was because she was getting so much pressure to. She was being told that Johnny’s well being was dependent on her. That text series is about how Johnny is the victim/sad one/person who needs love and support in the situation. That is NOT okay.
If there were a video of him beating her, half of those people would claim it’s not really him, the other half would say, “But look at how much she provoked him!”
@Kate
EXACTLY. I mean, remember the NFL player who knocked his wife unconscious in an elevator? There was an actual debate in the media about whether we knew the “whole story”.
No context is EVER necessary to know that physically attacking your partner is wrong.
@crtb,
See this TED talk, “Why DV victims don’t leave”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1yW5IsnSjo
I honestly feel that this would be a great opportunity to spread information about DV, and if not now, after all this sh*t calms down, because people are really ignorant and don’t even try to understand, it’s nor like there’s no info around.
Miss S- I so agree. This coverage has shown how willfully ignorant people are to DV and how they will try their best to see a woman as a vengeful, insane, plotting liar rather then a man who they respect as abusive. It has seriously depressed me. I am hoping that this sheds some light and educates some people.
So painfully, sadly accurate. Why are people surprised that so many DV victims suffer in silence? Not only do they have deal with the wrath of their partner that they are no publicly calling out, but a system determined not to believe them.
crtb thinks she comes off as strong and above it all, but doesn’t realize how insanely ignorant she is to have that attitude this day and age. Frankly, there is no excuse for this level of ignorance.
How many times does it need to be explained that victims of abuse are rarely known to “leave early” let alone the first time. That’s just not the way it works.
Glad Brittney B brought up Ray Rice and the elevator incident. Janay stayed….again. She has never seen the video footage and refuses, to this day, to watch it. Why? Because she wants to stay…stay with Rice, stay in denial. She won’t watch what he did to her because she doens’t want to know. She wants to pretend it wasn’t that bad and people are just making a big deal about nothing. She even stated when it first happened that she shouldn’t have egged him on. He full on man punched her so friggin’ hard and her head hit the wall in backlash, she went down like a ton or bricks and didn’t move. He showed no remorse, no shock at what he’d done, no fear she may not wake up or that he might have permanently damaged her in some way. Nope! He worried people would see, so he grabbed her arm and dragged out of sight (so he thought). No thought or care for her at all. But of course now, he’s a changed man and would never do that. He may never do that particular thing again, but I have no doubt Janay continues to be abused, hides and lies about it. It’s what she knows and she beleives he loves her.
Note to victims – they may love you on some level, but only as much as a damaged person is able to love. And love is no reason to stay.
@bunnybear
THANK YOU that’s so on point
I made the mistake of reading the comments on ET’s article. All of a sudden everyone is a professional text analyzer
It’s so infuriating
In case you didn’t hear @crtb, she left. The headline isn’t Amber stays with Johnny. What story do you think you’re posting under?
There is probably a zero percent chance that the assistant will come forward and defend her. The security guards definitely did not. People are afraid to bite the hand that feeds them.
It’s amazing to me that Johnny didn’t just pay her off when he had the chance since he should have known she was telling the truth! I think if he had given her some keep it quiet money she would have probably been happy to be done with this horrible chapter in her life. Now she needs more money because all of his mudslinging is probably going to hurt her career more than his. Because sexism.
I don’t think he’ll come forward publicly, but hopefully he’ll at least speak with the police.
IMO, Johnny didn’t pay her off because he didn’t see the need to – he’s the beloved Hollywood star, and she’s a “nobody”. He firmly believed that he has all the power, and no one would take her seriously. It’s scary that that seems to be the case (for some people, not all thankfully. But I’ve had several close friends say they don’t care what he’s done to her, they would still be with him in a heartbeat. His fame is his power right now :/ )
Wow… just… incredible. That kind of fame and power, that people don’t care that you’re an abuser and a sick person so much so that they would jump into your bed in a heartbeat.
Yeah, I don’t get that at all. I can’t even look at him. I had to stop reading the comments on DM. There are some great, very supportive comments, but the vast majority are utterly vile. It’s not just men, either. I’m gobsmacked by some of the things women are saying. They’re like rabid dogs baying for blood. It’s positively sickening.
He used the same scare tactics with her, the same gas lighting, the same I’m so sorry I love you so much baloney that abusers use, the emotional grab of someone who is kind and someone who loves them to try and call her bluff. He didn’t think she would have the balls to go against him publicly, to shame him and herself* by airing their furry laundry.
He didn’t realize just how strong she truly is.
*shame of public opinion
It could still happen he simply pays her off- up to now, nobody has confirmed that Amber filed a police report. Depp is still touring Europe- would he, if she had?? Her lawyer said 2 days ago, she would file, but now there are rumors all over some outlets that she’s ‘changed her mind’. So it COULD have been just another warning to Depp, because at the same time, they released these text messages from 2012. IF she had filed, why making the messages public, because it would be clear he’s gonna be questioned by a judge anyway…
@Val–
See Bill Cosby and his 58 victims… same thing. Cosby supporters feel that the women were willing participants who are looking for fame and money.
At this point, I don’t see Amber taking a pay out and walking away quietly. Johnny went so far and wide with his smear campaign, she will want to clear her name. I am skeptical that Johnny will ever be prosecuted, much less convicted, so the only justice for Amber may be airing his dirty laundry during divorce proceedings.
For the people determind to fault women for anything and everything, no. Nothing, short of Johnny Depp going on live TV and saying, yes, I did all this, would satisfy those morons. It is misogyny, plain and simple.
I believe they’ll then say he’s such a kind, caring, honourable guy that, even after all her lies and dirty tricks, he’s still prepared to support her and take the heat by covering up her reprehensible behaviour. THAT’S what a legend he is.
Even if he were to admit it on live television there would still be denial. Remember Mike Tyson admitted to beating up his wife at the time, Robin Givens, in a Barbara Walters interview. To this day, people still allege that she tricked him into it because she wanted the lie on official record for when she filed for alimony. That incident is s over twenty years old and you will still find comments like those on her social media. So no, not even an admission will get some of his supporters to back down.
Even those who are convinced by the admission will try to justify his actions. In the Ray Rice case mentioned above, Rays supporters argued that she had provoked him and he was merely responding to her evil prodding.
I guess what I am saying is that I have given up on humanity.
Blind gossip has smth very disturbing about him.
Can’t say that without saying or linking it. Spill the beans!
Is it the one where an actress is thinking about coming forward to discuss that she was abused by an actor who is currently being accused of domestic violence? Most guesses were obviously Winona or Jennifer Grey.
Louisa, yes…I was talking about this item.
Is it on Lainey?
Lord I’m so sad for Amber. There’s really no words that adequately describers how disturbed I feel
This Stephen guy is talking about a grown man in his 50’s. Putting the abuse aside for a second, how sickening is it that these rich and famous people have so many enablers around them. He cried, he is appalled, he is a little boy, wtf!!!!
And yet, despite this Stephen’s assertions that “he is appalled and needs all the help he can get”, was he appalled enough to actually seek help since 2014?
I agree. Those texts are about making Johnny the person who needs love and support – not the woman he is abusing. I thought I could not be more disgusted by him. I was wrong.
That got me, too. Sad little boy BS. Johnny must have paid his enablers very well. I hope Amber gets the help she needs, as for Johnny, I no longer care.
Yeah no way does he side with Amber. He seems very far up Depps butt maybe farther up than TMZ if that is possible.
You’d think the cops would subpoena him, right? I know nothing about law, but it seems like he would be questioned if/when the DA were to investigate. Also, how hard is it for police tech guys to prove these texts are real? They may not even need him.
The phones could be submitted for forensic review, even if the messages were deleted: http://www.cio.com/article/2378005/byod/byod-think-deleted-text-messages-are-gone-forever-think-again.html
The police cannot force anyone to talk to them. If the DA charged Depp with a crime, the DA could subpoena Deuters as a witness at trial, and he would then testify without being penalized for breaking his NDA.
Amber’s lawyer could subpoena him to give a deposition as part of the divorce hearing, although Deuters would have opportunity to challenge it. The divorce judge would decide whether or not to uphold the subpoena.
He has reportedly removed his social media contacts but that could be because he is getting bombarded from both sides.
TMZ is saying he denied sending the text and they were doctored. And he will testify in court to that.
The assistant says the text messages were doctored and he will testify under oath he never said Johnny was violent.He spoke to TMZ,OF COURSE.
But of course!
Well of course he will deny it. Look how he respond to Amber! He is with Depp, no matter what. He for goodness sake is telling her to go back to the man that kicked her and blacked out. Bet that tune will change if the the phone number is used check old messages. companies can go back pretty far and retrieve old messages and their sources.
Actually the assistant has said they’re not real and he will swear this under oath
This story makes me sick to my stomach. Never thought I’d say this, but Poor Amber.
He has said they have been doctored.
Apparently he has said they are fake.
They had better be careful, because SMS texts can be subpoenaed from the phone company.
Retrospectively her eyes seem to be saying “help me”…
Now I feel really bad about all the comments I used to make about how dead-eyed she always looks.
I always thought she was a very lively and intelligent girl. I think we’re mostly programmed to dislike the young girls in Hollywood today, because they seem to be extremely vain and attention-hungry, and double dislike if they nab a famous, older star.
I did find the hate kind of odd with Amber, as (for example) she isn’t even on social media. She doesn’t get papped often,.. she’s not at every and any premiere, or doing any and every interview…
With Amber, a lot of it is because of the perception that she “broke up” Depp’s family/relationship with Vanessa. It’s not all that difficult for certain people to believe she’s lying when they’ve already cast her, in their heads, as a home-wrecking villain.
There is a photo from May 2014 where she looks very nervous with Johnny. It was at the Don Rickles’ Spike TV Tribute. He has his arms around her, and her eyes are saying “help me”.
Ugh. You’re right. I googled that event, and she looks terribly uncomfortable while he looks like the cat who got the canary, showing off his newest toy.
Lainey posted that today. In hindsight, that picture is totally chilling.
i looked up old celebitchy posts about depp and there is one from the grammys in february where he is with amber in some photos. the first commenter wrote “Amber’s eyes are screaming “Help me!” many commenters agreed, but thought it’s funny that she has to deal with old scarfy.
depp was hiding in plain sight.
Yikes, the body language at that Rickles event is hella uncomfortable on her side, and very ‘look what I got’ on his.
It’s like they just had a row and only she gets to remember it.
He must be someone you really want to get better when he’s not abusive. She probably married him because it was implied the anxiety over her not being his wife yet was triggering his rages. Then it was proably something else once they were married.
She must have had to have made so many adjustments and second guess herself all the time, all while everyone not seeing the other side of him would have been encouraging her to stay.
I completely agree! Her eyes look so sad in all of the photos!
And resigned but scared.
The photos are horrible. I can’t even look at the late stage photos of them together anymore. He has that same possessive controlling look I used to see in the abusers I had the pleasure of dealing with.
The whole thing has to be so triggering to anyone who has experienced anything similar. Especially with do much doubt, despite how well she’s handled this.
Both of my friends who experienced abuse from their intimate partners lost common friends. Many people do not want to believe the nice guy they are buds is totally different behind closed doors.
This is my feeling, too. Every vid clip of them, every photo shows just how captive and sad she is, that she seems to constantly be treading so carefully to appease him, and he just has to physically control her by wrapping his arm tightly around her, or pulling her by the hand. Terribly possessive.
I cannot understand why people cannot see this for what it is. So sad for her, and all the women who are not believed. It’s abuse all over again, albeit a different kind ☹️
People used to say that she looked “smug”. Hopefully this is a lesson not to give too much credit to our abilities to accurately determine personality traits based on photos and assumptions.
Yes and I remember another poster, I think it was Kitten, saying AH looked as ‘high’ as JD on red carpets, but I never thought that personally. She looked uncomfortable more than anything. And now we know why.
What Tiffany said.
Playing a second round of photo assumption (with the benefit of hindsight) is just as bad as the first round.
a) The media pick the shots you see. Of course CB picked a header photo where Amber looks unhappy and Johnny looks controlling: it fits the story. But here is another photo, same event, where Amber is the one who looks possessive and controlling, and Johnny looks uncomfortable (http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Art+Elysium+Samsung+Galaxy+Present+Marina+f9X_2csiK2rl.jpg).
b) If you look at photos of Amber & Johnny, and – with hindsight – think that it was obvious all along … what about the next couple, who are better at pulling off lovey-dovey fakeness? Would you refuse to believe a domestic violence claim because you can’t see it in the pics? Seems dangerous to reinforce the idea that body language will tell you if DV is occurring, when so many people have said it happened to them and no-one knew.
c) Knowledge and assumption plays a huge role in what you perceive. Remember the colour illusion dress? People saw completely different colours based on whether their brain assumed the photo was taken inside (low light) or outside (bright light). Your brain does the same thing with reading emotion. For example, the leading runner breaking the tape at the finish line and a person running from a knife wielding attacker actually pull the same face (“omg! run faster!”), but, once given the context, we automatically perceive the former to look ecstatic at winning and the latter to look terrified. What you think you’re seeing depends heavily on what context you’re giving the situation. Of course we can now easily perceive that Amber looked sad and depressed, but we can only do that because we finally know the right context. It’s not like we simply weren’t paying attention (don’t feel too bad Samantha), the human brain simply isn’t designed to read emotions without context.
Wait…he got his ASSISTANT to apologize??? Wtf? He couldn’t be bothered himself? What a complete and utter tool. I mean, we already knew that but, Good Lord.
Ikr?! I can just see it in my mind.
Depp: “Stephen I’m bored, tell the broad to come back. Oh and send her whatever her favorite flowers are.”
Ass: “Sir, I dont think she is coming back, remember what she said last time you…..(trails off)”
Depp: “GET IT DONE, STEPHEN!!”
Ass: “I think something from Cattier ….”
Depp: “Whatever. Bring me my bourbon”
F-ck Johnny Depp and F-ck Stephen, the assistant!
Well-hypothesized. It’s so sad that I can’t even laugh about it, as hilariously accurate as your scenario seems.
Naya, I know this is wrong but that was effing funny. Could you develop screenplay with those characters? Since it seems a lot of Hollywood types are reading CB, you could probably get it optioned.
The more people you drag into it, the more people she has to say no to, and the more pressure she feels. I’d imagine the people around him worked the narrative shown here hard. “He is a lost little boy. Crying on the bed too devastated and embarrassed to contact you.” And “Please Amber he needs YOU, only YOU can save him, please save him.” It’s hard to get away from one person pleading but an army of minions would add even more pressure especially since they had a personal relationship with her and knew how to use it. It’s all so gross.
“The more people you drag into it, the more people she has to say no to, and the more pressure she feels.” That is very insightful Lindsay.
This exactly. Plus we don’t know what kind of a relationship she had with the assistant. Perhaps they were close and Johnny thought if someone whom Amber trusted asked instead of Johnny, then maybe Amber would acquiesce. It’s also possible that Amber was refusing to talk to Johnny at that time. Whatever the reason, it’s manipulative as f-ck.
Really good point, Lindsay. She was being manipulated by a team of people.
