Amber Heard's unsuccessful endeavor, alongside a private investigator, to uncover compromising information about Johnny Depp has added another chapter to the ongoing drama between the actor and his ex-wife.
This saga originated when Heard accused Depp of domestic violence in May 2016, and it recently took an unexpected turn. According to an exclusive report from the British newspaper Daily Mail, Amber Heard enlisted the services of a reputable private investigator last summer to identify individuals who could support her claims of Depp's violent behavior. However, this effort proved futile.
The investigator in question, Paul Barresi, shared the challenges he encountered after conducting interviews with approximately a hundred individuals in the United States and Europe. His primary objective was to find potential witnesses to corroborate allegations of verbal and physical abuse by Johnny Depp, as these accusations were central to the defamation cases involving the couple. These cases were slated to be judged in the United Kingdom and the United States but had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Much to Amber Heard's disappointment, Barresi found testimonies that sharply contradicted her portrayal of Depp as an "emotionally exhausted, mistreated, and tormented" individual.
In the information provided to the Daily Mail via email, Barresi even mentioned specific individuals like Jane Galli, the head of the makeup department for the film "City of Lies." This film's release had been delayed due to allegations of mistreatment against Depp. However, Galli and the film's director, Brad Furman, described Depp as a kind, professional, and wonderful individual. Paul Silver, the assistant director, also affirmed that despite occasional lateness, Depp was a professional who consistently delivered. When asked about Depp losing his temper, Silver commented, "All artists have a bad temper."
Nonetheless, Barresi contends that these statements do not reveal the full extent of Depp's "peculiar" character and the questionable company he keeps. He pointed to his interview with Jonathan Shaw, a renowned tattoo artist and Depp's friend for three decades, who expressed a desire to provide assistance in harming the couple. Barresi also observed that those around Depp appeared more volatile than the actor himself, going so far as to label his lawyer as a "bulldog." Barresi even suggested that verbal and physical abuse have similar effects, stating, "I don't think there is much difference between verbal and physical abuse; it does the same damage."
Based on the testimonials he collected, the investigator concluded that Johnny Depp seemed to be an extraordinarily generous individual who went to great lengths to cover the legal costs, medical bills, and rent of his friends. However, he remained skeptical about the authenticity of their loyalty. The narrative unfolds against the backdrop of a divorce settlement, where Amber Heard received 6.4 million euros on August 16, 2016, prompting her to retract her accusations against her former husband. They released a joint statement at the time, describing their marriage as "passionate and occasionally tumultuous but always founded on love."
The tensions resurfaced after Depp felt slighted by an article published on December 18, 2018, in The Washington Post, authored by Amber Heard. In the article, she described herself as a survivor of domestic abuse, which reignited hostilities between the two. Depp responded by filing a defamation lawsuit on March 1, 2019, accusing his ex-wife of falsely portraying him as abusive and causing his removal from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise. Heard countered with her own claims a month later, labeling Depp as a "monster." He, in turn, alleged that she had manipulated evidence against him and declared that he had never abused any woman. Depp also initiated a defamation lawsuit against The Sun and its editor, Dan Wootton, a trial originally scheduled for March 23 in London but postponed due to the coronavirus crisis.
