Penelope Cruz has come to the defense of her good friend and frequent co-star Johnny Depp after he was accused of domestic abuse by ex-wife Amber Heard.
The Oscar-winning actress filed a declaration to the Virginia court which is hearing Depp’s defamation case against his ex-wife, Heard.
Depp filed a $50million defamation lawsuit against Heard in March 2019 over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018, in which she claimed she was abused by Depp.
As part of the suit, Depp claimed that Heard had in fact physically abused him during the marriage rather than the other way around, a claim Heard has denied.
Cruz, 45, wrote that she has known Depp for years and that he has never been violent toward her in any social or professional setting.
Penelope Cruz (seen left with Johnny Depp at the premier of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in Cannes, France, in May 2011) filed a legal declaration in support of her friend and co-star
Depp is suing Amber Heard, his ex-wife, for defamation in a Virginia court after she wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post accusing the actor of physically abusing her. Heard is seen above in Los Angeles with what looks like a bruise on her right cheek in May 2016
‘I met Johnny when I was 19 years old,’ Depp’s Spanish-born co-star wrote in her declaration, which was first reported by The Blast.
‘He was in Madrid and [director] Pedro Almodovar introduced him to me.
‘The only sentences I knew how to say in English at that time were, “how are you” and “I want to work with Johnny Depp”.’
Cruz, who starred alongside Depp in hit films like Blow, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and Murder on the Orient Express, said the two developed a good friendship over the years.
‘Many years have passed and I have not only made 3 movies with him, but I also count on him as a great friend,’ she wrote.
‘I’ve always been impressed by his kindness, his brilliant mind, his talent, and his peculiar sense of humor.’
She continued: ‘I’ve seen Johnny in so many situations and he is always kind to everyone around.
‘He is one of the most generous people I know.’
Cruz said Depp was especially supportive during her pregnancy, which coincided with work on their Pirates of the Caribbean film.
Cruz and Depp have remained friends for years. Their collaborations in film include the 2001 hit movie Blow
Cruz and Depp also co-starred in the 2011 hit Disney film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
‘During six months of my first pregnancy, I spent every single day with him while we shot Pirates of the Caribbean,’ she wrote.
‘My husband [actor Javier Bardem] and I will never forget the sweetness, protection, and kindness he treated me with during every single step of that process.’
Cruz ended her declaration by writing: ‘We love him very much and I feel lucky to have someone so special in our lives.’
Depp also got moral support this week from his former fiancee, Winona Ryder.
Ryder, who was engaged to Depp during their four-year courtship, came to the defense of the Pirates Of The Caribbean star by filing a declaration claiming she found it hard to believe he would ever commit an act of domestic violence.
‘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,’ she said during her legal declaration that was obtained by The Blast.
‘I find it extremely upsetting knowing him as I do.’
During the opening of Ryder’s declaration, she gave a brief history of her relationship with Depp that began back when they first met in 1989 and included starring together in the 1990 romance fantasy Edward Scissorhands.
Winona Ryder also defended ex-fiance Depp’s character during her legal declaration in his defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard
Moral and legal support: ‘The idea that he [Depp] is an incredibly violent person is the farthest thing from the Johnny I knew and loved,’ Ryder further explained. The former couple is seen above in this undated file photo
‘I knew Johnny very well years ago. We were together as a couple for four years, and I counted him as my best friend, and as close to me as family. I count our relationship as one of the more significant relationships of my life. I understand that it is very important that I speak from my own experience,’ the Stranger Things star stated.
Eventually Ryder, 48, gave her thoughts about Heard’s accusations of domestic abuse during her two-year marriage to Depp.
‘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 actress added, ‘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.’
Ryder maintained that the man she knew during their romance was never violent or abusive towards her or anyone else.
‘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,’ the Reality Bites star explained.
She did add that she didn’t want to go as far as to call ‘anyone a liar.’
Depp and Heard were married in February 2015.
She ended up filing for divorce in May of 2016, along a temporary restraining order against him, stating in a court declaration that he had been verbally and physically abusive during their relationship.
The two sides reached a settlement and finalized the divorce in January 2017, which included the dismissal of the restraining order and Depp paying her $7million, which she donated to charity.
‘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 the December 2018 article, which didn’t mention the Pirates of the Caribbean actor by name.
Depp claimed, nonetheless, that it implicated him as the abuser, damaging his reputation and causing him to lose his prized role of Captain Jack Sparrow.
His suit says he’s the victim of an ‘elaborate hoax’ instigated by Heard to generate positive publicity and advance her career.
‘Ms. Heard is not a victim of domestic abuse; she is a perpetrator,’ it claims.
Depp and Heard, who were married from 2015 to 2017, reached a settlement and finalized the divorce in January 2017, which included the dismissal of the restraining order and Depp paying her $7 million, which she donated to charity
‘She hit, punched and kicked me. She also repeatedly and frequently threw objects into my body and head, including heavy bottles, soda cans, burning candles, television remote controls and paint thinner cans, which severely injured me.’
Heard responded with a lurid 300-page filing of her own, cataloging the ‘horrific’ abuse she claims to have suffered at Depp’s hands, describing him as ‘the monster’ and recalling many of the allegations she made during their divorce.
The filing included photos of bruises and scars, clumps of hair apparently torn from Heard’s head and pictures of smashed up furniture to illustrate the violence she was allegedly subjected to after hooking up with Depp, her co-star in The Rum Diary, back in 2011.
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