Johnny Depp reveals heartbreaking moment his mom Betty Sue attempted suicide after his dad left
Johnny Depp took the stand on Tuesday, April 19, as he testified in his defamation trial against Amber Heard. During the testimony, the 58-year-old star got emotional as he recalled his childhood and how he saw his mother almost die after she consumed several pills.
In a Virginia court, Depp refuted his former wife’s claims that he is an abuser and claimed he has "never struck any woman". He said, “Never did I reach the point of striking Ms. Heard. Never have I struck any woman in my life.” The ‘Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them’ star then went on to point towards his traumatic childhood days because of his mother, Betty Sue Palmer.
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He said: “My mother was quite violent which could be in the form of an ashtray being thrown at your head or a telephone or whatever was handy. In our house, we were never exposed to any type of safety or security. She’d walk past and you’d shield yourself because you didn’t know what was going to happen.”
Depp also spoke about his father, John, and described him as a kind person. But he said things began to deteriorate when his father left his mother and them. The ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ actor revealed that the separation led his mother towards a "deep" and "dark depression” and she even tried to kill herself. Recalling that dark time, he told the court that he found his mother slipping in the living room.
He shared: “I knew something was dreadfully wrong — there's drool coming out of her mouth.” Depp said he even called 911 but his uncle was ahead of him as he continued: “The front door busted open and my uncle and two paramedics came rushing in. She had swallowed a multitude of pills to try to take herself out. She tried to commit suicide.”
Depp said though Palmer was discharged from the hospital eventually, her depression did not end. He added: “She was a small firecracker of a woman but after she got out of the hospital, her depression was so deep. She lived on the couch and she weighed about 70 pounds. All that imagery spun into my head at that time, I felt like that was the cowardly way for my father to have left. I was deeply upset about that.”
The ‘Secret Window’ actor’s mother died on May 20, 2016 and a few days later, Heard filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences after being married to him for 15-months. Their divorce was finalized in 2017. At the time, the 35-year-old actress’ lawyer Pierce O'Donnell told PEOPLE, “It is a great day. All Amber wanted was a divorce and now she has it. In the words of Gerald Ford, 'Our long national nightmare is over.’”
But the drama did not end there as in 2019 Depp sued Heard after she wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post, calling herself a domestic violence survivor. The current legal battle between the ex-couple is the result of that essay in which the ‘Never Back Down’ star wrote: “Like many women, I had been harassed and sexually assaulted by the time I was of college age. But I kept quiet — I did not expect filing complaints to bring justice. And I didn’t see myself as a victim. Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out.”
Though Heard did not name Depp in the piece, his legal team believes she targeted him only and sued her for $50 million. In response, the actress countersued him for $100 million.