‘She wanted to destroy him!’: Sharon Osbourne voices support for ‘gentle soul’ Johnny Depp and admits she didn’t ‘expect’ him to win defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard
Sharon Osbourne has shown her support for Johnny Depp and described him as a ‘gentle soul’ after he won his defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard.
The actor, 58, had sued Amber, 36, for $50million over a 2018 piece she had written that alleged she was a victim of domestic abuse.
Amber countersued him for $100million, claiming that Johnny’s lawyer Adam Waldman made defamatory statements by calling her claims a ‘hoax’.
Pals: Sharon Osbourne has shown her support for Johnny Depp and described him as a ‘gentle soul’ after he won his high profile defamation case with ex-wife Amber Heard
As the high-profile case came to a close on Wednesday, Johnny won the trial and was awarded more than $10million, vindicating his stance that Amber fabricated claims that she was abused by the star before and during their brief marriage.
Speaking about the result, TV personality Sharon, 69, admitted she didn’t expect Johnny to win the defamation case as she showed her support for the Hollywood star.
She told TalkTV’s Piers Morgan Uncensored on Wednesday: ‘Wow, it wasn’t what I was expecting. I mean, I wanted Johnny to win but I didn’t expect him to.’
Sharon went on to describe Johnny as a ‘gentle soul’ and a ‘good human being’ as she detailed one off-camera occasion that she believed proved his good character.
Case: The actor, 58, won the defamation trial after he sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for $50million over a 2018 piece she had written that alleged she was a victim of domestic abuse
She said: ‘[Johnny] is a gentle soul. I can tell you last night, he spent about 45 minutes in his dressing room on his knees, talking to this little girl that was reading her diary to him.
‘Now, I don’t know many guys that would sit back and do that. There weren’t any cameras around there were no film crews. He did it because he’s a gentle soul.’
‘Sometimes, I suppose, he lost his rag, but as a human being he’s a good human being,’ she added.
Yet Sharon noted that the couple’s relationship was ‘toxic’, stating: ‘For me, I related to it so much and I know alcoholic behaviour inside out and backwards… but they were both abusive, both very, very abusive to each other.
‘It wasn’t what I was expecting’: Speaking about the result, Sharon, 69, admitted she was surprised Johnny won the defamation case but showed her support for the Hollywood star
‘At any time she could have left. She wasn’t a little wall flower, she was a mover and shaker in town. I mean look who she went with right after him, so she wasn’t some innocent little wallflower.
‘She knows the game, she knows how it goes.’
Sharon added that Amber ‘wanted to destroy’ Johnny, stating: ‘Johnny’s got a huge price on his head, the world loves him. The world really did want him to win and he’s won and that’s it. She could have backed out somehow, she could have got to him, there could have been something to save it going on.
‘Because he wouldn’t have gone this far, if she didn’t push and push and push… she wanted to destroy him.’
After the defamation trial, Johnny hopes to pick up the threads of his film career, and Sharon said she thinks it could be possible for the star to make a comeback.
‘I think that he’s going to get his career back, I really do,’ she said.
‘I think that all the great big filmmakers will want Johnny because when it comes down to it, it’s how strong an audience you have? Johnny Depp has a huge worldwide audience.’
But she said she doesn’t think Amber will be able to make a comeback in her own acting career, after a petition calling for DC Warner Bros to drop Amber from Aquaman 2 reached 4.2million signatures.
Career: After the defamation trial, Johnny hopes to pick up the threads of his film career, and Sharon said she thinks it could be possible for the star to make a comeback
In a statement after Wednesday’s verdict, Johnny said: ‘Six years ago, my life, the life of my children, the lives of those closest to me, and also, the lives of the people who for many, many years have supported and believed in me were forever changed.
‘And six years later, the jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled.’
Meanwhile, Amber, who was married to Johnny from 2015 until 2017, admitted she was ‘heartbroken’ as she spoke after the verdict.
She said in a statement: ‘It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously.
‘I believe Johnny’s attorneys succeeded in getting the jury to overlook the key issue of Freedom of Speech and ignore evidence that was so conclusive that we won in the UK. I’m sad I lost this case.
Case: Amber (pictured in court as the verdict was read), countersued for $100million claiming that Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman made defamatory statements by calling her claims a ‘hoax’
‘But I am sadder still that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American – to speak freely and openly.’
Earlier on Wednesday, Johnny was spotted in The Bridge Tavern on Newcastle’s Quayside just hours before it was announced he won his high profile defamation case.
He was joined by singer Sam, 28, and guitarist Jeff Beck as they enjoyed drinks in the beer garden, before Johnny was later sighted in Newcastle’s Jam Jar bar.