This part makes me so sick: “When I told him he kicked you, he cried.”
Such heavy handed guilt-tripping. HE cried, oh heaven forbid! Yes, you got the crap kicked out of you, but HE CRIED!
Brilliant observation. And just further demonstrates what a manipulative POS he is.
Good point. Scary, too.
And she married him anyway. That’s what I have trouble understanding. I understand why some women stay in abusive marriages, but I don’t understand why she recognises and talks about the abuse and her problems with it, and then goes on to marry him anyway.
From my understanding he promised to stop the drinking/drugs once he married. When you are in that cycle you want to believe. Plus, it seems there were a lot of Depp’s employees pushing that promise onto her.
Firstly, we know that she resisted marriage for a while. This isnt new information, it was circling around back then too.
As for why she gave in, someone yesterday posted about how domestic violence interferes with the victims emotional intelligence. When the people around you downplay your fears and cast you as your abusers potential savior AND your abuser apologises profusely and makes a show of change AND there is even an extended period of peace, then you start to feel like a happy future is possible. It was obviously a horrible mistake that she will pay for with her career and public image but it is also a common and understandable mistake.
I too had trouble understanding this at first and then I saw someone posting a TED Talk called ‘Leslie Morgan Steiner: Why domestic violence victims don’t leave’ and I watched it. It was very insightful and she explained why she married her abuser. Now I can understand it, it’s part of how their cycle of abuse works. I suggest you watch it too if you want to learn more 🙂
That’s because you don’t understand
how emotional abuse works. When she
started having doubts, that’s when the
emotional abuse kicked in.
Don’t ever underestimate that power!
Because the marriage was “proof” that he changed. He hadn’t married the others, but he loved her and would change for her. Sadly, she believed him.
I have trouble understanding why a person hits,kicks,slaps a person they supposedly love.
This makes me worried about her. She needs to untangle why she married an abuser because people here can deny it all they want, if she doesn’t work this out, she will end up in the same pattern of being abused.
Jib, this is a common misconception about DV victims. *Some* DV victims find themselves drawn to abusive POS men over and over again, and cannot break out of this pattern without identifying why these relationships have such pull on them and learning how to be attracted to men who are healthy for them. This is by no means true of *all* DV victims, however. Sometimes you just get unlucky and draw the abusive partner card (abusers usually start off very affectionate and charming), and then the abuse gradually ramps up (starting with the psychological) and breaks down your confidence in yourself and your own judgment and makes it extremely difficult to leave even if you were a healthy person when you went into it. ANYONE can end up in an abusive relationship — this is the terrifying truth that people do not want to believe.
Because abuse doesn’t start with hitting. It starts way before that.
The abuser gradually isolates you from your friends and family (Amber mentioned in her police statement that he didn’t like her friends being around), they lash out at you (in Johnny’s case, after using drugs he would get violent and smash items in their home before eventually turning to her), they promise to change and profess how much they love you (see above), they make you dependent on them (I read that Amber only made $51k last year, and he’s clearly the breadwinner, plus she’s surrounded by his team who pushed her to stay in the relationship and very likely didn’t have her own to tell her how bad of an idea it was). Before you realize what’s happened, you feel trapped with no way out. It’s not as simple as picking up your purse and walking out the door. You have to untangle yourself from a very complex and ugly web.
I think the whole cycle is hard to understand, but I did the same thing, to a lesser degree, that she did. My first husband lied to me and cheated on me once (that I knew about) before we were married, and I thought he meant it when he said he was sorry and I thought if he committed to marry me, he would stop. It was idiotic, but I believed it at the time.
Maybe she was actually in love and completely infatuated? I had the mentality in my 20s, “oh he will changed because I will love him enough”. You know that is BS when you are past 30 but in your 20s you still believe that type of s*it.
It’s really not that shocking if you understand how abuse cycles work. Abusers are generally charming and manipulative – they wait until an emotional bond is established before they begin abusing. They gaslight their victims constantly, teaching them to doubt their own feelings and assume responsibility for their abuser’s actions. Violent behavior is always followed by a honeymoon period where the victim is flooded with attention and care, which forces them to doubt their initial feelings and impressions. Think about how we socialize women to be less assertive, empathetic and intuitive – then think of how that can be weaponized by an abuser. The ultimate goal of abuse is to create a victim who abuses themselves even in the absence of the abuser. My sister describes her experience in DV as a period of madness – so out of her mind with fear and doubt and misery that she couldn’t tell right from left.
I wish someone would research what happens to the brain for victims in this kind of relationship because when you’re under sustained anxiety and stress and then the person appears to get better and for an interval there’s peace and a somewhat happiness and then there’s an incident again and thee fear/ reward cycle starts up again – that has got to do something to the reward areas of the brain and the endocrine system that makes it easier a repeated spiralling cycle seem rewarding or at least react more strongly to the reward part of the cycle.
I bet with some reasearch the whybthe victims stay is in part chemical. I find it hard to believe that kind of stress – and often pain – couldn’t mess up the brain chemistry when just stress and food can create unhelpful behavioural patterns.
I’m sure she married him under pressure and because she believed him when he said he’d get better. He hadn’t been like that in his marriage by all accounts so I could see why she might have believed there were other issues causing his abuse over his possesiveness and need to control her specifically.
Who would want to believe that of someone they liked let alone loved enough to marry.
Google something like PBS + torture + changes brain and you’ll get an article about this. Learned helplessness and all – it’s a real thing. Yes, of course the nervous system (brain) changes when an organism is repeatedly under threat. That’s what it’s supposed to do – learn — but the result is extremely unfortunate.
@hogtowngooner: when you put it like that it sounds similar to being trapped in a religious cult.
To me it sounds like Johnny had already texted Amber and she was ignoring or not responding to his texts, so he asked his assistant to get in touch with her. Not defending Johnny, that’s just my take!
So he refused to accept her decisions and sent his employee to violate the boundary she was trying to create? That seems even more abusive than if he sent the assistant because he couldnt be bothered to do his dirty work himself.
@Naya: Maybe? But to me it just sounded like he was desperate to apologize to her. And no, that doesn’t give him the right to run all over her boundaries, but desperate people do desperate things.
no. depp texted her that “he didnt deserve this”. “this” probably being her leaving after he kicked her. so no desperate apology, but a demand to come back to him pronto. hence why amber stresses to steven that johnny doesnt seem to remember what happened, but unfortunately, she remembers it all.
This is part of what’s always bothered me about Depp, even before all this mess. He lives such a paranoid, Hollywood lifestyle full of hanger-ons, ass kissers and paid henchmen. He never seems to go -anywhere- without a couple of bodyguards – why? Is there a threat on his life? I get that he needs them at premieres, public events, going to concerts, etc – but all the time?
There were two of them hanging in the lobby when he went over to see Amber last wkend, when the fight occurred. He needs to them to visit an private condo downtown – who is going to bother him there? I’ve seen them with him in candid pap shots of him outside his kids’ school. And I’ve never seen a photo of him driving himself anywhere ever. His daughter (not to drag her in but to make a point) is always papped with a older male driver.
I can’t think of any other star who lives like this except maybe Cruise, and we all know his issues. Julia Roberts, Affleck, Denzel, Tom Hanks – they drive themselves around LA with friends or family and don’t have guards on their down time.
A picture is slowly emerging of Depp’s private life that is disturbing, even beyond the battery and abuse. It’s like he and his family live in a crazy megastar bubble of his own making.
There are a lot of celebrities that have bodyguards around them most times that’s not unusual. Celebrities having drives is just smart, bodyguards/drivers are better equipped for handling paparazzi on the road. Not to mention prevent drinking and driving, having a driver could have prevented a lot of these celebrities from a DUI.
I don’t know about the bodyguard thing. I always think to John Lennon and what happened to him.
@Eleonor is someone threatening to harm or shoot him? Stars do get threats or have stalkers; if so there could be a legitimate reason for constant protection, of course.
But to my view the constant need for a paid posse and a heavy goon squad smacks of insecurity and ego. The vast majority of his peers do not require handlers 24/7 and get by just fine in LA or NY: Roberts, Hanks, Bale, Affleck, Damon.
The Jolie/Pitts do sometimes have guards nearby off-work but I tend to view them as a special case given their dual high profile. But even they often ‘rough it’ with just the kids and nannies. Depp is constantly surrounded, all the time. And they seem to run personal interference as well as physical per these texts.
In fact his heavy-type bodyguards got him in a heap of trouble in 2011 when the assaulted a women standing near him at an LA concert. They supposedly threw her to the ground, tore her pants off and injured her; he would up having to settle out of court and pay her (apologies too lazy to Google for link its out there).
The only stars to my knowledge living with a similar circus 24/7 are the Kardashians, Madonna, and Tom Cruise. Telling company.
I understand your thinking, but sincerely, many higher profile stars do use body guards and drivers pretty much every day. Paying off duty police officers to guard your home is also very common. There are a lot of safety issues that people might not realize. Additionally, it isn’t just high profile stars that get these threats, but they are the best equipped to handle these threats because they have more resources.
Also, you might not realize who has the “circus” aka security with them, as paparazzi focus their lenses on the stars.
We’re pretty savvy here re the habits of the stars. I’m very savvy re pap activities and workings. Many, many of Depp’s peers do not use drivers or bodyguards in non-work settings and have no issues.
There are no guards with the Afflecks. Not in their 100s of pap shots. They may have them outside their home (possibly a guard house) but they don’t go out publicly on their down time with them. There are no guards getting in/out of cars with them or following them separately to church, the Farmers Market or elsewhere; Garner does her many papped school runs alone with her kids. Sometimes with a nanny in tow – searches of photo sets will often show them – if they are there and you don’t see them in the published photos, you can view the full original photo sets on other sites carrying the ‘unsold’ photos or vid clips.
It is near impossible to keep close helpers out of full pap sets and paps don’t have time to aim to keep them out; if someone is not supposed to be shown, they are cropped out of the original pic or those pics go unsold/published by media.
Christian Bale doesn’t have guards, or a even a PA and barely a pt nanny. He is out plenty with his family including small kids and they are always alone and drive themselves. There are 1000s of pap shots (sold/unsold) showing this. Damon is alone when he is occasionally papped with his kids. He does not use a driver.
Tom Hanks very likely has security at his LA home but often goes out to dinner with his wife and friends/family and drives himself. They do not take security with them and have never been papped with b-guards at private dates/events. His son lives in the H-Hills and does not have guards.
Depp is at the same stardom level as these peers. And he’s surrounded 24/7. He couldn’t even make a private visit to his home downtown – where no fans were waiting or looking for him – without at least two paid minders in tow.
And as I noted, his security are heavy and goony. He has a culture of agitation and violence around him. Even Madonna’s goon squad hasn’t seriously injured fans or caused her to be sued.
My original point stands: unless he has longterm stalker problem (entirely possible) he is lazily over-dependent on his staff. Enabled by them too, by the looks of these texts.
No, I’m sorry. Looking at celebrity photos on websites does not make someone an expert on celebrity habits.
Yes, I think that it is likely that Depp could have an over dependence on his staff and is enabled by them, but I disagree with your thoughts about security and drivers and what is common. My experience says otherwise.
This is what a lot of abusive men do. Even after attacking you, there is still too much pride involved.
You might get a sorry the first time to stop you leaving but after that, apologising for their behaviour would be admitting they did something wrong. Most of them will simply never admit it since you must have provoked them in some way.
Again, I find it weird that he never seems to attack men in these ‘rages’. So Stephen, who can presumably fight back, doesn’t get attacked but his wife does….
Good points. So sad, all of this.
Because it’s easy to look at an abusive addict and see a broken man who needs “help” and “support” and “the love of a good woman.”
+1000. There are hundreds of millions of dollars invested in making Depp into some pitiful, helpless creature who just needs help so he can come across as sympathetic rather than the strung out, self-absorbed abuser that he is.
Amber is the one who can be reasoned with and told that she’s actually in control. And she’s the one without money, so, who cares about her, right?
Ain’t that the usual narrative reserved for men?
“Poor lost boy, he just needs a good woman to save him”
“Poor guy, she manipulated him and took his money”
“Come on, poor guy, she dressed provocatively and now she’s claiming rape”
It’s like men never have any responsibility or agency, but the big bad world (and women) always getting them down!
Reminds me of this week’s ‘Ask Polly’ on NYMag; the woman writing had to make all the sacrifices financially because her husband doesn’t pay his student loans, works 20-30 hours a week, and isn’t looking for another job. Yet SHE is afraid of seeming like a nag if she asks him to get his life together because the dire financial situation is also affecting their son.
At what point do men get more than a slap on the wrist for destroying the people around them?
No wonder we live in a world of irresponsible man-children.
And we women are told that men are “logical” and “natural leaders” and that we should follow them. What a crock.
Thank you for everything you wrote.
@ineedanap: true. you can’t have it both ways.
Well, I actually do feel sorry for him. Which doesn’t mean that I condone his behaviour! His PR campaign to smear her is despicable. And for the record, I believe everything that Amber has said, and my heart goes out to her, I’m really glad that she has left him.
The thing is, I have a friend who is an alcoholic. And the form of alcoholism that he suffers from (because yes, I do believe it is a disease of sorts) is of the type that he can’t ever have even one tiny sip of alcohol because it will lead to an uncontrolled drinking binge. And when he binges, he drinks until he blacks out. And by “blacking out”, I don’t mean “passing out”, although that does happen eventually as well. What I mean is that he has no cognitive awareness of where he is or who he is with or what he is doing. His behaviour becomes almost psychotic, it truly is like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He himself has no framework of reference for his own behaviour afterwards. Others tell him things that he has done and he is ashamed, but he feels disconnected from the behaviour even though he acknowledges it, because he has absolutely no memory of his actions.
My friend has tried for decades to stay sober, and in general he is. He goes months, weeks, and years without having a drink, but then every once in a blue moon something happens and he just takes one tiny sip, and bam! He’s out of control.
Why is he my friend? Because he is the sweetest, kindest, most selfless person I know. He is always. always there for me. I’ve watched him struggle for years to have 100% control over his drinking, because that is what is required here. He’s seen more than one therapist, goes to regular AA meetings, and has been to rehab. And after seeing him in blackout mode (on only 2 occasions in the 20 years that I’ve known him), my heart actually bleeds for him. Alcoholism is a demon.
I’m also incredibly sympathetic to addicts (not so much to abusers but people can be both) so I appreciate what you said here.
The thing is, even if most of us think Johnny is human garbage and couldn’t care less if he drinks himself to death, he’s still somebody’s father, somebody’s brother, somebody’s son, somebody’s ex-husband, you know?
His kids deserve better–they deserve a sober, healthy, and PRESENT father.
I really don’t believe that he has a lot of time left on this earth if he continues on this path of self-destruction.
Agreed, Kitten.
I’m someone who is slow to label another person as a demon, because I think that true demons are rare in this world. So when I hear stories like this one, I do my best to try and find some understanding of the flawed human beings who are involved, because all humans are naturally flawed. And my understanding here leads me to believe that Johnny has two sides: one is that of an incredibly talented, charismatic and kind individual who is much beloved for all good reasons. The other is an out of control blackout addict who behaves monstrously and psychotically when under the influence and has no memory of his violent and abusive actions afterwards. This helps me to understand not only his own behaviour, but Amber’s choice to marry him. Doesn’t mean that I am condoning or excusing him, it’s just my way of assessing.
