Well, that’s a surprise. We’ve known for a while that Amber Heard‘s claims of domestic violence against Johnny Depp were something of an anomaly. In the years since she first made her claims, his exes have fairly uniformly defended his reputation.
That’s why we were surprised to learn his decision this week not to call Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis as witnesses in his libel trial against The Sun.
Related: Amber’s Assistant Says Actress ‘Twisted’ HER Rape Story Into Her Own
Is he trying to protect them from being grilled by the opposition? Is he protecting himself? Or does he really believe, as his lawyer David Sherborne told the court, that their testimonies are unnecessary to win the case? In any case, the court does still have their witness statements — and they decided to release them to the public!
Winona’s we got the basics of already, but she wrote in full:
“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.”
She focused a lot on Amber’s accusations, saying:
“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.”
Even after so long she still speaks so highly of him. Finally, she almost shades Amber, writing:
“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.”
Pretty strong words. Maybe they don’t need her on the stand.
Vanessa, who was with Johnny for nearly a decade and a half and has co-parented 21-year-old Lily-Rose and 18-year-old Jack into young adults with him, wrote:
“I have known Johnny for more than 25 years. We’ve been partners for 14 years and we raised our two children together. Through all these years I’ve known Johnny to be a kind, attentive, generous, and non-violent person and father.”
She also shared what she’s observed of Johnny’s reactions with others:
“On movie sets the actors, directors and entire crews adore him because he is humble and respectful to everyone, as well as being one of the best actors we’ve seen.”
She then directly rebuked Amber’s accusations, saying:
“I am aware of the allegations which Amber Heard has publicly accused Johnny of for more than four years now. 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.”
She concluded by talking about the damage of Amber’s “false” claims on Johnny’s life:
“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.”
Man, get you an ex that talks about you like that, right? Also, probably don’t leave them for a young co-star…
[Image via Nikki Nelson/WENN/Avalon.]
The post Johnny Depp Decides NOT To Call Vanessa Paradis & Winona Ryder During Trial — Witness Statements In Full HERE! appeared first on Perez Hilton.