Winona Ryder 'Shocked, Confused & Upset' By Johnny Depp Allegations; Picture Emerges Of Depp With Dark Mark Under His Eye
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Winona Ryder has said she was “shocked, confused and upset” by allegations that Johnny Depp was abusive towards his ex-wife Amber Heard, according to a witness statement provided in support of Depp.
The Edward Scissorhands actor is suing The Sun for libel after the British tabloid described him as a “wife beater” and, although Ryder is no longer being called to the witness stand, more excerpts from her statement have been made available to press at the High Court.
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Ryder was engaged to Depp in the 1990s and the Stranger Things star said she considers the relationship among the most significant in her life. Per Press Association, she said in her statement: “I understand that it is very important that I speak from my own experience, as I obviously was not there during his marriage to Amber, but, from my experience, which was so wildly different, I was absolutely shocked, confused and upset when I heard the accusations against him.
“The idea that he is an incredibly violent person is the farthest thing from the Johnny I knew and loved. I cannot wrap my head around these accusations. He was never, never violent towards me. He was never, never abusive at all towards me. He has never been violent or abusive towards anybody I have seen.
“I truly and honestly only know him as a really good man – an incredibly loving, extremely caring guy who was so very protective of me and the people that he loves, and I felt so very, very safe with him. I do not want to call anyone a liar but from my experience of Johnny, it is impossible to believe that such horrific allegations are true. I find it extremely upsetting, knowing him as I do.”
Further excerpts from Vanessa Paradis’ statement were also published. The French singer was in a relationship with Depp for more than 14 years and had two children with him.
She said: “This is nothing like the true Johnny I have known, and from my personal experience of many years, I can say he was never violent or abusive to me. I have seen that these outrageous statements have been really distressing, and also caused damage to his career because unfortunately people have gone on believing these false facts. This is so upsetting as he has helped so many persons in his personal and professional life, with kindness and generosity.”
It comes as the court was shown an image from 2016 of Depp with a dark mark under his eye. Depp’s head of security Sean Bett said the image showed an injury allegedly sustained from Heard. “Mr Depp told me that Ms Heard had slapped him on the face a few times,” he said while giving evidence.
In his witness statement, Bett added that he saw the couple “very regularly” during their relationship and “never saw any cuts, bruises or other injuries on Ms Heard.”
He added: “On the contrary, throughout the course of Mr Depp and Ms Heard’s relationship, Ms Heard was verbally and physically abusive towards Mr Depp. On many occasions, I witnessed her shout at Mr Depp. I was also told by Mr Depp on multiple occasions that Ms Heard had physically abused him.
“A very common occurrence throughout the relationship would be that Mr Depp would have me, and other members of his security team, take him away from Ms Heard, due to her behaviour. He would then stay somewhere else. This happened on so many occasions that it is not possible for me to remember them all in detail. However, I would describe it as a recurring cycle that Ms Heard would abuse Mr Depp, who would then remove himself from the situation.”
The trial continues.
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