Meanwhile, I’m happy that Amber has extracted herself from the situation. I hope that she will eventually find peace. I do believe that she is young and will eventually move on from this and heal. As for Johhny? He is a wreck, and he’s committing slow suicide, professionally, personally, and physically, whether that’s intentional or not. His liver must be nearly shot. I really feel for his kids, and for all of the people in his circle who truly love him.
My thing is instead of kissing his ass, covering for him and defending him they should have gotten Johnny help a long time ago. Not wait until he is shame to go to rehab as a good PR trick., His kids who deserve a sober father and not a drunken mess of one and it would have saved Amber a lot of heartache.
Yet it seems they nor Johnny care about that because the DF has pictures of Johnny drinking and partying outside his hotel with fans.
@Flowerchild
That’s one of the saddest parts, isn’t it? He probably thinks these people actually care about him, but if they did, they would have tried to make him see that he needed help instead of just saying what he wanted to hear, even if they got fired for it.
Thanks for posting this @tiny_martian.
This isn’t directly relevant but it made me think of something a recovering alcoholic once told me. She’d drink to forget the shame she felt for the things she did while drinking. What a horrible cycle to be caught in.
Which made me think JD’s vicious smear campaign against Amber is part psychological in nature: He just can’t admit to himself the horrible things he did to her. So he justifies it by vilifying her.
I feel enormous empathy for Amber and wow I am so glad she’s gotten out. Hell I’m actually rather proud of her and find her kind of badass the more info comes out But I don’t want to write JD off as just a garbage person. I wonder though if he’ll ever have a moment of personal reckoning with all the sycophants and power he wields.
I also sympathise with addicts, but not with anyone who uses their addiction as an excuse to be abusive and, in the case of alcohol, it absolutely cannot make anyone act any more aggressively or violently than they consciously decide to, no matter what they may try to convince anyone else of, so I will understand that Johnny is only interested in providing a convenient excuse for himself if he ever attempts to attribute his abuse of Amber to his consumption of alcohol.
In case anyone is not aware of how alcohol does or does not contribute to abuse, Lundy Bancroft’s Why Does He Do That: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men provides a brief overview, mostly by explaining two important insights following years of investigation. The first is that, if you look at the biological and chemical reality of the situation, alcohol *cannot* elevate a person’s inclination towards aggression or violence, although the misinformation that surrounds the nature of alcohol *can* provide a person with a convenient excuse and prompt them to give themselves permission to be more aggressive or violent than they otherwise would be. The second is that, if you look at research on drug- and alcohol-induced blackouts, the person who experiences a blackout is aware of what they are doing *as they do it,* and only becomes unaware of what they have done *after they have already done it,* since a blackout occurs retroactively. A blackout cannot make anyone unaware of what they *are* doing, but only of what they *have* already done.
@fille: For the most part you may be correct, but there are always exceptions. There is such a thing as alcohol related psychosis, for example, which tends to occur in people who have a long history of alcohol abuse. Additionally:
“Alcohol idiosyncratic intoxication is an unusual condition that occurs when a small amount of alcohol produces intoxication that results in aggression, impaired consciousness, prolonged sleep, transient hallucinations, illusions, and delusions. These episodes occur rapidly, can last from only a few minutes to hours, and are followed by amnesia.” This happens to be the condition that my friend suffers from, and he most definitely can become paranoid, deluded and violent during his blackout periods.
I’m not saying that Johnny suffers from either of these conditions, but it is certainly possible. And it doesn’t mean that he isn’t culpable, it’s just one potential scenario. Then again, he might just be an a**hole.
@tiny martian I understand what alcohol idiosyncratic intoxication is, but I do think it’s important to also understand that alcohol is a depressant that cannot cause aggression or violence on its own, but can only increase inhibition and that, as is stated in the passage you quoted, the episodes that constitute alcohol idiosyncratic intoxication are only followed by amnesia, but occur as the person experiencing them is aware of what they are doing, even if they do not feel as inhibited as they might otherwise. I think acknowledging that a substantial degree of agency exists even in conditions such as these is an important step in addressing them and their consequences, as addressing only the inappropriate use of alcohol and not also the aggressive and violent tendencies that precede and underlie it is usually unsuccessful, as different programmes for abusers have demonstrated.
A lot of addicts probably have diagnosed mental disorders as well. My uncle was an addict and was dx with BP later life. One of my friends that was an addict was dx. with schizophrenia. Sometimes mental disorders are disguised my addiction if a person had both. Wouldn’t be surprised if Depp, who seems to have moods changes rapidly may have a mental disorder.
Sorry for the super late reply.
@tiny martian, Kitten
Alcoholism runs in both sides of my family. I’ve seen up-close how loving and how incredibly selfish and abusive addicts can be.
My sympathy is reserved for my cousins who were raised being told that they bore responsibility in preventing the drinking, that they had to be strong and supportive. That they had to be loving. I’ve seen up-close how twisted and destructive love can be with addicts who haven’t yet decided to stop. They still want to go back for one more drink no matter how destructive it makes them. I have no sympathy for that.
Addiction is a disease. I believe in rehabilitation but for addicts who begin to prey on others, I believe that there also needs to be consequences. And concerning sympathy, I’ll reserve my sympathies for their victims.
@fille
Thank you for talking about agency.
“I also sympathize with addicts, but not with anyone who uses their addiction as an excuse to be abusive and, in the case of alcohol, it absolutely cannot make anyone act any more aggressively or violently than they consciously decide to, no matter what they may try to convince anyone else of”
+1000. I completely agree.
@ fille: I would argue that someone disinhibited by alcohol is not “consciously deciding” to be aggressive. It’s more that alcohol removes the ability to consciously decide NOT to be aggressive.
Alcohol interferes with executive function, lowering your ability to think through the consequences of your actions. If you’re a full-on planner/worrier (like me), that’s not such a problem. Drunk, I might only check the road twice before crossing, rather than 5 times. But if someone normally thinks little about consequences, they may end up ignoring them altogether if they are drunk. Their decision making is impaired, they’re not making the same decisions that they would make sober.
Blaming all acohol-related violence on the fact “alcohol is just an excuse” doesn’t make sense to me. It’s not like violence is the only dumb thing that happens when people are drunk. Most of those don’t really fit the “it’s just an excuse” narrative. Joe walked out in front of a car – he consciously decided to do this, being drunk was only an excuse? Sally bought a round for the entire bar, even thought she couldn’t afford it – she’s a profligate spender, being drunk is only an excuse?
Makes more sense to say alcohol impairs your judgement, and makes it likely you’d do things that you’d think twice about sober. That covers all the dumb shit we do when drinking.
@Natalie I’m sorry you and your family members have experienced that. I have also had experiences with alcoholic abusers, and I have come to understand through my readings on the topic and my interactions with alcoholic abusers that it is absolutely necessary to understand and acknowledge the part agency plays in any abuse they engage in under the influence of alcohol if anyone hopes to rehabilitate them. Unfortunately, programmes that address only their alcoholism and not the aggressive and violent tendencies that appear alongside it never work over the long-term because they operate on the assumption that alcohol not only could be, but definitely is the cause of those tendencies and that is simply not an accurate reflection of what alcohol is or how it works.
@Lucrezia You have to understand, though, that there is a difference between being careless, as when a person walks in front of a car, and being aggressive and violent, as when a person assaults someone. As a depressant, alcohol leads to the impaired perception and motor control that causes the first, but cannot lead to the aggressive and violent impulses that cause the second. It definitely impairs many different cognitive processes, but it cannot skew those processes towards the aggressive and violent. It can only provide an excuse, and although abusers almost invariably insist that it is the alcohol that causes their aggression while they are out of treatment, they also almost invariably admit that they consciously decided to be aggressive and violent both during and prior to consuming alcohol once they have been put into treatment for both their inappropriate use of alcohol and their abusiveness.
Why is all of this information slowly being trickled out and sent via sources (Amber’s mom)? I believe Johnny is abusive but what is Amber’s angle with the slow drip of evidence?
Has she made a police report yet?
PR and money
Wow.
She’s giving him a chance to back down. Depp’s team has come out swinging but she has proof. Depp needs to figure out how deluded and arrogant he’s going to be about this.
Has Depp’s team really come out swinging though? It doesn’t seem like they have anything concrete to counteract Amber’s claims. Their biggest “hit” thus far was the characterization of Amber as “cold” for filing for divorce so soon after Johnny’s death. It’s been pretty much a downward spiral since then.
Not that any of these very real facts will stop some people from still defending Johnny but..he’s definitely not winning here.
Kitten: they’ve definitely come out swinging. You think the smear campaign is a coincidence?
Her only retort is evidence. They can’t deny the evidence, so instead they are discrediting her by publicly questioning her motives, her character, timing of divorce action after his mother’s death, her financial records, friends, daughter and exes etc.
Even his lawyer put out a statement early on saying Amber was using tactics to force a big settlement.
And it’s working because the more evidence she puts in the public arena, the more JD’s team moves the goal posts such that she seems vindictive and or unhinged.
Very few sites are discussing the fact that her evidence points to a druggy, alcoholic, ragey abuser. That salient fact is buried under the avalanche of the PR smear campaign.
His team are definitely working overtime and they are throwing everything they can at her.
Kitten – I think that they came out ready to swing, and realized it wouldn’t take much effort to get people on Johnny’s side. I mean – look when the report broke – the VAST VAST majority of Celebitchy posters were completely sided with Depp. And I tend to think this is a pretty good group of posters.
His team didn’t have to do much to sway public opinion because most people were already on Johnny’s side. They know we live in a society where abused women are just ‘lying’ or ‘deserved’ whatever they get. They came out swinging, but didn’t even need to connect with the ball to get a run because society already was setup to take Johnny’s side – and since he has such a cult following, they didn’t need to do much work. The stories wrote themselves.
I agree with Natalie. Amber may be giving Johnny a chance to back down. This is a warning shot and I think there is plenty more where that came from – especially that video. It appears that Johnny may not remember most of the incidents – which should be worrisome for his team – not knowing what might come out at any time – and he may not have been completely honest with the team anyway – he’s all about lie and deny – and there are things he doesn’t even remember. This is not much of a foundation for the offensive campaign that has been launched against Amber. Black outs are damn scary. So now the people who are spinning away attacking Amber and blindly defending Johnny are given pause to reconsider, hopefully.
It actually is probably a matter of PR and money for her at this point. In certain ways this reminds me of the Mel/Oksana mess. Not that Amber is as much of an opportunist but I do think Amber’s motivation is to get the biggest settlement out of this and to recover some of her reputation so that she can salvage a career (which I see as highly unlikely). I don’t blame her one bit.
@Erinn-Yeah people sided with Depp BEFORE they knew he kicked Amber’s ass on multiple occasions.
I don’t know…I guess I’m in the minority then? I just don’t see this ending well for Depp, regardless of the fact that his fanboys are still blindly supporting him…and I’m not convinced that his paid minions and the DM commenting community is reflective of the public at large.
Maybe I’m naïve but I do believe that he’s done long-term, irrevocable damage to his career. I’m not dumb enough to think that he won’t keep working in Hollywood (where morality is of no concern) but I do think the public will see him differently from now on.
Oh look at that. You made a comment and replied to it from another name
@Kitten JD’s career already took the big hit because he’s had a string of flops going back 4 years or so. POTC is way over budget mostly because of delays caused by him and he’s lost his looks. I don’t think he has been offered any new big budget films after POTC. The big studios only care about money and Johnny hasn’t been making them money lately so they aren’t going to use him as much. In a despicable way I think he’s going to end up getting more sympathy from the public at large especially if he gets treatment.
Kitten – Oh I know it was before – I’m not trying to villainize anyone. I mean that given how reasonable a group of posters we have – when it comes to even a simple divorce look at how many people already were all ‘poor johnny’ and ‘Amber is a garbage human’ etc etc. I know that everyone has re-evaluated since then, but I was using it as a way to illustrate how much sway Scarfy had to begin with. And when you have people who are much less reasonable than Celebitchy posters, voila. Pretty easy work for the PR team. Easier than expected, likely.
I really do hope his career has suffered that kind of damage. I’d like to see him broke and as miserable as he’s made others feel.
So far, there’s no confirmation of a police report. Her lawyer said she would file two days ago, yet they release these text messages at the same time. I’m not so sure anymore that this will go to court. Depp is still touring Europe- if she had filed, wouldn’t he be ordered back? Then there is the silence of the studio (Disney), so I wonder what PR game THEY are gonna come up with. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the end, Amber gets the amount she was asking for from the start, and some, and this chapter will be closed. Sad, but it could happen like this.
in case you hadn’t noticed TMZ and Page Six are deep into Depp’s innocence. his team has been feeding information, and its to entertainment sites that have hugely favored Depp.
I think she got sick and tired of the crap being said about her and since Johnny and or his team are being total dicks, she really has nothing to lose at this point. She torpedoed herself by coming forward. Her lawyer said she was going to make a statement to the police, but because all these allegations are somewhat old they probably can’t charge him with them. Even if they charge him in the one from the day after his mom died he probably wouldn’t get much of a punishment. Look how much damage Chris Brown did to Rihanna and we all saw the pictures and heard about it right after it happened and he didn’t go to jail and was given plenty of opportunity to fulfill his court ordered community service.
i still can’t believe chris brown didn’t go to jail.
Did Rihanna press charges against CB? Maybe it changed, but I remember her refusing to press charges and refusing to testify against him. In the U.S. (not sure about all states) someone has to file charges against someone for assault. I understand it’s different in the U.K.?
@ladysussex it’s not quite true that the victim has to press charges for assault but there has to be enough evidence for the DA to go forward and if the victim refuses to testify many times they won’t. I think Chris Brown was charged with a assault which is why he’s been on parole for so long.
Yep. The DA’s Office is always who files charges. They read police reports and determine if they believe a crime is committed. Hence why charges change from what a police officer arrests on, versus what someone may actually end up being charged with. The only power a victim has there, in terms of a case not moving forward, is that sometimes their uncooperative behavior (unwilling to testify grand jury, etc.) is seen as a weakness to the case, therefore, a DA may decide not to file, or later drop charges, because without the testimony they wouldn’t be able to win the case. If they’re subpoenaed (as a witness), they can be charged with contempt for failure to appear in court.
She should still make a police report. It makes it official and legal. Give him a chance to back down? I don’t understand her thinking, if true. He tried to suffocate her. Drown him in accusations and proof.
Her angle is trying to ensure she still has a career and a livelihood after her disaster of a marriage is over.
The information is being “slowly trickled out” instead of being dumped onto the internet all at once so that each piece is paid attention to, instead of dismissed out of hand.
So, yeah, PR and money play a part, i.e. making sure people will still cast her and she still has a way to make a living. If she doesn’t let the truth be known his side was going to destroy her to make sure she would never be believed in the future – “why didn’t she say anything before?” And so on. The ongoing smear campaign is proof of that.