Johnny was awarded more than $10million after winning his defamation trial, vindicating his stance that his ex-wife Amber fabricated claims that she was abused by the Hollywood star before and during their brief marriage.
And Johnny appeared to be in a celebratory mood as he enjoyed a night out on Tyneside after the conclusion to the high-profile, months-long trial.
Result: Amber, who was married to Johnny from 2015 until 2017, admitted she was ‘heartbroken’ as she spoke after the verdict
Johnny, who was joined by Jeff Beck – who he spent three nights performing with, was spotted wearing blue sunglasses and a cap, with a brown jacket and green trousers.
A punter was heard shouting ‘love you Johnny’ and he was later seen in a video posted to Instagram, in the same outfit, signing a statement and eager fans took to Twitter to share their amazement after spotting the group at the pub.
‘For anyone interested… Johnny Depp and Sam Fender (have) just been seen in The Bridge Tavern pub on Newcastle Quayside,’ one user said, paired with a video that showed Johnny waving and shaking hands of fans as he exits the pub’s garden.
‘Met Johnny Depp in Bridge Tavern Newcastle just now… that was quite surreal,’ another wrote, attaching a photo of him walking down some stairs at the pub.
Case: Johnny was awarded more than $10million after winning his defamation trial, vindicating his stance that his ex-wife Amber fabricated claims that she was abused by the star
Speaking to Chronicle Live on Wednesday, the manager of The Bridge Tavern said Johnny was ‘incredible,’ and was at first given a private space in the establishment when he arrived at around 5pm – three hours before the verdict was announced.
‘He was the loveliest man I have ever seen in my life,’ Janine Latchford told the newspaper. ‘My assistant is heavily pregnant and he was telling her how beautiful being a parent was. He was really down to earth, he was lovely.
‘He was incredible. He gave me a hug and I told him that I loved him pretty much as soon as I saw him! He loved the art work and he was asking questions about the Tyne Bridge. He said he’d never been to Newcastle before.’
‘He had fish and chips for dinner’, she added, while another punter said he had a soft drink to accompany his meal.
Fans: Johnny appeared to be in a celebratory mood as he enjoyed a night out on Tyneside and posed with fans after the conclusion to the high-profile, months-long trial
Earlier today, Johnny was seen leaving the 100 Queen’s Gate Hotel London, where suites cost up to £2,390 a night, as his bags were loaded into a van.
One person was seen handing Johnny two pirate hats outside the hotel – prompting the actor to smile widely.
Johnny joined Beck at the Royal Albert Hall in west London on Monday and Tuesday night after surprising fans with an appearance at Sheffield City Hall on Sunday.
There are rumours he will continue on Beck’s UK tour, which includes gigs at Gateshead, Manchester, York and Glasgow – but those reports have not yet been confirmed. He reportedly watched the conclusion to the trial via video link in the UK.
After less than three days of deliberation, his ex-wife Amber was awarded $2million in compensatory damages out of the $100million she was seeking in her countersuit against her ex-husband. She was awarded zero dollars in punitive damages.
Buoyed by fevered support on social media and in the courtroom, Johnny believes he now has a ‘golden opportunity’ to press reset on his career.
Later this year he plans to release an album with Beck, 77, written by the two men at Beck’s home in Sussex where Johnny has been spending months at a time. He will also start making art house films.
Johnny has stayed largely silent since the verdict in the UK court, but told journalist Jason Solomons: ‘This is the golden opportunity to do exactly what I’ve wanted to do for years, which is make the films or the cinema that I want, to stay away from limitations, not allow for any unintended fingers to get into the pie, which is to say, do films that don’t need to be $300million films.’
Performance: Johnny joined Beck at the Royal Albert Hall in west London on Monday and Tuesday night after surprising fans with an appearance at Sheffield City Hall on Sunday
His new career will see him starting from almost zero financially. In court in the UK in 2020, it was revealed that he had earned up to £400million across his career.
It was apparently spent on property, drugs, drink and whims such as firing the ashes of his hero, the writer Hunter S Thompson into space, which cost him £4million.
He now hopes to pick up the threads of his film career, which hit the buffers after he lost his London libel action and agreed to withdraw from the Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
Despite the jury awarding him $15million, the judge reduced the $5million punitive damages award to the Virginia maximum of $350,000, reducing his total to $10,350,000 – minus the $2million he was ordered to pay Amber. In total, he walks away with $8.35million in damages.
Tour? There are rumours he will continue on Beck’s UK tour, which includes gigs at Gateshead, Manchester, York and Glasgow – but those reports have not yet been confirmed
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