What Have Johnny Depp's Exes Said About His Behavior?

The following article includes mentions of domestic abuse and sexual assault allegations, as well as mental health issues and drug and alcohol use.

In the spring of 2022, Johnny Depp began making headlines again due to the high-profile defamation case against his former wife, Amber Heard. As NBC News reported, the "Sweeney Todd" actor sued the "Aquaman" star for defamation following her 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post, in which she opened up about her alleged experience as a survivor of domestic abuse and sexual assault. Although she didn't outright use Depp's name, based on their relationship timeline, it has been presumed by many that the piece made reference to their tumultuous 15-month marriage and subsequent explosive divorce in 2016. "Two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture's wrath for women who speak out," she wrote in part.

Atter the former "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" star sued Heard for $50 million, she countersued Depp for $100 million. As of this writing, both parties have given their testimonies, with Depp and Heard each alleging that they were the victim of domestic abuse rather than the perpetrator. Some of Depp's exes have even taken to the stand to speak about their own relationships with the controversial actor. Let's take a deep dive into the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star's dating history to see what Johnny Depp's former lady loves have had to say about his alleged behavior.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

Whether on screen or off, it seems Johnny's Depp apparent love for eccentricity has also extended to his romantic life. Back in 1983 in their home state of Florida, a 20-year-old Depp married Lori Anne Allison, a makeup artist five or six years his senior and whose brother played alongside the future actor in a band called The Kids, per the Daily Mail. According to Allison's now-defunct website (via The List), she was the David Bowie-worshipping, esoteric, and non-conformist type of artist we can totally see Tim Burton's male muse being drawn to.

Although they were only hitched for about two years, calling it quits in 1985, the pair have seemingly remained friends to this day. Following Amber Heard's domestic abuse allegations against Depp amid their 2016 divorce, sources cited by TMZ claimed that Depp's first wife described him as a kind, caring, and "soft person," with the outlet paraphrasing Allison as reportedly saying of the pet dog they once shared, "He was more loving with the pooch than most parents are to their kids." She also allegedly denied that Depp was ever physically or verbally abusive throughout their marriage, claiming that he was incapable of such behavior.

Further showcasing that she still seems to hold a soft spot for Depp, Allison has decided to keep his last name after all these years, going by Lori A. Depp.

Former "Twin Peaks" star Sherilyn Fenn dated Johnny Depp from 1985 to 1989, per Parade. The pair first met while working on a student film called "Dummies" together back in 1985, and they were soon inseparable. Fenn, who was 19 at the time of their real-life meet-cute, has since described Depp, who was 21 at the time, as her first love on several occasions. Reflecting on their relationship to The Big Issue in 2017, Fenn said that she and her former flame shared a strong bond and spent their days "cooking meals, hanging out, laughing and crying." She added, "It is more about that than the fact he is this well-known person now. I know him as a human not a movie star."

The actor, who even guest-starred on Depp's show at the time, "21 Jump Street," has since gone on to defend her ex multiple times on Twitter. In 2016, she opened about Depp's alleged behavior during their relationship, captioning a throwback pic of the former couple with, "I know JCD is not capable of the things being written." 

Fast forward to Depp's 2022 defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard, when Fenn continued to share tweets in support of her ex-boyfriend. That May, for example, she wrote alongside other throwback snapshots of the duo, "#istandwithjohnny" and "With my first love... forever." In another post, Fenn replied to a fan praising her ongoing support for Depp with, "We were each others first love. I will always love and support him."

Jennifer Grey's short-lived engagement with Johnny Depp started as a rebound of sorts following her split from her "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" co-star, Matthew Broderick, per ET. The duo had been set up on a blind date, and as Grey revealed to Extra in May 2022, "[Depp was] funny and sweet and just so charming and quirky and weird and self-effacing and just so unique and gorgeous, and he was obsessed with me and romantic." 

However, as Grey claimed in her "Out of the Corner" memoir that same year (via the Independent), their whirlwind and, in part, long distance romance wasn't exactly breezy due to Depp's alleged behavior and busy work schedule. In what she described as "f***ing bonfire" of a relationship, Grey claimed of the "21 Jump Street" star (via People), "[He] started missing his flights home to L.A., having overslept, or when he did come home, he'd be crazy jealous and paranoid about what I'd been up to while he was gone." She added, "He became moodier and less and less present. I kept wondering how or if I was ever going to get that easygoing, funny, devoted, adoring guy back."