Exactly. I mean, as soon as she filed for divorce, a week before all of this started coming out, his PR team was running damage control in the press saying how much his mum hated her and how she was a heartless gold-digger. All she has done has released information on her court proceedings and the evidence to back it up.
Whether you think she’s a mercenary homewrecker or a young woman who was starstruck at getting attention from her teenage crush, she has been forced into this position by Johnny’s team and the press’s willing co-operation in their vilification of her.
I sadly for her doubt she’s still going to be working. The girl still can’t act. This is the kind of hit to your career that only recovers if you have an undeniable talent like say Nicole Kidman. She doesn’t.
The only hope for her is to change public opinion in her favor and garner some sympathy.
@ Luca76
So true this is not going to be a Nicole Kidman situation it maybe be more like Katie Holmes ( who also can’t act) were she got a small push of low budget roles. Those of which turned out to be flops, but she also got some cosmetics contracts.
Amber lucky to have the Aquaman movie contract right now, if she is back listed hopefully she can find something else to do. Katie Holmes is still trying to find her way even years later. In 4 years she moved about 4 times in NY moved from NY to LA and back again and her career is just as scattered.
@Flowerchild Katie Holmes was a household name when she met TC. She was the star of a hit TV show and had a young fan base that grew up watching Dawson’s Creek. Amber has been in a few small films and most of the public at large only knows her as Mrs Johnny Depp.
Kidman also had major connections of her own–like being close to Rupert Murdoch, for example. Amber does not, I’m guessing, have those same kinds of connections.
What byland said. The trickle makes sense from a PR perspective. If she dumped everything out at once, Johnny’s denial would end up being the last word. This way, Amber’s claims get more time in the spotlight.
Also, the texts were probably waaaay back in her phone, totally forgotten about until now. I bet they were only found when someone went looking for more evidence to release. So, on a purely practical level, releasing them now makes sense.
She also might not have remembered the text messages immediately, especially because they weren’t from depp himself and since it was such a pattern they were probably just a tiny drop in sea of violence, apologies, telephone calls, texts and so on. If I were on her legal or PR team I would go trough all her communications, maybe even ask it if they could recover anything deleted to look if I could find anything.
what is she supposed to do stand on a podium and read the text messages? Does she need Gloria Allred to stand next to her and detail the abuse for her to be believed?
Remember it was his people that had BOTH exes standing up there and saying Johnny is such a gentle soul. Once the exes gave their contractual statement you haven’t heard from them again. I am sure if they are needed they are on stand by for the right sum.
I absolutely believe Amber was abused. I also believe Vanessa was telling the truth — she is a HUGE star in Europe and has no need of more money from Johnny. An abuser is not necessarily abusive in every relationship, and Johnny was keeping more of a lid on his addictions back then.
Yes, her lawyers said a couple of days ago that she has made a police report now.
Don’t you think DV victims are embarrassed and want to hide their situations? Don’t you think those around them who know and who love them want to do all they can to help? Perhaps much of this evidence is being leaked by those around her, not Amber herself. Writers need to create accurate, factual timeline articles of his displays of rage and of his drunken, drugged publicly sloppy behavior ( and the intersecting Venn bubble ) to combat the nasty smear campaign from Depp’s sycophantic PR lackeys.
The most pathetic part is having his assistant try to beg her back and call him a lost little boy. But at least he was apologetic. Both of my exes never said sorry. One keeps saying I deserved it and the other pretends like it didn’t happen (side note seeing Outbrain on these DV stories, the company he works for, makes me stabby). The fact that this happened before they were married, one begins to wonder really was the allure that strong? She lists multiple places in that text. It happened many times it seems.
OK this is crazy but I have a friend who worked with him in the early 90s, as a costumer for a movie. He was horrible to her when she had to take measurements. He was drunk or high and just terrible to work with.
That night he called her, like 3am, blubbering a long pathetic apology and saying he didn’t mean to be so rude and it won’t happen again. How crazy is that? But she took it as sincere that he called and apologized even if it was an ungodly hour of the night.
Next day, she sees him on set and says something like “thank you again for calling last night and apologizing. No hard feelings” and Johhny said “what? I called?”. Literally no recollection of having called and apologized. She told me this story laughing. He was a pain in the ass to work with.
It’s just amazing that he’s been blackout wasted and mistreating people in large and small ways for decades. Adds up with what is said in these very sad and disturbing text messages.
Wow. I was wondering if he was a black-out drunk and it sounds like he is. smh
It really does sound like that, doesn’t it?
If he’s even blacking out for that many years,
his life expectancy is going to be drastically reduced. Like, a couple of years. He needs to get to rehab yesterday.
Years? Try a decade. Or two.
Yes, he is really in an emergency or crisis situation.
Sadly, TMZ has a story this morning claiming that Amber didn’t file a police report and has changed her mind about it. It’s typical behavior for a dv victim, but still troubling.
These text messages make me wonder if perhaps the video Amber allegedly has was filmed in an attempt to show Johnny what he was doing while drunk/high. She mentions wishing there was a way for him to realize/remember how bad he got. Filming him would be one way to make sure he knew.
It’s weird they posted that because Variety confirmed on Tuesday that the LAPD are now doing an investigation due to her report. Hmmmm…
If it’s all dropped, then you know his team has decided to settle with her.
Or there isn’t enough evidence, or it happened in another jurisdiction, or she sick of being harassed and vilified and gave up. Happens all the time.
Maybe the LAPD top brass have ordered an investigation into DV without a victim complaint to counter the appearance that the LAPD are covering up for Depp.
I wonder if that’s True or is TMZ posting BS again they are on Johnny side while Variety is on nether side.
Yes MTE. TMZ is so far up Depp’s ass, who knows whether this is true or not.
Harvey Levin could perform a colonoscopy he is so far up Depp’s ass.He basically called Amber a vicious liar who is trying to make sure Depp’s career never recovers, on TMZ Live yesterday.
Exactly this why I tell people to question everything they read being posted by TMZ, because they straight up lie.
Of course they would post article saying Amber didn’t file or drop to the changes after these text came out. They got to reroute public opinion back on Johnny side, by making it look like it’s all about the money.
Yesterday TMZ posted an article stating LAPD brass was investigating the original officers on the scene last week, who stated they saw no evidence of violence. Today I can’t find the article.
Flowerchild, I saw a TMZ article where for some reason they wanted Lohan in a restaurant and mentioned her fish dinner. Many posters pointed out that particular place did not serve any fish. TMZ eventually changed fish to beef. Flat out lied.
Wonder how much TMZ is paying to get info from Depp’s team? They’re so far up his butt surprised they can still see their feet.
I had extreme difficulty reading this. The texts sound EXACTLY (almost word for word) like my mom defending my dad when he used to abuse me. “He did not mean it. Please come home and please don’t tell anyone what happened. He had a bad childhood and gets upset just like a little boy” etc. Abusers of all socioeconomic groups have their enablers.
Oh Amy, your post hurts my heart. I hope you are in a safer place now.
I am! I left home at age 21 and have had a good life for the last (I won’t say how many!) years. While there will always be emotional scars leaving home for good remains the single most important thing I have ever done in my life.
Amy, that is great to hear. Leaving home was something my therapist had me do when I was 14 to escape my narcissistic mother (fortunately my whole family was on board with it). Definitely saved me and made me strong enough to eventually cut her out all together.
I’m so sorry this happened to you. No reason is a good reason for DV.
I hope you’re ok
sorry that totally wasn’t clear: I meant that there is no good reason for DV
I’m glad you have a good life now 🙂
new day, new evidence. and all of it makes so much sense. even at this point in their realationship it seems like the roles were clear: johnny is the victim and it’s her responsibility to make him better. says his assistant. and probably his bodyguard, manager etc.
i can only imagine how many times someone was sent out to ”bring her back”.
From what I read about his relationship with Vanessa, that is exactly what it is. He sounds like a spoiled drunk child. He needs the people (especially his women) in his life to take care of him. I can’t imagine the last time he had to do anything for himself or answer for his behaviour. All they do is coddle and enable him to continue to destroy himself and those around him.
Exactly, Anna. The words might be different according to the situation, but the pattern is always the same.
Servers usually retain this kind of electronic data somewhere, so if Depp really wants to be an a-hole now and keep fighting this, her lawyers need a really good experts in electronic evidence to subpoena the phone and text records from that timeframe from both their providers. Then they’ll have objective proof of third-party confirmation of the abuse, and then I hope she sues Stanhope for libel.
OK, trolls, go ahead and post today’s talking points about how it all isn’t true…
That’s what I was thinking. The phone company’s will have have the actual text messages and they will have the numbers dates and times of the phones they came from. This is not evidence that can be “faked”. From this time forward, as far as I’m concerned, anyone who says they don’t believe Amber is lying. They believe her. They just don’t care. They think she got what she deserved and she should go away and leave Johnny alone. It really is that simple. There is no point engaging with trolls, “fans”, etc. They know exactly what they are doing. They simply love Johnny Depp full stop. As far as the circle surrounding him, you can forget about them too. They wil never bite the hand that feeds them/lose the good graces of someone so much wealth.
I rarely comment, but I have to applaud your comment, Cindy. People act like this is Santa Claus- it’s only real if you believe! No, believing Amber is not an opinion or a choice.
@ Cindy
I’m with you on this one. I think that they ‘now’ agree that the abuse happened but she deserved it for trying to con him. This goes back to their ‘good girl’ vs ‘bad girl’ narrative which, sadly, I believe a lot of women still hold on to.
The first thing his people tried to do was paint her as a ‘bad girl’ to turn his fan-base of women against her. They already knew most men would automatically support him.
That’s the problem with some celebrities surronded by a staff who treat them like child. The man is so ridiculous, he can’t even apoligized himself (not that it changes anything). This is just another evidence, if she chose to go in court she has all she need.
Omg, the life of a hollywood assistant! How do you live with yourself when you talk a battered woman back into an abusive relationship? How the hell do you look yourself in the mirror when the world attacks her for speaking out and you sit silently in the background?
Honestly, this just needs to become a court case, lets see these motherf-ckers perjure themselves for their hollywood god. The phone evidence is easily verifiable with the carriers. What do you wanna bet that if a judge ordered that his paid minions submit their financial records for scrutiny, you would find major payoffs to bodyguards and assistants in the past week? ,
Can the courts do that? If So, I will go go LA and serve the supeanas for free!
“He’s a little lost boy.” Pathetic.
right? he’s a violent middle-aged alcoholic with 400 million in the bank.
it really is pathetic.
Repulsive. No he is not a little boy, he is a violent assh0le who abused his wife, while that pathetic assistant is making excuses for him!
Pathetic indeed. Not unlike the “please, boss” bodyguard. How does a gutless coward get a job as a guard anyway? I wonder if he grew up a bully himself?
He is an actor who appears to go in and out of characters in his mind based on what his pschye needs and Amber was a big part of this world. It’s not hard to imagine this is 24/7 not only on the movie set. JD doesn’t know who he is. I thinks it’s what the staffer person is spinning. Commenter above pointed out his unusual level of staff always accompanying him. You think between the drugs, drinking, immature temperament and inability to keep acting and reality distinst ( little boy lost?!) that’s why he needs his paid nursemaids aka body quards.
This story gets worse everyday. Thanks for the great comments, support for a women trying to find strength to leave an abuser, the comments posted here are intelligent and fair reporting and excellent work by this site covering this story. Saddest story in a long time.
These texts represent everything that is wrong with mainstream representations of abusive relationships. The abused woman painted as the conniving liar but the abusive, violent man is a “lost little boy” – removing all culpability from the abuser.
Yes!
Yes! No lies there.
“When I told him he kicked you, he cried” “He’s a lost little boy”
Shaking my head. The manipulation is insane and it is not Amber Heard doing the manipulating.
The other night on Dr. Drew’s show (I know, I know) he had some guest whose name escapes me who was identified as a therapist who is a survivor of domestic abuse. She was saying she has doubts about Amber’s story because Amber has a history of “unstable personal relationships” or some crap. WTF???? Keep talking, people. The picture emerging from the evidence is getting clearer and clearer.
You forgot to read between the lines here. “Unstable” equals “non-heterosexual.” Her relationships are being called “unstable” because she “can’t make up her mind whether she prefers men or women.” And she must be lying because she is bisexual and everyone knows what bi people are like because one time they saw this movie where Sharon Stone was bi and stabbed people with an ice pick.
Yep, and I am so f*cking SICK of the characterization of bisexual people as hypersexualized and unhinged. It’s disgusting and so far from the truth.
Agreed Amy,
That’s why I was so initially uncomfortable about Amber’s sexuality been pointed to every time a comment was aimed at her by fans or “blinds”, or the press. It’s like in some people’s minds Bisexual persons are cheaters/bipolar/unstable/incapable of making up their minds. The prejudice and sexual phobia is real.
Yes Amy and Kitten! Homosexuality has largely become acceptable to society these days, but I remember when gay men in particular were labelled as all being potential sex offenders who preyed upon any man that they saw. And from what I’ve seen and heard lately, bisexuals are still seen in much they same way, as if they are constantly preying upon every human being they come in contact with. It’s just ridiculous!
Yes, is sickening they are using her bisexuality to paint her as a cunning nyphomaniac
YES.
Repulsive.
That’s so janky for the reasons others have stated. But wouldn’t a history of unstable personal relationships add credence to the fact that she was adused not the reverse? While I get the bi phobia in the statement I don’t get the logic.
Glad this is coming out. I really hope that he admits what hes done and get som help, for his and his familys sake. Depp and his team should also apoligiuse for the shitty way they been handling this. And pay all legal fees.
Johnny is an abusive man. He is an addict. Reports from exes and friends that speak to the contrary are not relevant because perhaps when he is sober, or soberish, he isn’t a crazed, jealous, abusive s.o.b. Even before the abuse allegations, we all have commented about how Johnny’s alcoholism seems out of control over the last few years. Stumbling on stage, slurring through interviews. He is not a healthy person. And now we have learned that during these awful benders he gets violent. He throws things. He kicks those around him. He throws things at them. Having grown up with an alcoholic in the house, I believe Amber’s story. If only Johnny Depp would take a good look around and realize that he has hit rock bottom.
My stomach turns every time new information is released, that poor, poor woman. Let’s hope she doesn’t get the same judge as Keisha
So very hard to read and it must be difficult for her to have this information out there. I hope she’s able to be happy and healthy after the dust settles. *sigh*
This guy basically helped to keep a woman in an abusive situation. I hope he is a standup guy enough now to confirm that it’s real, and testify to what he saw as needed.
He no longer has to. Those text messages can be subpoenaed as records for evidence, and they clearly demonstrate what a “standup guy” he is.
But I would hope he feels enough guilt to do the right thing and confirm what he witnessed as well.
Basic decency? From men ? What a alien thought
His side is a little quieter now. Smart, and too little too late. The smear tactics so far are just as abusive, and frankly, what his lawyer has said about Amber is so equally offensive that the judge would be well within his or her right to sanction Wasser for it. Also, with things like this text coming out now and the rules of electronic evidence being as comprehensive as they are, something like this can go a long way to bolstering a case.
