Johnny Depp Addresses Media Frenzy over His and Amber Heard's Legal Battle

Johnny Depp is reflecting on having aspects of his personal life play out in the public. 

While promoting his latest directorial venture, Modi - Three Days on the Wings of Madness, at the San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain, the Pirates of the Caribbean star discussed how he related to the film's subject, Amedeo Modigliani, adding that they had both gone through a number of ordeals in their lives—which for Johnny included his high publicized split from ex Amber Heard.

"Each has their story," Johnny told reporters during a Sept. 24 press conference per The Hollywood Reporter. "Sure, we can say that I've been through a number of things here and there. But, you know, I'm alright."

And while the 61-year-old—who shares daughter Lily-Rose, 25, and son Jack, 22, with ex Vanessa Paradis—is aware that others have "been through a number of things" as well, he joked, "Maybe yours wasn't—didn't turn into a soap opera. Televised, in fact," seemingly a reference to his and Amber's 2022 defamation trial, which was live-streamed each day.

"We all experience and go through what we go through," Johnny added. "And those things that we are able to live and remember and use, these are your stripes. You never forget them. So to see these people all teetering on the verge of earning their stripes, desperate to speak but unable to, in a way."

The Finding Neverland star has rarely spoken about his June 2022 defamation trial against his former wife, in which he was awarded $10.4 million in total damages after a jury found Amber liable for defaming Johnny for a 2018 Washington Post essay. While the 38-year-old hadn't named him directly in the piece, she referred to herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse." (Amber herself was awarded $2 million in in compensatory damages after the jury found that Johnny's lawyer had accused her of perpetrating a "hoax.")

In December 2022, Amber—who is mom to 3-year-old daughter Oonagh—made the decision to settle the defamation lawsuit, writing on Instagram at the time, "It's important for me to say I never chose this. I defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed."

She added, "I make this decision having lost faith in the American legal system, where my unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder."

Following Amber's decision, Johnny's lawyers said in a statement to E! News that they were "pleased to formally close the door on this painful chapter for Mr. Depp" and that he would be donating $1 million paid to him by Amber's insurance to charity.

Prior to the 2022 decision, a judge in the High Court had ruled against Johnny in his 2020 libel case against The Sun.

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