Grey ultimately called off their engagement after less than a year together. Noting that she "just knew him in a very different time," Grey told Extra that she hadn't kept in contact with Depp following the breakup and simply said of the allegations surrounding his relationship with Amber Heard, "I don't have an opinion, except it breaks my heart."

Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder were pretty much everyone's favorite indie Gen-X couple. Not only did these two get engaged mere weeks after locking eyes for the first time, but they also starred as lovers opposite each other in Tim Burton's 1990 flick "Edward Scissorhands." According to a 1991 interview with Rolling Stone, the pair met at the movie premiere for "Great Balls of Fire!" in 1989, with Depp describing the moment he first laid eyes on the then-17-year-old Ryder as "a classic glance, like the zoom lenses in 'West Side Story,' and everything else gets foggy." 

Depp, who's about eight years her senior, would later pop the question and also get his infamous "Winona Forever" tattoo on his bicep — temporarily marking Ryder as his one and only love, as the ink would be changed to "Wino Forever" following their 1993 split. Despite the impulsive nature of their romance, the "Stranger Things" star has remained adamant to this day that her relationship with Depp was the real deal. "When I met Johnny, I was pure virgin," Ryder once told Cinema.com. "He changed that. He was my first everything. My first real kiss. My first real boyfriend. My first fiancé. The first guy I had sex with. So he'll always be in my heart. Forever. Kind of funny, that word." 

Wow, good luck to Noni's future partners in measuring up to that.

In regard to Johnny Depp's alleged behavior during his four-year relationship with Winona Ryder, the "Beetlejuice" star defended her ex-fiancé in a deposition during Depp's 2020 libel lawsuit against The Sun, which had labeled him a "wife beater" following Amber Heard's domestic abuse allegations. "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," she stated in part (via BBC News). "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."

Ryder's deposition echoed previous statements, in which she emphasized that this was her own personal experience with Depp and that she was in no way accusing Heard of lying. "It's difficult and upsetting for me to wrap my head around it," she told Time of the allegations in 2016. "Look, it was a long time ago, but we were together for four years, and it was a big relationship for me." Indeed, when the two called off their engagement in 1993, the painful breakup resulted in Ryder becoming severely depressed and temporarily turning to excessive alcohol consumption to drown her sorrows, as she revealed to Cinema.com.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Johnny Depp and Juliette Lewis played love interests in the 1993 indie drama "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" — in which their characters bond over esoteric interests and their open-minded outlooks on life. The actors' onscreen spark seemed to ignite behind the scenes, as well, and although it hasn't been confirmed, Depp and Lewis reportedly dated briefly while filming the movie, per Distractify. 

Lewis' alleged short-lived romance with Depp occurred following her breakup with her boyfriend of three years, Brad Pitt, People reports. According to her own experience with Depp, he was apparently a very giving person who, despite his growing fame at the time, liked to stay humble. "Johnny is self-debasing," she said of her co-star in a 1993 interview with Los Angeles Times. "Is that the right word? Anyway, sometimes he's too self-debasing." For what it's worth, according to Merriam-Webster, the definition of this particular descriptor is "the act or process of lowering oneself in status, esteem, quality, or character."

As demonstrated by their 2016 reunion at the Art of Elysium Heaven Gala (pictured above), Depp and Lewis have appeared to remain on good terms.

When Johnny Depp met supermodel Kate Moss in a New York City cafe in 1994, it seemed as though they were written in the stars. "I knew from the first moment we talked that we were going to be together," Moss recalled later that year (via People), with a source telling the outlet that the duo "can't keep their hands, lips, mouths, legs off of each other." Perhaps understandably, then, when she and Depp ended their relationship four years later, Moss was heartbroken. 

"There's nobody that's ever really been able to take care of me," Moss, who's 11 years Depp's junior, told Vanity Fair in 2012. "Johnny did for a bit. I believed what he said. Like if I said, 'What do I do?,' he'd tell me. And that's what I missed when I left. I really lost that gauge of somebody I could trust. Nightmare. Years and years of crying. Oh, the tears!" 

For his part, Depp wasn't exactly content with their split, either. In a 1998 interview with Hello! magazine (via the New York Post), he expressed regret for how his admitted behavior, stemming from stress over his high-profile career, soured their romance. "I have been so stupid because we had so much going for our relationship," Depp said. "I'm the one who has to take responsibility for what happened — I was difficult to get on with, I let my work get in the way and I didn't give her the attention I should have done."

Johnny Depp and Kate Moss' romance occasionally made headlines for the wrong reasons. Take the infamous 1994 incident at a New York City hotel. The actor, who was supposedly angry over a pal's betrayal, was admittedly responsible for causing more than $10,000 worth of damage in the couple's room. However, Moss was safely asleep nearby and was not harmed, per The U.S. Sun. 