I hope Team Depp comes to its senses soon and starts negotiating, otherwise all the dirty laundry will be aired, and I think they are starting to get a picture of how that will actually look for their client.
Oh my, oh my!
This is just so terribly sad!
My heart really goes out to Amber.
The poor woman must have suffered
So much.
Hopefully this exposure of JD s
problems will get him the help
He desparately needs.
Amen to that.
Well I certainly hope she has made a police report. I can definitely understand why she was hesitant at first but she has a lot of supporters now and having it on record is important.
He is not a lost little boy, although I’m sure he behaves like one. Claiming he didn’t remember kicking her is either because of the drugs and drink or it could be gaslighting; typical for abusers.
I don’t know where Amber is going to go from here. I don’t know how Hollywood will take this and if they will side with her or kick them both out. Unfortunately some people feel uncomfortable around abuse victims.
Wow. That was very sad to read. She was almost out at that stage, she knew he was dangerous and would hurt her again, and that the right thing to do was to leave him. Then she gets these messages, not from Johnny, but from a sober, older person who has known Johnny for longer than she has. He’s telling her how sorry Johnny is and how he’s just a ‘little lost boy’. He needs her help. Poor Johnny.
I can completely understand how you could be persuaded to return to him after that, especially when he’s sober, and so sweet and apologetic, and disgusted at himself.
It’s sad to think that Depp was surrounded by all his enablers and friends who saw nothing wrong and believed him whenever he said anything about Amber. The abuse continued because people like this guy made excuses for him, and by helping him convince Amber to return, condoned his behavior.
Interestingly, Duertes appears to have deleted his twitter account very recently. As in, he was engaged in conversation with somebody yesterday and now his account is gone.
He probably saw a hailstorm of verbal abuse coming his way from people who don’t like the idea of what he did, talking a DV victim into going back to her abuser.
Or he realized he faced abuse from Johnny’s psycho fans.
Or he knows that he has pick his side very carefully since this could still become a court case and theres nothing in his JD about perjury.
LOL. I wouldn’t worry about that. It’s easy enough to verify, and I doubt Amber’s lawyers are stupid enough to allow the leak of dummied text images. ET doesn’t have subpoena power. Lawyers and courts do.
They’re reporting an ET story, they don’t have anything to worry about. They didn’t originally report it.
@Izzy
oh well, it’s gone already, so I guess I was wrong :/
(idk why but my reply didn’t work)
It disgusts me to my core that the studios have not released a statement. Even if it’s a generic “let’s reserve judgment until it goes to court, but Disney / Sony/ etc absolutely condemns domestic violence.” Maybe with some stats on domestic abuse. I know he’s their cash cow. I know he’s an A-lister. I know he is a white, wealthy, male in a white, wealthy, male dominant industry. But really – it’s despicable.
I could see, not agree with, but see why Disney did not make a statement earlier. They were probably holding their breath to see how Alice would do. It did not do well, so now what is Disney s excuse? No POTC for me, and I was truly looking forward to it. #istandwithamber
I think they are trying to see how this develops. What would they say when nothing is proven by the courts? For them is probably too early. They are probably hoping Depp’s team can totally make this go away and discredit Amber, who knows if they aren’t helping as we speak.
It just struck my mind the anguish
Amber must have been in at public
events.
Imagine If he abused her there!
The shame and humiliation. . .
Instead of the shame and humiliation an abuser should be feeling, too.
Speaking from personal experience….
If Depp did anything to her in public or in a private corner of an event it could have felt somewhat safer.
When my ex husband would switch from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde at events with people I kept my brave face on an complied. I felt I held it together. And made small pleas to friends when explaining why he appeared out of sorts. My guess is amber made small pleas for help at some point too unsure of how to secure her safety for the night.
Her story rings so true. I hope she heals quickly from this.
I know the circumstances aren’t quite the same, but I can’t help but think of Rhianna going back to Chris Brown. This just puts a whole new spin on the amount of pressure the abused face to excuse/enable their abusers.
The whole situation with Chris and Rihanna was troubling. I don’t think she ever wanted him to get into trouble. I’m sure it wasn’t the first time he’d hit her but it was probably the first time he beat her.
She was humiliated. I don’t blame her for going back. Many women do. But she protected him in a way I’d never seen until Janay Rice. She also went from his girlfriend to “mistress” while he was dating Karreuche Tran. She was very vicious to Tran during that time.
I’m saying all of this to say Amber went back because she loved him, just like Rihanna loved Chris. But Amber won’t lose herself in her quest to protect Johnny and I admire that.
Yeah, I can completely understand how conflicted Amber must feel. I’m the type of person who likes to end relationships on a good note–in fact, I make it a point to do that and often remain friends with my exes. It’s never easy to end things in such a tumultuous way, but Depp literally left her with NO choice.
..and even though she’s doing the right thing, I bet there’s still a small part of her that feels guilty for betraying him.
This is why the cycle of physical abuse is so powerful–that psychological component is so dominant and overwhelming–so manipulative.
I’ve never been abused but I can 100% understand how people end up there.
I think the main thing with Chris and Rihanna is that they were really young, in 2009 she would have been 21 and him 19 (I think?), which is a really different situation to a 52 year old man and a 28 year old woman.
Oh top of that Rihanna’s own father was an abuser, and had alcohol issues. These types of situations are so complicated psychologically… Plus Rihanna had alot of support from other celebrities and the media, and I think she was much less isolated in her relationship than Amber has been.
I think my point is that the two situations are really different and incomparable.
Sometimes, when the victim is out for awhile, and the abuser has been begging for so long, the victim mistakenly believes they are the ones now in power, holding all the cards, and there is a desire to act on that and reclaim that, etc. And when there’s still love, you can think you’re stronger now, that person’s changed, etc. It’s not always recognized right away as the manipulation it is.
@Val, yeah they are very different. I didn’t know of the things you posted, thanks. I think what got me thinking about Chris Brown/Rhianna was that there were people even here on CB washing their hands of her, in a very victim-blaming, “she deserves what she gets” kind of way, when she went back to him.I myself didn’t get Rhianna’s situation at the time (still don’t but totally agree with Kitten that it could happen to anyone) but your info provides a lot of interesting context. It’s nice that we’re more educated as a group and none of that is happening to Amber. Maybe the culture has changed a little? Fingers crossed.
@hoopjumper
Yeah some people definitely still blame Rihanna, saying that she provoked him, she hit him first, etc (as if that’s an excuse??), and say “poor Chris, he was just young!”. Also due to Rihanna’s image as “badgal” people thought that maybe she liked being beaten up or that her abuse was a two-way street. But being a huge star herself meant that she had a ton of fan and media support.
From what I’ve seen (prior to this), most people hated Amber, so she gets ambiguous support at best, plus she’s against the big star which means the stans are coming for her.
As the world in general though? I’m not sure things are evolving for the better… I mean, there’s Donald Trump spewing hate every day and people seem more than happy with it… because “Tired of the PC police! F–k women and immigrants!” 🙁
NB; I don’t necessarily mean CB, I mean the general sentiment I’ve noticed on the internet
Pathetic. I hope Deuters can be made to testify. I have an addict stepson. I know that pattern well.
I have read this site for years, and haven’t commented, but would like to agree with other comments on many other Johnny Depp posts that it’s such a relief to see such sensible, sensitive and measured reporting of this subject by CB and Kaiser.
The reporting by the Daily Mail and the comments underneath, for example, make frightening reading.
ONTD and Pajiba are also oases of relative sanity.
Agree:) Smart people who use critical thinking are a breath of fresh air!
Any possibility the assistant was the source (guilt, fear of legal action) instead of her legal team? It may be immaterial, but just curious.
one of those johnny enablers showing some regret and doing the right thing? that would be awesome.
It’s possible. Someone said up-thread that he deleted his Twitter.
The screenshots were made on her phone. On iPhones, your messages are on the right in blue or green (depending on whether you’re using sms texting or iPhone-to-iPhone messaging) and the other person’s texts are on the left, in gray.
How could it have been him unless he took Amber’s phone .. screenshotted the convo and transferred the screenshot to his phone
Thanks all. Good points. One day I’ll get a smartphone. : )
If he is a black-out drunk (which it sounds like he is) no wonder he came out guns blazing initially. He really doesn’t remember the abusive incidences for the most part. But now Amber is releasing the details and facts bit by bit and his side has gone silent. He’s like – “Oh shit, I did all that?” It’s probably too much to hope, but maybe it will be the wake up call he needs.
I don’t think he believed she had evidence that would hold up. These texts make it clear the assistant told him what he had done. He knew, all right, but didn’t think she could prove it. Disgusting.
Yeah, well that’s why I said “For the most part.”
I agree with you @tracking. I think he knows perfectly well what he got up to with Amber and that was the reason his “team” initially came up with guns blazing, to silence her. Didn’t work. But I can see him being unclear about all the evidence she would retain–he is probably so chronically addled and disorganized that someone actually keeping the receipts for what he did to them is beyond his comprehension.
Tourmaline, that makes sense too.
TMZ posted a story that his assistant stated the texts were doctored and will testify under oath he never witnessed Johnny Depp attack Amber.
He has been doing drugs since he was 14. Its probably seriously messed up his brain function.
I’m even more surprised that Depp came out guns blazing initially. Instead of this being about one bad night while drunk/high soon after his mother died, it’s about a long pattern of abusive behavior that isn’t a secret to his entourage.
WOW!!! Not good Johnny. Not good at all. Poor Amber.
Amber Heard, if your team is reading this, I wish you all the strength to put this creep in his place.
I think back to all the photos of Amber on the red carpet. Maybe she had to pose so hard because JD threatened her to make him look good.
I agree. Amber’s poses look completely different now. I see her as someone doing her job of looking like a trophy on Johnny’s arm… While being terrified… and maybe even annoyed [i would be] that she may be doing her job a-little-too-much-or-just-not-something-enough, incurring the wrath of JD sometime later.
Weren’t there some blind items a year or so ago referring to Depp doing “at home rehab”? Has he EVER gone to real rehab in his 30 plus years of addiction?
While I can imagine her initially forgiving him for what he did to her while obliviously drunk and “not himself”… what’s he’s doing right now, dragging her name through the mud, making her pay for what he knows he did and claimed to regret… now that… THAT he is doing dead sober.
Re him being ‘dead sober’, although I know exactly what you mean, the more that comes out on Amber’s side, the more it’s looking like he’s as far from sober as it’s possible to be. And I don’t mean just in the addiction sense. A ‘sober’ person would not, in the face of this mountain of evidence of abuse – the latest texts are damning and leave no room for any further ambiguity as to his and his enablers MO – continue with this ruthless campaign of discrediting her at every turn.
This is not for one second to excuse him. He is 100% responsible for the campaign against Amber but I suspect he’s so far gone and so beyond rational thought that it’s been left to his team of enablers to drive their boss’s smear bus. And no ‘sober’ person imo would be happy with the unhinged direction that bus has taken.
Erandyn and Guesto: AGREED. That smear bus the Depp team is driving is swerving all over the place and headed straight into uncomfortable reality. But their space glasses probably have them convinced they’re winning. Idiotic corporate media, their stooges and unpaid nincompoops aside, I think they’re gonna lose. And, in my uninformed opinion, I think Disney’s silence means they’re gonna drop Depp.
@tara, yes! Disney can more than afford to drop him now. And shelf POTC indefinitely
I don’t know. By the looks of him, I don’t think there are many times that he’s ever dead sober. But I get your point, about how this must feel.
Yeah, he felt so bad for his actions that he had the nerve to sent his assistant to apologize on his behalf, wow just wow!!
Thank you for celebitchy (and Lainey gossip). I am appalled at the way commenters have reacted to this situation. As somebody has written here in the comments, it seems what Amber can offer is never enough: if she hadn’t backed her claims, she’d been “a **re, a gold-digger, an enabler”. Because she has proof “she’s faking it, she procured herself the bruises, she faked them, she must have provoked him” and now that proof is piling up it’s “she has manipulated him”.
On Dlisted (a site I used to like but that I won’t visit anymore, sorry Michael) so many have commented things like “Now that she is showing off the pictures, I’m done! I don’t believe her anymore!” or “Amber, go away! I had sympathy for her before, but now that she speaks so much to the press…”. Even regulars. And then there are the “She insults real abuse victims”, “There are women who are burnt alive, I mean, what’s this abuse Amber is talking about?” “She was laughing with a friend, her lover probably, they are all faking it” etc etc etc. The mildest comments say “I won’t judge neither of them”. What’s wrong with the world? I am utterly shocked. Women can’t win. It would take 10 Ambers for some people to start believe her claims: as if Depp has always been clean, healthy, sober. Come on!!! I’m young but I remember when he used to trash hotel rooms and when River died at his club. IDK, it’s hurtful, the way this thing is going down. Ah, of course the commenters at DListed, Daily Mail, People, whatever will now say “Misa is projecting!”. 🙁
I was surprised at the comments on Dlisted too. I thought they would be more sympathetic to her. I think most people who are trashing her are doing it because she asked for money. If she hadn’t would they be more supportive?
I’m glad for the heads up about Dlisted. While I do like going there from time to time, as many of the comments are intelligent and funny, I don’t need to see more woman-bashing on the internet.
That is surprising and disappointing. I usually like Dlisted comments. Bleh.
Yup, I expected better there also. Should have realized it was more JD trolls for the most part.
Some of the Dlisted commenters were noticing a lot of new people with pro Johnny comments. So I don’t think the regulars support him. Michael K sure doesn’t seem to be pro Johnny so many of these comments could be plants.
i’ve gone off d-listed way before this story, some regulars have always been quite aggressive and not just in regards to the gossip, but towards other people commenting as well. it’s a shame, because michael is hilarious.
I keep to just reading his stories and not the comments section because of that. Some posters there are way too intense. Same at CDAN with feuds and everything. Crazy.
@Kori – that’s what I do. I adore Michael K and love his writing and it’s plain as day that underneath the thrashing he gives to celebrity at large, his heart is always in the right and decent place when it comes to serious issues. I used to love the equally ‘no f*cks-to-give’ commentry on there because it always had that same heart – albeit a world-weary, eyerolling one – but of late, I just can’t deal with it. I’m hoping it’s just a glitch and a sad end product of the desperate pro-Johnny disease that’s afflicted so many sites.
@guesto
Many dList regulars have given up posting in JD threads after last weekend when the random disqus trolls came out in full force. Hence the running away baby everywhere.
most are still cool, just not partaking
“It would take 10 Ambers”
IKR. I keep thinking of how this went down with Bill Cosby. Five women were not enough! There had to be literally 50+ women, ie. he had to be a SERIAL rapist, before it was taken seriously (or slightly more seriously, it’s not like he’s in jail). Afaik, one woman is currently suing Cosby. One. And barely any news coverage. It’s been pretty much swept under the rug. And, let me repeat, that’s after raping FIFTY women. What if he had stopped at “only” 10? That would have been a non-event, by the look of things. And I bet 10 Ambers would just be “all the gold diggers jumping on the money train”…
Ugh, I should probably stop following this story for a while, it’s making me ranty. :/
That’s the fifty women who have come forward, too. You just know there will be so many more who don’t want to associate themselves with it, because of the costs to them of doing so.
