Johnny Depp’s famous exes Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis are no longer being called to defend him in their explosive court case, denying him to be a “handcuff puncher,” Depp’s legal team announced Thursday.
Actresses Ryder, 48, and Paradis, the mother of Depp’s two children, 47, were due to present their testimonies via video link this week and had already given witness statements insisting that the “Pirates of the Caribbean” were never violent towards them.
But the case failed to meet the timeline, and Depp’s legal team admitted that Depp’s ex-wife Amber Heard is only accusing him of beating her, not her previous partners.
“There is no need to reprogram those witnesses, as much as it would have been a pleasure to have them here,” Depp’s lawyer David Sherborne told the London High Court on Thursday morning.
The couple has already filed witness statements in the case, in which Depp is suing The Sun newspaper over a 2018 article that referred to him as a “handcuff puncher,” which he vehemently denies.
Depp and Ryder, who starred together in “Edward Scissorhands” from 1990, were one of the most popular couples in Hollywood in the early 1990s. Ryder called it “one of the most significant relationships of my life” in their statement.
Depp even had “Winona Forever” tattooed on his arm, which according to the trial sparked a fight when Heard taunted him for changing him to “Wino Forever” after parting ways with Ryder.
She said she was “absolutely shocked, confused and upset” when she learned of Heard’s claims against Depp because they were “very different” from hers.
“The idea that he is an incredibly violent person is the furthest thing from the Johnny I knew and loved,” he wrote. “I cannot understand these allegations.
“He never was, he was never violent towards me. He was never, never abusive at all towards me. He has never been violent or abusive to anyone he has seen.
“I really and honestly only know him as a really good man, an incredibly loving and extremely loving guy who was very protective of me and the people he loves, and I felt very, very safe with him.”
Depp was with Paradis for 14 years, raising their children Lily-Rose, 21, and John Christopher, 18, before their separation in 2012, shortly before he and Heard were together and first accused him of become violent.
“I have known Johnny for over 25 years,” Paradis said in his statement.
“Throughout all these years, I have known Johnny as a kind, caring, generous and non-violent person and father.”
She added: “He was never violent or abusive to me.”
Before the trial began last week, a 34-year-old Heard spokeswoman had already insisted that the experiences of the two women had nothing to do with allegations of domestic abuse.
“We are glad that they did not have the same experience as Ms. Heard,” said a spokeswoman for Ryder and Paradis.
“However, the experience of one woman does not determine the experience of another woman.”
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