In fact, Depp denied ever being physically abusive toward Moss when this event came up during his 2020 libel lawsuit against The Sun. Fast forward to May 2022, when Moss herself gave a witness testimony in defense of her ex during Depp's defamation case against Amber Heard. In the "Aquaman" star's prior testimony about a March 2015 argument between Depp and her sister, Whitney Henriquez, near a staircase, Heard claimed that she feared for her sibling's safety. She went on to reference an alleged incident, during which Depp supposedly pushed Moss down a flight of stairs while vacationing in Jamaica.

However, Moss testified that this never happened, saying in court that Depp actually came to her aid when a rainstorm caused her to slip. "As I left the room, I slid down the stairs and I hurt my back. ... I screamed, because I didn't know what happened to me and I was in pain. He came running back to help me and carried me to my room and got me medical attention," the model claimed. "... He never pushed me, kicked me, or threw me down any stairs."

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

Johnny Depp met Ellen Barkin while filming "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," a 1998 movie based on the Hunter S. Thompson novel of the same name — and while their subsequent short-lived affair flew under the radar, the pair's former relationship made headlines decades later amid Depp's 2020 libel lawsuit against The Sun. During her deposition about their time together for Depp's ultimately unsuccessful trial, Barkin made claims of verbal abuse, but not physical, per Entertainment Weekly. Of her ex's allegedly violent tendencies, she claimed that "Depp threw a wine bottle in her direction," as recapped by The Hollywood Reporter.

For his part, the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star denied this accusation, claiming in his own testimony that he and Barkin had been friends before entering an on-again, off-again, friends-with-benefits type of dynamic. However, Depp reportedly told her he wasn't interested in more of a committed relationship and claimed in court that Barkin has since held a "grudge" against him, according to the Daily Mail. "I suppose her desires were ... she wanted more than a relationship, she wanted a proper relationship with me and I did not want that," he alleged. "I didn't feel the same about her as she did me and I suppose from that moment on she became very, very angry and since then I have not spoken to Ms. Barkin, neither has Ms. Barkin spoken to me."

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

When Johnny Depp and model-singer-actor Vanessa Paradis met at a party in Paris back in 1998, it was love at first sight for the "Ed Wood" star. Dishing on the special moment to the Daily Mail in 2011, he said, "She was wearing a dress with an exposed back and I saw that back and that neck, and then she turned around and I saw those eyes, and — boom! My life as a single man was done."

After only one year of dating, the two welcomed their daughter, Lily-Rose, into the world, and three years later had their son, Jack. However, Depp and Paradis, who remained together for 14 years while expanding their brood, never felt the need to get married. And when they ultimately ended things in 2012, the former couple remained on good terms for the sake of their kids, as the movie star revealed to Rolling Stone. It's perhaps not too surprising, then, that Paradis came to her ex's defense following Amber Heard's domestic abuse claims.

During Depp's 2020 libel trial against The Sun, Paradis claimed that Heard's allegations were "outrageous" in her witness statement (via Page Six). "I have known Johnny for more than 25 years. We've been partners for 14 years and we raised our two children together," she wrote in part. "Through all these years I've known Johnny to be a kind, attentive, generous, and non-violent person and father." Paradis added, "From my personal experience of many years, I can say he was never violent or abusive to me."

Amber Heard and Johnny Depp's real-life meet-cute happened in 2009 while working on "The Rum Diary," per CNN. At the time, they were both in respective relationships, but Depp admitted during their 2022 defamation trial to developing feelings for Heard while filming a kissing scene in the shower. Once they were both single, they got together and announced their engagement in 2014. They got hitched the following year, but the duo's whirlwind and tumultuous relationship came to an end following 15 months of marriage in 2016, leading to acrimonious divorce proceedings and a number of domestic abuse allegations — and denials — from both parties.

"Never did I myself reach the point of striking Ms. Heard in any way nor have I ever struck any woman in my life," Depp claimed to the court in April 2022 (via CNN). Later, the former couple's therapist would testify that they allegedly participated in "mutual abuse," per The Guardian. For her part, when Heard took to the stand, she accused her ex-husband of physical and verbal abuse, sexual assault, and excessive drug and alcohol use, referring to his allegedly darker side as a "monster." She tearfully said in part, "He was the love of my life ... but he was also this other thing. And that other thing was awful ... [an] awful thing that would come out and take over, and you couldn't see the Johnny I loved underneath it."

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).