Well I’ve been reading this for days and I don’t post often here because english is not my first language. But honestly I want to trow up with every new detail that comes. He is so f—- up with all those years and years of drinking and drugs, I am suprised that he didn’t die from overdose. And obviously he becomes a monster and doesn’t remember anything. Why are all the people around him so quiet? And Amber I hope she is safe and I wish her well. I will be honest and say I don’t believe she married him for pure love but also for better career options but NO ONE deserves this. She wanted better career he wanted young and beautiful trophy wife for his midlife crisis. From day one I didn’t like them together but now all I want for her is to survive this and for him to go to jail and rehab and just to shut up.
I’m also surprised. This is a very serious addiction and I cannot imagine what kind of damage he’s done to his internal organs.
I also wonder how often he showed up on set plastered? A functioning but severe alcoholic–no doubt he was drinking every day.
One thing is for certain: if he does not get help ASAP, he will surely drink himself to death.
I’m also wondering about the damage
he has done to his children! I do not
For one second believe their stories of
never witnessing this.
I think they just have other names and
explanations for it. They are not seeing
it for what it really is. They are co
Victims. Very, very sad!!
@Kitten I agree. As I said in another comment I know a 53 year old alcoholic who “functions” and I don’t know how he is not in a grave. Usually with those types the body has already started to break down and by the time they notice it it’s too late.
Johnny desperately needs to enter rehab for his demons and addictions. However he shouldn’t (but probably will) try to use this as an excuse for abusive behavior. Not all addicts are abusers.
For those who don’t believe, I guess she made up these texts too. Glad she got out fast.
I made the mistake of reading some of the comments on TMZ.(I know other posters warned not to go but I had to see for myself.) After reading halfway I had to leave the site. If I could’ve popped my eyes out and dropped them into a glass of cool water to forget what I had just read I would have.
Saying how she’s a cold hearted gold digger/ this was her plan all along/she’s only out for herself/she must have done something to deserve this-blah blah blah. I have no idea how I would react if I was in her position but I hope she continues to stand up for herself and I hope she gets everything she’s entitled to. She’s his wife, and he assaulted her multiple times. It’s wrong-end of story. I wish her the best.
same. i read some comments at tmz and justjared and they’re incredibly triggering for anyone who’s been in an abusive relationship. the only place being positive about amber is CB, everywhere else is a cesspool.
Thank you for the heads up. I am a dv survivor and I am staying with cb only.
This is one of the many reasons I ONLY EVER get my celebrity news from this site. Other sites just disgust me and some don’t fact check.
well…looks at the stories and “sources” TMZ are running. no wonder horrible comments are being pumped out, TMZ is licking Depp’s ass and dragging Amebr through the mud. Seriously wonder how much they’re paying Depps team to get info?
If you want to read comments from intelligent people with critical thinking (some are really funny) you can go to:
http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/
http://www.avclub.com/
http://pajiba.com/
These are safe and will make you feel better about the world ^_^
Bit off-topic: OMG, the video shots of her are stunning. It’s amazing to watch her move– she is amazingly poised on red carpets. Noticed in the very last one, where she’s exiting the limo, she seems upset and Johnny seems to be consoling/cajoling her.
Anyway, I wish her strength and peace.
I always thought she was incredibly beautiful
She is so gorgeous. She is probably the best looking young blonde actress in Hollywood.
He totally weights her down. She is stunning but being associated with him doesn’t allow people to just see her and listen to her without the judgement. I based my opinion of her from what I read from Lainey and I feel bad by how the narrative was off.
Hard to keep up with all the news on this. Sounds like JD is spiraling out of control. I would imagine his people will try to get him in rehab soon so that will be next. Of course he may not agree to it.
Reading the DM comments (never a good idea), Depp’s PR is working. It’s horrifying, and she’s so brave for going public with this while being smeared from every corner. How much more evidence do people need?!
Well. I didn’t like him before but now I am sick just looking at his smug face. He needs to go away but that probably won’t happen because so many people find excuses for this kind of behavior or plainly refuse to see the truth. I hope she gets away from him and finds a nice and carrying partner in life which should be difficult after this. And now I am thinking her lawyer was right in calling her a hero. In this white male driven bussiness I do not think she has much to gain from all this media spectacle now but she is speaking out and it is the only way to make people see him for what he is. Maybe if people would start believing her side of the story and refuse to look at his smug face ok screen anymore then he would face the consequances for his actions.
G*d damn this is such a mess. When stuff this serious comes to light, any normal, sane, heart-having human being would immediately get help, and say “I’m disgusted with my actions and trying to get the help I need,” or something to that effect. Which just further proves that JD is not normal or sane. I can’t even bring myself to type out “Johnny” anymore because it just seems too personal and affectionate.
I got some serious snark for taking this too personally when these revelations first came to light, but I’m just being honest. I have to admit that at first I wanted Amber to be lying. I know that’s horrible, but JD was a hero of mine for years. I have a freaking Jack Sparrow tattoo that I now have to get covered up. But of course, I believe her entirely, and I hope she’s safe, supported and getting help as well for the trauma she’s dealt with. I’m horrified for her, and I hope she heals. I also can’t help but be devasted by the loss of the person I thought my favorite actor was, but it just goes to show you that smoke and mirrors work wonders at hiding who a person really is.
In the end it’s not about me or how I feel, and I’m glad we have an opportunity to openly discuss DV. Thank you to all the courageous posters who have been sharing their stories as all of this comes to light. I hope Amber finds peace, healing, and the love she deserves from herself and from everyone around her, and I hope JD gets some serious help, very, very soon. If not, I have an ominous gut feeling about what the next headline is going to be. Off to smoke a morning bowl and have some yoga time to get this icky feeling out of my chest. Happy Thursday, y’all.
I actually really admire you. It would be a lot easier to do as most of his huge fans have, and retreat into denial and demonising the victim.
I also admire the way you have handled this Shambles. And I must say that I really admire Amber now. She had the foresight to take photos and save screen-shots almost from the very beginning but she held off using them until her hand was forced. Who would have thought she would turn out to the decent one in that relationship? smh
I kind of know how you feel. For years I adored Mel Gibson and Bill Cosby. Years. I didn’t want to believe the truth about either of them. Bitterly disappointed by them and Depp. Not real big on Tiger Woods anymore either, although he’s not a beater.
He’s my age and I never got his appeal. Meaning, he wasn’t my type. I saw Edward Scissorhands. Didn’t like it. Remember his work freeing the Memphis Three? He seems like he had his act together back then and was doing some good in the world (if you believe they were innocent). Sounds like he’s in a midlife crisis and going back to old patterns. Also can’t deal with mother’s death. He really needs to have quick settlement with Amber. Get help and both need to move on. Amber needs therapy too.
The “lost little boy” trope sickens me. He’s a frecking 52-year old man for pete’s sake. And an addict. And a drunk.
@MaggieGrace Exactly. Once upon a time I knew an abusive 50 something year old and his family and friends treated him like a china doll. He was just so delicate and everyone else was just so evil.
Meanwhile he was a demeaning, sadistic drunk who would throw them all under the bus as soon as their backs were turned.
Right?! Extremely manipulative wording for that assistant to use against her, to “not abandon him”
two things: 1-i feel like as soon as we knew Johnny was divorcing Vanessa, I could foresee this. A guy looking for a new caretaker to hide all his fuckedupness. A younger Vanessa not just for sex, or midlife crisis but someone he thought would be his wet blanket. But unfortunately, Amber wasn’t having it. She tried it and declined position.
2-i don’t want anymore info to come out. No more photos or evidence for public opinion. Amber we got it. Johnny, stop letting your friends speak for you. Let the judge handle this… its too much, too nasty and honestly past the publics business to know. Tell it to the judge.
Are you discouraging dv conversations? This should be splashed all over everywhere til these people who abuse have Nowhere else to hide!
Dlo, totally agree!
Exactly. And it’s important for people to speak up so that other survivors out there know that they have support, that there are people out there who believe them. It does no good to stay silent–silence = support for the abuser.
Why should she keep quiet, after all the trash-talking Depp and his friends and HIS LAWYER have done about her? They called her a liar, she’s proving them wrong, and she has EVERY RIGHT TO. So sorry if the entire DV conversation makes you uncomfotable. Imagine how Amber feels right now.
I want her to keep talking, are you kidding me? She deserves to be heard after all she has been through.
Why shouldn’t the public know? Maybe it will keep some woman from being his next victim. Let him accept the consequences of his actions.
it’s Amber’s life. she has every right to say as much as she wants. you being uncomfortable is about you. if you don’t want to hear it, stay away from the story. i hope she shouts it to the treetops and everyone knows that JD is an abusive jerk.
I cannot believe Depp underestimated amber and has let this roll so far. Like how cocky can you get ??
I am glad Amber had the presence of mind to keep the receipts. If t was her or someone close to her well done
My theory is that he didn’t share with his team the reality. Why I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t remember everything, maybe he thought she wouldn’t have any proofs… His PR team went overload after the first pictures getting his friends to speak up and destroying Amber’s character and it felt desperate for me if the allegations were totally false.
If someone has been enabled and protected for more than 30 years, without being accountable for his messes because there’s always someone t clean it, I totally see how he could underestimate her.
He might indeed not remember every fall-out he had over all those years, or not every detail of it. If your are drugged AND drunk regularly, chances are you experience more blackouts over time. Other people would have to let you in on what actually happened. Doesn’t excuse anything, but it’s sad anyway. So it could be, his team knows more than HE does by now, which is the worst that could happen. They can easily manipulate him into thinking it wasn’t all that bad, and this of course influences his decisions. This guy is in a serious condition, but where are the people telling him? Jack Nicholson with “You can’t handle the truth!” comes to mind. At one point, he will have to. Better sooner than later.
Obviously, people don’t remember that he destroyed a hotel room back in the day, during a binge. He’s displayed violent tendencies since the 90’s.
This. I have been a huge Depp fan for a couple decades and I’m really sad to hear all this but it is consistent with who he is. Everyone has been saying for years now that he clearly has a substance abuse problem. I think that has been true most of his adult life. When he was with Vanessa, they were regularly apart for periods of time which I figured was the only way the relationship maintained because it was such a different relationship from any he had previously. She may have understood that when he was abusing substances, he needed to stay away. They may even have had an understanding until finally it got to be too much. It is possible he never really abused her because she kept him away from the children (although sadly, even I don’t really believe that). He may have even been clean most of their time together because he looked much, much better physically during his time with her. I hate this whole situation just because I have been a fan for so long but I can’t defend this.
I think this sounds about right — also you have to assume that johnny and amber at least started flirting if not outright having an affair when they made the rum diaries, which was filmed in 2009 and came out in 2011 — if you look at the trailer for that movie he looks so much better then — so amber got to know him when he was in a better place and probably wasn’t prepared for the nose dive he took afterward. he looks like crap now, like a drug addict. and I think it’s likely that amber probably experimented with drugs with him also, which can also really cloud your judgment when dealing with a hard core addict. you are enabling them by doing drugs with them so it gets harder to blame them when they turn into a monster on drugs. that probably contributed to her putting up with it for so long. and I think it makes sense that vanessa probably didn’t indulge that side of him — she got pregnant really quickly after they met and was being a mother to her kids, and thus vanessa didn’t trigger his violent behavior the way amber did (which is not to blame amber, there is no excuse). amber is just young and didn’t know what she was getting into. her behavior now though suggests she has a strong instinct of self preservation, as did the fact that she documented the abuse even if she wasn’t able to extricate herself. I think she will get through this and hopefully be fine.
@fd, He actually got really worse in terms of looks in the end of 2014 it seems. She definitely saw his best side, the charming one I suppose and he clearly made her feel special, like the chosen one. It’s absolutely normal for a DV victim to want to bring that person back and feel responsible for taking care of the abuser. Texbook behaviour actually.
@Lucinda- That sounds about right. Their relationship probably survived because it was long distance.
Also on topic of Vanessa, I remember watching some Depp interview where he was asked about her and he said the first time he saw her, he didnt see her face as her back was towards him. But from across the room watching a woman’s back(who was Vanessa) he knew she was the ONE for him!! I was sort of shocked by this interview long back when I saw it and even more weirded out by its recollection now.. Who looks at some stranger’s back and finds a soulmate??!!
Now on topic:Power to Amber for getting out. Depp needs to be made accountable.
There is some digging here and in the ohntheydidn’t but big media outlets seem to be waiting to see what happens before digging all that stuff we have been already mentioning here about his past. For me that would be obvious, because establishing his character based on what friends say and not tell that even Marlon Brando got worried about his excesses in the past is really being selective to what is convenient for the narrative. It’s not like Depp didn’t recognize by his own words in interviews how bad was his temper or how alcohol was a problem.
There still is no official confirmation of her filing with LAPD. Variety had an article yesterday that she ‘planned’ to do that, but so far, it didn’t happen, I guess. This worries me, simply for the fact that I would hope for Amber to fully go ahead, and make it an official case. No compromises anymore. But she still seems to hope for some mutual agreement to discuss this further privately. I somehow get the impression, we will soon hear a joint statement where Johnny’s reps will announce that he will go to therapy, and that everything else will be settled out of court. Business as usual. And in a couple of month, nobody is gonna talk about it anymore.
Supposedly she won’t be filing with the police because she doesn’t want to ruin his career. Or, her attorney advised her that filing a false police report could land her in jail.
You have no shame dude.
Supposedly carting to TMZ you mean.
Actually, it’s not just TMZ reporting, it’s in all major outlets that she had a “change of mind”, and still loves him. Sounds to me like backtracking, and that he finally offered a big payout.
Filing a false police report is less serious, legally, than perjury. Police are less senior in the judicial system than judges. And she has a restraining order based on a sworn affidavit, so, no. That new shilled talking point is BS.
I love Jack Sparrow, too. But on recent evidence, Johnny Depp is closer in character to Charlie Sheen. Confusing actors and the roles they play is something we all do, but there comes a point where I think standing up for an abuse victim should matter more than a crush on a stranger.
If you wanted to accuse Amber of being after money: this is her leverage.
As long as she delays filing an official complaint with the police, Depp has reason to offer her a generous settlement so that she backs down.
She will probably settle outside court. Does not negate all of the good she has done tbh.
@ Siri
All those outfits you mentioned got their info from TMZ, so that right there has me side seeing it. Now the story is 11 hours old and no major outlets have picked it up. It seems like only low rent tabloid like the Sun and mirror and foreign outlets have posted it.
Amber lawyers were there and knew she was writing a report so no way is it falsified. Not to mention why would a source from Ambers camp go to TMZ who has been pro-Johnny and dragged her name though the mud and give them info. That she’s drop the charges and still loves him? That makes no sense what so ever.
Also note that all those new commenters are M.I.A in today’s post.
