A private investigator hired by Amber Heard’s legal team to do a deep dive on Johnny Depp has revealed the shocking witness accounts he received about the actor’s life behind closed doors.
‘Depp V Heard: The Unreal Story’ author Nick Wallis says actor Johnny Depp has been on an “incredibly well-managed rehabilitation arc” since last year.
Mr Wallis’ remarks come after the actor hit the red carpet for the Cannes Film Festival with his comeback film opening the event.
“This is a really important step on his road to rehabilitation, opening the Cannes Film Festival, he’s got the European moviemakers behind him, standing ovation in the theatre,” Mr Wallis told Sky News Australia host Piers Morgan.
“What he needs now is to get to Hollywood; he needs Disney to say, ‘ok, you can have a lead part or a bit part in the next Pirates movie’.”
Paul Barresi, in his new self-published book ‘Johnny Depp’s Accidental Fixer’, said he was instructed to “delve into the life and history of Johnny Depp and uncover evidence of his alleged physical abuse towards women” in the actor’s defamation trial.
Mr Barresi, 74, noted he was told to examine incriminating witness statements, videos, photos, or anything which could prove Ms Heard’s claims of physical and mental abuse levelled against her ex-husband.
A one-time private investigator hired by Amber Heard’s lawyers to uncover incriminating evidence against Johnny Depp has revealed he received multiple flattering appraisals for the actor who faced numerous allegations of abuse. Picture: Ian Gavan/Getty Images
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He interviewed 100 people, but the private investigator said accounts largely reflected the Pirates of the Caribbean star as a “gentleman’s gentleman” without “a mean bone in his body”.
On the contrary to the Aqua Man actresses’ claims, Mr Depp’s friends told Mr Barresi he had “respect and adoration for women”.
Brad Furman, the director of 2018 crime thriller City of Lies, also disputed some allegations against Mr Depp, after he was sued in an assault case bought on by the film’s location manager Gregg Brooks in 2017.
Mr Brooks claimed Mr Depp was violent towards him on the movie set.
His personal assistant Miguel Gutierrez had at the time said Mr Depp offered Mr Brooks $100,000 to punch him in the face before punching him twice in the lower torso.
Mr Barresi claimed Mr Furman dismissed this allegation and said a fight did not become physical and Mr Depp was “always delightful”.
Actor Johnny Depp has claimed he “doesn’t think about” Hollywood nor does he have any “further need” for it after being “boycotted” by the entertainment industry following his high profile defamation lawsuit with ex-wife Amber Heard.
The private investigator noted a film crew member told him the fight was “trivial”, while a production assistant added Mr Depp was “lovely”.
In a “quest for the truth” about the Pirates actor, Mr Barresi noted he was set back further when he sought statements from Mr Depp’s long-time friends including singer Chuck Weiss who merely said: “In my presence, Johnny has always demonstrated respect and adoration for women”.
The actor’s close friend Jonathan Shaw also said Mr Depp was a “super controlled … superhuman being”.
Mr Barresi noted he came to admire Mr Depp, despite also receiving some damning accounts against the American actor.
Journalist Mark Ebner said Mr Depp threatened to “set (him) on fire” during a scuffle, which Mr Barresi noted was a “chilling preclude” to the actor’s text to fellow star Paul Bettany about burning Ms Heard.
Mr Barresi was hired by Ms Heard legal team in 2019. Picture: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The ex-wife of Depp’s friend Isaac Baruch said her ex-husband was a “manipulator” and he and Mr Depp were “birds of a feather”.
Mr Barresi, whose previous clients included Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Cruise and Sylvester Stallone, wrote: “Through this journey, I aimed to honour our shared humanity, shedding light on the man behind the myths and offering a narrative grounded in genuine understanding and compassion”.
He was hired by Ms Heard’s legal team in 2019 but in his memoir did not specify which of Mr Depp’s defamation trials he had worked on.
It could have been the actor’s defeated 2020 case against a UK newspaper which had branded him a ‘wife-beater’ as a judge ruled he had put Ms Heard in fear of her life.
Or, it may have been the infamous 2022 case in the US state of Virginia against Ms Heard which ruled in Mr Depp’s favour.
Mr Depp sued for USD$50 million in damages as he claimed Heard had defamed him in a 2018 opinion-editorial in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”
Former UK Conservative MP Louise Mensch says Johnny Depp doesn’t want to follow the Hollywood set path of “saying all the nice and polite things” after the American actor stated he had “no further need” for Tinseltown.
Although the article never named Depp, his legal team argued the allegations were false and cost him millions of dollars in lucrative film roles.
On June 1 2022 the star won his case against his ex-wife after a jury found she defamed him in the opinion-editorial.
The jury reached a unanimous decision in favour of Mr Depp, with Heard ordered to pay her ex-husband USD$10.35 million in damages.
Mr Depp at the time said the jury’s decision gave him his life back and that he was “truly humbled” by the outcome.
“Speaking the truth was something that I owed to my children and to all those who have remained steadfast in their support of me,” he said in a statement posted on Instagram.
“I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that.”
Ms Heard, who counter-sued for $100 million, was awarded USD$2 million after the jury found Mr Depp’s press agent called her allegations “an abuse hoax”.
“The disappointment I feel today is beyond words,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.
“I’m heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence and sway of my ex-husband.”