Johnny Depp Seemingly Addresses Amber Heard Trial With 'Soap Opera' Remark

Johnny Depp seemed to break his silence regarding the infamous defamation trial between himself and his ex-wife, Amber Heard, making thinly veiled remarks about the matter during a press conference at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Depp is in Spain to promote his new directorial effort Modi – Three Days on the Wing of Madness, about Parisian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star has largely been persona non grata in Hollywood following the explosive trial which stemmed from an op-ed Heard wrote for The Washington Post in which she implied (without naming him) that Depp physically and emotionally abused her. The jury ruled that Heard’s allegations of “sexual violence” and “domestic abuse” were made with “actual malice” and therefore defamatory to Depp. He was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages from Heard. Depp was separately found to have defamed Heard in some of his comments, although the balance of the case was ruled in Depp's favor.

During Tuesday’s press conference, Depp compared Modigliani’s erratic and somewhat controversial life to his own. “Each [character] has their story because I’m sure we can say that I’ve been through a number of things here and there,” Depp said. “Maybe yours didn’t turn into a soap opera. I mean, literally, televised,” he added, which prompted laughter from some reporters in the room.

“But we all go through what we go through,” Depp continued. According to the star, each hurdle and obstacle represents an experience to learn and grow. “There’s something beautiful to me about those days living in a tiny studio apartment just off Hollywood Boulevard in a dangerous neighborhood. They were tough. They were rough, ugly; they were weird, all kinds of stuff, but they were beautiful,” he said.

Following the case, Depp has slowly crawled back into the spotlight with a starring role in French-language biopic Jeanne du Barry and his directorial work on Modi. He’s set to star alongside Jeff Bridges and Jason Momoa in a new film by Terry Gilliam, his first major role since the trial.

Johnny Depp addresses the legal frenzy surrounding his public split with Amber Heard while at the ‘Modi’ press conference at the #SanSebastianFilmFestival: "I think we've all been through a number of things ultimately. Maybe yours didn't turn into a soap opera" pic.twitter.com/rUcKEkyRh7

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 24, 2024