New York Magazine has a fascinating article about what it means that People magazine published Amber’s pictures. People is the outlet for the establishment. They normally never put out anything unless it’s publicist sanctioned. But they went with Amber’s side of the story which means they are willing to piss off both Johnny Depp and Disney. It means the power dynamics between the media outlets and the studios is changing. And now we have this story from ET which is another mainstream outlet. It’s fascinating. I can’t tell if it’s because Amber has a really great PR team behind her or if it’s because Depp and or Disney have pissed them off so much in the past that they’re jumping on the opportunity to stick it to them. Regardless, kudos to Amber for defending herself and for playing the pr game so well. Some people hold that against her but I don’t. Good on her for seizing control of the narrative. Everything Depp’s team does now is reacting to what she’s putting out there. The best defense is a good offense.
If Depp’s PR team have been for 30 years cleaning up his mess I would say that many people who work in media know stuff that never got out. Maybe that is a factor why some media that is part of the establishment are gradually challenging the initial narrative. She just has a lot proof and there comes a point where whatever you try to spin becomes ridiculous. I’m not saying they pick a side, but they at least can report what’s going on in a more balanced way.
Media studies and PR strategies are really interesting (and sad).
“If Depp’s PR team have been for 30 years cleaning up his mess I would say that many people who work in media know stuff that never got out.”
Exactly. These texts show that Depp was not discreet, and that other people in his circle knew of his behavior. These things get out.
Yep. I’m willing to bet that some of these outlets have been sitting on the truth for a very long time, and they just finally have permission and proof.
I think the horrible Cosby stuff may have changed the tide; I wonder if the NY piece mentions that. There’s now a precedent set for victims who are initially dragged through the mud… until the proof is just too loud for money to muffle it.
According to many outlets, she’s not going to file with LAPD…because she ‘ still loves him’, and changed her mind. Difficult to figure out if it’s true, or just another JD PR move.
I don’t believe that AT ALL. As I see it TMZ is really trying to make her look like a fool. It’s like those police reports they keep using as argument against her claims.
What many major outlets? links please. So far it’s only TMZ and some z-list outlets quoting tmz as a sourse.
@Toniko: I said ‘many’, not ‘major. Since my links didn’t pass the editing, I’ll name them: The Sun (UK), Mirror (UK), The Standard (UK), Independent (Irland), News (Australia)…there are more. I also said I don’t know if it’s true, but I DO think there might be negotiations going on, since Depp in the meantime realizes that she’s got evidence. Could have something to do with some studio’s PR play…
TMZ attributed the story to “sources connected with Amber,” which is certainly correct. I see this as a negotiating tactic by Team Amber.
It’s interesting to find out which big corporation is behind these entertainment programs and talk shows, because exclusivity and corporate messaging has its influence. People is owned by Time, so it has an association with Time Warner and Warner Brothers, but I don’t think that the relationship is direct enough for us to say that this is WB supporting Amber. ET is a CBS property, so I like that they are putting some weight behind Amber, but they also aren’t a WB-related studio. I wish ABC/Disney had its own ET-like program, as I would be so curious to try and discern how much of their coverage angle came from corporate. Then we might be better able to guess at what Disney’s current PR play is. For instance, what if in some ways exposure of Depp now is better for them, because it gives them time for a redemption story and out-of-court divorce agreement, vs. bottling it up and having it all come out in court just as the Pirates promotion starts up next year?
Those are GREAT points. Or maybe they’re just tired of Depp’s crap and they’re temporarily letting him eat it to demonstrate what happens when he doesn’t follow their advice (which was likely to be “Pay Her, Dummy”).
As an aside, I’m so annoyed with people who are claiming she faked the texts. Wouldn’t Depp’s assistant be screaming bloody murder and going to the press if the texts weren’t legit? He’s quiet because they’re real. He even shut down his Twitter account.
@ Sam
Flowerchild is right. It doesn’t add up that an Amber source would go to TMZ which is Johnny’s mouthpiece and say she’s not filing a report and how much she loves him. Nor does it add up that TMZ world point out that its an Amber Source? They didn’t do that with Johnny, or any other celebrity side their taking up because they what to look like they’re posting neutral information, even though that information is one-sided.
With that I’m going to call it BS until further notice.
Disney has already lost a LOT of money to his anger and addiction issues. Remember the broken hand incident? It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they were cutting their losses. They don’t even have to support Amber in any way; it could be as simple as deciding not to intervene at all. I really hope that’s the game plan, at least. I really hope he pissed off the bigwigs BIG TIME with the Australia and broken hand stuff and they’ve had it.
@ Siri
All those outfits you mentioned got their info from TMZ, so that right there has me side seeing it. Now the story is 11 hours old and no major outlets have picked it up. It seems like only low rent tabloid like the Sun and mirror and foreign outlets have posted it.
Amber lawyers were there and knew she was writing a report so no way is it falsified. Not to mention why would a source from Ambers camp go to TMZ who has been pro-Johnny and dragged her name though the mud and give them info. That she’s drop the charges and still loves him? That makes no sense what so ever.
Also note that all those new commenters are M.I.A in today’s post.
I was thinking more along the lines of HER lawyers stating something publicly that didn’t really happen yet to force Depp’s camp to negotiate. There’s no confirmation of a filed report, only the words of her lawyer from 2 days ago that she WILL file. IF you had filed a report, why publicly releasing these text messages from 2012 a day later? You could use them in court, but there wouldn’t be any need to make them public at that point…
@ Siri
See I think you got that backwards if she didn’t file and is working things out privately with him then she wouldn’t release the text messages. To release the text messages means she still making a case to prove that he was physically abusive to her, which adds up to me at least that they’re not in negotiations.
Think about it, say someone hits you with their car and refused to pay for your medical bills. You told them you had proof and you show some photos of the accident and they decided to settle it out of court. Why would you still post a video of the accident that shows they hit you? there would be no need to.
@Ican’t: You might be right about me having it backwards, but why isn’t there a definite confirmation about her filing? When TMZ and other outlets say she changed her mind and wouldn’t file (even if it was Depp’s PR pulling another false story)- why not state she DID file from her side? It doesn’t really make sense to me, because when you HAVE evidence (which she does), it’s good enough to just file, and let the court decide.
But she still married the 450 Million Dollar man. Domestic abused victims dont look for money they just want out. Amber wants the big paycheck thats why she married him no matter what. A very good prepared woman! She can claim to get half of his fortune, keep this in mind. And she knew that and thats why she leaves now and not before the wedding
She cannot get half of his fortune AT ALL. UGH. I’m not even going to try.
Ah, one of the favorite astroturfing canards — OMG, she’ll get half of that poor, put-upon man’s money! Suggest you look up how community property actually works.
450 Million Dollar man married her without a prenup of his own free will. He’s a grown man and is responsible for ALL his decisions. THIS.IS.HIS.FAULT.
Someone asked in the Rob & Chyna thread who watches that kind of crap television. I think Zulu might be one of those individuals — someone who blindly believes and parrots the fabricated, exploitative tabloid garbage and ignores how the real world, real people, and real laws operate.
Or she’s a sockpuppet for Depp’s PR team.
yeah, i will have a look at the chyna-crapfest. i’m very entertained by trashy reality tv. i also watch the housewives, new york and beverly hills. imagine that!
nothing to do with amber. that, to quote Zulu, “very good prepared woman” who deserves to take all of depps money and all of his dignity with her.
Zulu you sound abit like a four year old with a temper tantrum. … but “she can claim to get half of his fortune”. first. educate yourself as this is not true. second: even if it is not your money. why is this your problem? third: he did not sign a prenup. his fault. and lastly and I can not say this often enough: part of the justice system is that victims get compensated. I WISH she could get half of his money and I PRAY that she gets A BIG CHUNK for the hell she went through in this marriage and the witch hunt after it broke down.
I don’t feel sorry for a man that abuses people. He loses his fortune? Oh well. Karmas a beyotch.
how did she force him to marry her? are you suggesting he is mentally incompetent? what magic powers does she have to be able to over-ride the California divorce laws.
Educate yourself on abuse, then talk.
The comments on the daily mail are so disgusting. Implying it’s easy to fake texts. What will it take for people to believe? If she’s in it for the money, why would she leave after a year
?
I feel so sad for her. I have girlfriends who have been in abusive relationships and they never mentioned it because of shame or embarrassment but its their dick boyfriend who should have been shamed. The cycle is evil, people stay because they want to help & see their significant other get help & mend but it rarely goes that way. I worry this poor girl is going to have PTSD or difficulty connecting in future relationships because of this.
I come from a country where domestic violence is rampant and its in the news constantly but there is always excuses in the media. “what did she do to provoke it?” bullshit. When will this mentality change?
I feel for Amber having to go through this in the public eye. I was so in love with my ex fiancée but our relationship wasn’t healthy. He cheated, he was an addict and he was verbally and physically abusive. I didn’t call the cops because I didn’t have any support (despite witnesses) and I didn’t want to ruin his career. I did end up leaving him but it was so hard. We stayed friends for a bit and he finally seemed to clean up his act for a little while. I feel bad for his long suffering wife. I’m so thankful I had the courage to leave. It takes a lot of guts to leave someone you love but is so toxic. This is so important when physical violence is involved. I can’t read the negative, victim bashing comments because what I went through was so similar. Of course, I believe it’s even more difficult for her given the very public nature of their relationship.
I don’t understand how you could “love” someone who treats you like dirt. Someone who is verbally and physically abusive to you does NOT love you.
Because that is not how is starts out. The person you fall in love with disappears, except not completely. So you stay hooked, looking forward to the times when he reappears and you always hope that he will stay.
women are not taught to fight. it’s a problem. so many commenters have shared stories like yours, where they left without any consequences for the abuser because they didn’t want to ruin his career, reputation, family, even finances.
i understand the most important part is to leave. but it makes me so angry that so many women do not seek retribution. many posters actually said with pride how they left with nothing, never fought for money. yes you can be proud that you left him. but if you let him get away with it, there will be more women suffering after you. and he will probably just laugh, because your high morals saved his reputation.
if a man abuses you, he deserves to go down. he deserves to loose all his money, his career and reputation.
Well said. It’s really hard to understand why so many people think it’s important for a man to keep his social standing after he assaults anyone – in or out of the family. So much for civilized behavior.
That is why I am proud of Amber, because she is fighting. She is hitting him where it hurts as best she can, and from an incredibly under-dog position. But she is still scoring big hits, especially with this People Mag cover. Not that she EVER should have been put in this position in the first place.
She sounds so clear headed in those texts. She knows this is an effed up situation and he has done it over and over again. She’s not making excuses for him and calling him a little lost boy. It’s scary to me that she married him even though she knew months earlier that it was messed up and she was caught up in a cycle. It just goes to show noone understands the dynamics at play in a relationship but the people involved because I find her later choices shocking given what she is saying back to the assistant in the texts.
I’m really glad she made her break and hope she finds some peace.
And I hope Johnny gets the help he needs too because clearly he is a sick messed up human being..
“It just goes to show noone understands the dynamics at play in a relationship but the people involved ”
See? THAT’s how you digest a victim’s confusing, irrational decisions without blaming her for them or accusing her of lying. You accept that you can never understand what she was going through or why, because you don’t have to relate in order to believe. It’s not that hard, people.
“First they seduce and idolize you, then they isolate you. ”
Leslie Morgan is the speaker and explains the process of Domestic Violence, she did marry her abusive boyfriend 5 days after the first physical abuse after going through the first stages of emotional abuse. He used his childhood traumas to look for her sympathy and then take advantage of that.
“I was a very strong woman in love with a deeply troubled man and I was the only one who could help him face his demons”
PLEASE SEE THIS VIDEO and learn how it works. just because it’s difficult to understand doesn’t mean there is not an explanation. Human behaviour is complex and being judgemental doesn’t help anyone. (*This can be a trigger*)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1yW5IsnSjo
Thanks for posting this link. I’ll definitely check it out.
thanks for posting this amazing and educating video. now I know ambers lawyer is right: Amber IS a hero!
Is it the comment section messed up or is it my computer?:/ It’s totally disorganized, comments don’t follow up, answers are not where they were supposed to be. UGH.
nope, not your computer. It’s likely because of moderation, since the past few JD/AH threads have been messy. Some posts were deleted, and it seems to affect the hierarchy of first posts & replies that had their first posts deleted
Sisi, what kind of posts were deleted? Trolls, PR folks covering their tracks, CB weeding out those posting under several names? Or … ?
@Cindy Lou
idk, I don’t follow everything
Probably anything that might give rise to the comments you described, and some just getting stuck in the crossfire
MANY hours later I can finally comment so now I’m in full mode celebitchy!:D
Thank you. The perfect post.
Geez I was defending him because I always believed she was in it for the money. I still believe that but it looks like he is an abusive assh@le. Gross story all around.
I think this opens up an important conversation; one that more people need to hear and be a part of. If someone is experiencing DV – on either the male or female side – they need to get out, find support, and find the strength somehow to not go back to their attacker.
I have been heartbroken lately and thinking about this a lot because an old friend of mine was recently murdered by her boyfriend. I can’t help but think that there might have been some way to save her…maybe if people talked about DV more, maybe she could have seen some signs…maybe if he had been more aware about DV and gotten help for his issues…I don’t know, it just breaks my heart to think she is gone and it could have been prevented. My Mom’s friend from work was shot and killed last year by her ex husband, and a friend of mine is going through the court system right now due to her boyfriend slamming her head into a wall when he was drunk. I am so proud of her for being strong and pressing charges and ceasing all contact with him even though it is so hard for her to lose her best friend/lover.
Anyone who is a victim of DV…please get help, do what you have to do to be safe.
Unpopular opinion: most women CAN see the signs. If there is an ex claiming she was abused, if she is abruptly discarded or acts “crazy” the new woman believes things will be different with her.
If she sees warning signs she will dismiss them because everything else he’s pulling out looks and sounds so good.
The signs are there but usually dismissed.
I’m so sorry for the emotional turbulences you experience at the moment. But it’s really important to think this over, because I have to agree with BFDL- woman usually ignore/dismiss the signs, and push them away. I’m certainly no expert on this, but one thing I DO know: it’s NEVER getting better over time.
Oh no, that is terrible. I am deeply sorry for your loss. I’m sure you did all you could – most murdered women die at the hands of someone in they know and trust. A sad statistic, but true.
So very, very sorry for your losses, prettylights. Sending you big internet {{{{hugs}}}}!
@BFDL @siri @silkymalice @imqrious2 Thank you for the support!
Just to clarify, I’m not saying she couldn’t see the signs. I’m saying that perhaps if more people talked about DV and it was more in the public eye she might have paid more attention to the signs and had more courage to leave. So often DV gets pushed under the rug. It’s “dirty laundry” or “personal issues” or “a one time thing” or “they promised they’d never do it again” or “it was just a push, no big deal” and a lot of people won’t talk about it. I can’t help but wonder if DV was an issue that was spoken about more publicly – the warning signs, the cycle of abuse, the way abusers hold control and lure you back in – then more people would realize how dangerous it is to stay and leave. I wonder if something like that would have saved my friend. They had a child together (less than a year old) and I’m sure that factored in her decision to stay. There are so many factors and so many reasons to stay but in the end it will only get worse.
My Grandma left my Grandpa in the 1950’s because he beat her. She had 5 kids, no savings and no job. She found a job at a glove factory and supported all of them, never re-married, and lived to be 87. Growing up knowing about her courage and what she did to protect herself and her kids made me swear that a man would never lay a finger on me. To anyone going through DV – it is so hard to leave but it can be done – please believe in your self-worth and that you can do it.
“Prettylights” seems to be the perfect nickname for you! Yes, this subject needs to be brought to light more, and it’s important to encourage women to seek help, and get out. There really is no other way. And compared to the 50s and the environment your grandmother was in, nowadays there are far more possibilities to support victims, and make sure they are safe. To educate oneself and others. I do think CB did a pretty good job covering this, and many people on here contribute with very open posts about personal experiences. That’s valuable, and a good start.
I’ve been scrolling through photos of them since they got together to see if it was all in my head or if he is continually surly looking while she seems to be trying to make the best of whereever they’re at/whatever they’re doing. It’s the same in all the photos. He looks angry and like he doesn’t want to be there. She is playing off, attempting to seem engaged and putting on a good front.
I feel so bad that I made comments about her and her “cry face”. Now I get it. It really was a cry face – crying on the inside face, trying not to cry, worried, anxious, suffering face.
The New York Post is reporting that Captain Spareme here got into a scuffle with his own body guard after his concert last night.
TYPICAL JOHN
But he never ever shows any signs of aggression at all……….
I guess it’s just because I don’t understand the victim mindset, but I wouldn’t go on and marry someone who kicked me or hit me even one time. If a man even raises his voice to me, I’d be gone. Good for her for saving these texts, though. She needs to defend herself against those saying she’s faking this.
It’s hard to understand the victim mindset until you’ve been victimized. Everything changes.
The problem is that before he even touches you he already worked on you emotionally. The physical abuse, according to some things I read, isn’t even the worst part. How they make you feel loved and special, how they seduce you and idolize you doesn’t seem to mean anything until they start isolating you. They guilt trip you making you feel that you must support them and take care of them, they use your concern against yourself. You feel respnsible, you hld on to that person you once knew and that sometimes seems to be there. You lack perspective and can’t really use other’s, because you are isolated. And when it finally happens you are already so broken you somehow deny the gravity of what just happened. It’s like your brain can’t cope with it.
See this video (I’ve posted it several times around here). It’s a TED talk and the speaker got married 5 days after her then boyfriend hit her. She explains why victims stay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1yW5IsnSjo
The assistant just came out and said the texts are doctored and that he will swear under oath that he never discussed JD being violent to her. Has anyone noticed that TMZ has been increasingly sympathetic to AH? I think they believe her now.
And maybe I need to hit that assistant up for a shopping trip cuz that bitch just got paid!
The TMZ article doesn’t directly quote the assistant, but the word “doctored” suggests that the assistant didn’t flatly deny writing the texts. In the absence of the assistant producing a non-“doctored” version of the texts, I will continue to believe that they are genuine.
Oh, and if the assistant is ever subpoenaed, he can always claim that Harvey Levin misrepresented what he said. This is the fuzziest kind of denial possible.
That’s what I thought too, re: “doctored” and non-denial.
Had the assistant said something like “My name is Stephen, yes, but those are not my texts and I don’t know with whom she was corresponding or when, only that it wasn’t me”, that might have been more believable, imo.
And … they were doctored HOW? In what way?
As if he said “He’s a grown man”, not “He’s a lost little boy”?? “When I told him he KISSED you, he cried”? Or what??
‘Doctored’ would change the whole context of the exchange – which seems pretty clear.
“Johnny Depp’s assistant, Stephen Deuters, tells TMZ, the texts that were posted in which he allegedly apologized to Amber Heard for Johnny’s violent behavior are heavily doctored … and he never said Johnny attacked her.
Deuters says he knows of no acts of abuse toward Amber at the hands of Johnny and has never made such a claim to anyone. He adds, Johnny has never been violent toward anyone he knows.
Deuters says the texts themselves are suspicious because they don’t even show a date.
Bottom line … he says he will testify under oath he never had a conversation about alleged violence with Amber. “-
It pretty much looks like the assistant not only spoke to TMZ but he also denied that he ever saw Johnny be violent to Amber or anyone he knows. That’s a flat out denial.
Companies can recover long deleted texts so if those are subpoenaed, bet he changes his tune..and doctored well he can cover that up. basically can say i wasn’t the same date he remembered or a few words.
Depp’s lawyers were scrambling all night to find exactly the right wording that “technically” could be “interpreted” to support Depp depending on what they are actually talking about. Which can change.
Boy, they are really forcing her hand in making that police report official. As long as she doesn’t, none of this ‘evidence’ means anything except in the court of public opinion.
Amber, if you are reading this, please make that report!! If not for yourself, for all the other DV victims out there. #TeamAmber
TMZ doesn’t care about the truth, they care about the narrative that brings more attention. They use Depp’s team and Depp’s PR team uses them. To balance it a little they publish Amber’s side but always with a tone that suggests suspicion. And the more confusion and messy this gets the better for them. The misinformation is not accidental, it’s by design.
I just wrote a full comment about media manipulation in this page (it’s big, you can look for it).
Yes! That’s a very good insight: mutual exploitation.
Also, it’s no coincidence that Depp’s attorney is Laura Wasser, who has long used TMZ for the benefit of her clients.
EDIT: My big post about media manipulation was eaten:/
I’ve been on the fence about this whole thing until now. I’ve kept quiet without much of an opinion either way but those texts gave me goosebumps. That poor girl 🙁
I’ve been silently reading on this site for years and never felt the need to comment, but this whole situation has just become so sickening to me that I feel to speak out.
I’m a DV victim myself and before my personal experience I would always ask myself, why do abused people stay and just don’t leave the relationship? Then I found myself in that exact situation, I would’ve never thought that something like that would happen to me.
It’s just not that easy. You care for the other person and always hope and believe that it will change and get better. You want to believe and make it work and excuse the abuser and blame yourself or think that without you the other person would only spiral downward even further, so you stay and try to help and hope the last incidident really was the final one, till it happens again.
What people have been saying on other websites about Amber, how this whole thing is plotted, it’s just disgusting and horrible, she has nothing to win from this situation at all.
I wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t seeing any money even after the marriage, just ‘gifts’ that were kind of in line with him controlling new aspects of her life.
I’m glad she got out.
If by some magic he realises he needs help from all this, I hope she let’s other people deal with it and doesn’t get sucked back in because I wouldn’t be surprised if his people would want that for better optics.
Her friends obviously helped support her to getting to this decision, so it’s good that she wasn’t totally isolated from people who could see the situation clearly.
Depp has a history of trashing hotels rooms etc while drunk/drugged up since the ’90s. I’m sure Kate Moss and Winona Ryder have plenty of stories to tell regarding his behavior.
A move to physical violence is not much of a stretch to believe, obviously.
Depp is completely to blame for his violent behavior. That said, it saddens me to no end that women see such behavior from their boyfriends and not only stay, but often choose to marry these men.
Any out of control behavior is a huge red flag: chair throwing, phone throwing, destruction of property, etc. And NO, being drunk is not an excuse to not hold someone accountable. And NO, it’s not because “he loves you soooo much”.
There are blind items circulating about Kate and Winona, actually. If the rumors are to be believed — and I do, because the same source leaked info about this a YEAR ago — then both women are taking meetings and running analyses and figuring out whether they should come forward.
Which also makes me realize that his strategy is more evil than we even know.
He’s not just trying to discredit Amber; he’s also trying to discourage other women from coming forward. I’m sure that’s a direct part of his team’s strategy: make sure the other women see what will happen if they talk. Neither Kate nor Winona are perfect — coke, shoplifting, etc. — so if they were abused, they probably know exactly how the press would start smearing them. Their teams are probably calculating whether it’s “worth it” to defend Amber, because aging models and actresses don’t already have enough to worry about.
(I’m honestly starting to wonder how many of his paid people are making the most vicious comments on allllllllllllll these websites… the level of vitriol is so extreme that it feels personal, honestly. But maybe I just don’t want to believe that so many complete strangers would be so awful.)
Dear god… this is so awful..
I just read someone’s comment on Jezebel whose roommate was friends with AH. That AH was “basically kidnapped” or in some people’s minds swept her off her feet. Think of it hot and sexy movie star (and he was still a looker in those days) wants You, only you, probably wine and dine, global travel, lovebombing if you will. The commenter continues with “my roommate saying something about her missing so many acting classes and auditions for him, even though she really wanted to do them.” Johnny Depp wants meeeeeeeeeeee! Why is AH the conniving good digger?
I’ve said this before, the gold digger argument is lazy. Life is much more nuanced than that. It’s f*cking johnny Depp that apparently some women (even today) still think is the greatest cake ever, so why wouldn’t a young girl fall for him? He was still good looking, he must have charisma and charm and totally intense. Most people wouldn’t think twice if they were CHOSEN by someone like that, charming and with power who could have anyone. That’s alluring, it’s good for the ego! But apparently for some IT HAS to be about the money only.
This is very interesting.. Thanks for posting.
*sits in bed and cries* I feel so bad for her :'( f^&k you depp!
I feel really terrible for doubting her in the slightest. I just can’t imagine if she were my friend or sister and I had to watch her suffer this in silence. And then be paraded through the media.
Just a little recap. So far Amber has:
– evidence of her friend calling the police (her friend that heard their argument over the phone)
– several photos of her (alleged) injuries caused by JD
– obtained a restraining order
– video of violence (so far unreleased)
– witnesses that have told the press they’ve seen her after JD was allegedly abusive with visible injuries, hair missing, etc.
– text messages from his previous assistant referring to abusive behavior
…and she’s STILL not believed.
Johnny Depp has:
– a bunch of people who all stand to gain from enabling / defending him saying he’s innocent, people on his payroll (bodyguards), some random comic who’s releasing a book that Johnny wrote the introduction for, his ex-wife (who would have a vested interest in protecting him bc of their mutual kids and perhaps whatever arrangement he made with her).
…and he’s the one people believe.
That is so f^cked!
And… she is getting money anyways because of humm.. law? No pre-nup. She didn’t need any of this, quite the opposite. Lashing out on Johnny Depp can be a career suicide, people never liked her and still don’t love her now (how could they when we are talking about Johnny depp?) and he can totally sue her if she can’t prove anything and affect his public image. He has the big PR machine and connections made through 30 years at least in the business to help him out a try to control the narrative.
It’s just so illogical to simply not give her a huge benefit of the doubt if not strait up believe her. It’s infuriating. She documented everything which is what victims are encouraged to do in every DV support info. Suddenly she just has “too much proof”.
+1 This ^
He is a fool not to just pay her off the way Cruise paid off Holmes. The money is worth getting rid of it all. I think he did abuse her.
Johnny is a fool to let this drag on. It’s costing him more everyday, in every way, all the way around. He’s such a bastard that he’s willing to hurt his own career in order to hurt Amber. All I can say is please let that video be nice and clear. I have my little wagon attached to that video. I want to see Johnny stopped and exposed for being the abuser he is.
This is absolutely deplorable. I’m glad she made it out.
Depp needs major help! Anyone saying otherwise based on the information already made public is beyond fandom.
As a DV survivor, going public was very, very hard. My abuser did an excellent job isolating me from family & friends, as well as convincing me that I was the one with the problem and that his little ‘outbursts’ were all my fault. He even managed to convince some of MY family that I was lying, despite all sorts of evidence and corroboration from other family members. Who wants to discuss being raped and beaten with parents or friends? It was humiliating! So I can absolutely understand why Amber kept going back and kept quiet. Its epic level mind-f!ckery. If your abuser has money and power…i can’t begin to imagine how hard it was for her. I wish people would stop demanding a thousand pieces of proof- not all DV leaves marks.
It is so sad and I’m really sorry for your story. And the fact that so many have opened up about it and so frequently never reported it really makes wonder how it it so easy for many to dismiss the allegations of a victim. Any victim, but when it involves this level of exposure and judgement why on earth would a person go through this if it wasn’t true? She has nothing to gain, the divorce money is hers by law already.
again, I’m so sorry:(
@miasys wow your post. I hope things are much, much better for you now. I was always blamed and called a liar by my own family, including the ones who actually saw and heard things. I became known as a liar because I was called one so many times, and it was easier for the people around me to simply think of me as a trouble maker and a liar. You are marginalized and punished again when you speak out, many times over. This guy has millions of dollars and who knows how many trolls around him to conduct his public assault on her character. It’s so awful to witness. Like you, I can’t imagine how hard this must be for her. I hope Amber stays safe and surrounded by friends, and that everything is resolved in her favor.
The daily mail has an article up with the assistant denying everything. He says the e-mails are fake and heavily doctored, and that he is willing to testify in court.
Isn’t the daily mail no better than a TMZ? Doctored is also, he is basically saying yeah they exist but I don’t remember it that way.
I’m not saying that just because it’s on the Daily Mail, it’s true. I am just saying the assistant is making a public denial of these texts. Anyone can certainly go read the story for themselves. I am not saying that I believe what he says, just that he is saying it. I agree that DM and TMZ are doing the same basic, biased muckraking. I hate to say it, but DM seems to be breaking a lot of the stories in this drama. I do check to see what they are reporting, as depressing as that is, although I just can’t read the comments anymore. Feeling bad for Amber.
The Daily Mail article just lifted the assistant’s denial from the TMZ article. There’s literally has no original content. Depp’s assistant didn’t speak to the Daily Mail, and the DM certainly didn’t break this story.
I just read the article. I doubt Deuters spoke to anyone. The argument is, there’s no date on the screenshots. It’s weak, since you can see date & time on the phone for sure, plus there are phone company records as well. But I wonder about something else: if Amber had filed a police report- wouldn’t there be a hearing at some point?
Something I read:
“And the worst part? When your abusive partner isn’t being abusive, they’re the person you fell in love with.”
:/
I used to look at Johnny Depp in the last five years and to me he seemed a drunken mess, so I thought, “That Amber must have her hands full with him in private. He seems way more out of control than he used to be.” Now reading all this is chilling because that was an understatement.
I don’t believe anything from Johnny Depp’s side. He’s powerful and has money. People in his circle are afraid of him. I want to know if anyone in Depp’s circle would ever have the guts to admit under oath what they actually saw or know to be true about the abuse.
I had an ex-sister-in-law, a very accomplished liar. At the end of the marriage to my brother, she played the DV card, as she made her money grab. As a DV survivor myself, I was disgusted. Long story short, ex-SIL told one lie too many, got no money and lost custody of their children. Although a very unpopular opinion here, I get the same liar vibe from Amber. Before I get carved up by the masses – faking texts is quite easy. Ex-SIL did it. She also tried the photo “evidence.” Photoshop and makeup. I am NOT ignoring the fact Depp has issues and seems to need rehab. I’m just saying things are not always as they seem.
The messages do not describe physical abuse but merely some kind of behaviour of Depp which Heard found very very hard to deal with.