Johnny Depp has said 'I do' twice in his life — and it hasn't really worked out for the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star. Learn about Lori Depp and his marriage to Amber Heard.
It's not beyond the realm of possibility that Johnny Depp might walk down the aisle again someday. Still, given how his first two marriages went, no one would blame the Dark Shadow star if he left the marriage for the rest of his days. Johnny's first attempt at married life did not work. His first marriage to Lori Depp ended right when his career was on the rise, and his failed marriage to Amber Heard is the subject of headlines and legal brief. Here's what you need to know:
Lori Depp
Lori Depp was born on September 6, 1957, according to the IMDb profile of Lori Anne Allison. She grew up in South Florida and met Johnny through the local music scene. "Well, we all know he's a talented actor and can pull off the pirate thing like nobody's business, but he's also an extremely talented guitar player," Lowry told the Miami Herald in 2015. Playing local Hollywood in South Florida. /Fort Lauderdale Club Circuit."
Johnny and Lori got married on December 20, 1983. After the wedding, Johnny and Lori moved west. After settling in Los Angeles, Lori reportedly introduced her husband to Nicolas Cage. Nick most recently appeared in Fast Times at Ridgemont High and had a starring role in Valley Girl (per Metro). Nick was able to land his new drinking buddy a role in a horror movie - A Nightmare on Elm Street. It would be Johnny's first major lead, and it would launch him as the heartthrob of the 1980s.
"I was literally filling out job applications at the same time, any kind of job," Johnny said in a 2004 interview with Playboy. "Nick Cage said, 'You should try to be an actor. Maybe you're the one and don't know it.' I started acting, and I thought, This is an interesting road; maybe I should keep traveling on it."
As Johnny's career was progressing, Lowry "wanted to be a recording engineer and became a regular fixture at Criterion Studios [now Hit Factory]," she told the Herald. However, during target shooting, he lost 80% of his left ear hearing due to lack of proper ear protection.
Lori eventually found a calling in the makeup chair. "I started doing makeup for up-and-coming photographers and then started doing paying jobs," she told the Miami Herald. "I eventually found an agent at a high-profile artists' agency in Los Angeles and started working nonstop." However, their personal successes resulted in the breakdown of Lori and Johnny's marriage. They divorced in 1985 citing irreconcilable differences.
In 2015, Lowry launched her own line of lip glosses called Serendipity. That year, she also advised Bustle. "If it doesn't look good on you, don't do it," said Lori. "But if it looks good on you, no matter what time it is, then do it."
When Johnny's issues with Amber began in 2016, Lori came to her ex-husband's defense. She told TMZ that Johnny never had a physical relationship with her during their relationship, and described her as a "soft person" who is very kind to animals. They still talked to each other, with Johnny calling Lori in 2016 to mourn the passing of her mother.
Amber Heard
Amber Heard first met Johnny Depp during the filming of The Rum Diary, a cinematic adaptation of Hunter S. Johnny played Hunter in the 1998 film adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Gonzo became close to the journalist. Amber also had an affinity for the author of Hell's Angels.
"I've loved Hunter S. Thompson for a long time. I've got a soft spot for true individuals. You can say a lot of things about him, but he was definitely a person," she told Vogue in 2011. In an interview with Joke before adding. "Working with Johnny was torture. It was far better than I could have imagined, which is really saying something."
At the time, Amber was dating photographer and painter Tasya Van Ree, while Johnny was involved with French actress Vanessa Paradis. Johnny and Vanessa separated in 2012 after being together for 14 years. Around that time, Johnny and Amber started dating. The couple got engaged in January 2014, announcing that they "couldn't be happier to be engaged and that they were "excited to share the rest of their lives together."
Amber and Johnny tied the knot in a private ceremony at Johnny's Los Angeles mansion on February 3, 2015. That year, Johnny and Amber were embroiled in an international incident when they visited Johnny on the Australian set of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales when they failed to declare the couple's Yorkies pistol and boo . Sadly, being scolded by Australia's agriculture minister will not be the couple's biggest legal drama.
In May 2016, Amber filed for divorce, which ended their short marriage. This was only the beginning of a protracted legal battle. Amber obtains a temporary restraining order against Johnny after accusing him of being physically and verbally abusive during their marriage. Johnny denies the allegations and kicks back with some of his own. Back and forth was played out in the press and the legal system, with the public taking sides. The divorce was finalized in 2017 with a joint statement of the two.
Johnny sued Amber for defamation after a 2018 op-ed in the Washington Post on leaving an abusive relationship in 2019. "I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture to be women who speak out," she wrote, never naming Johnny as her abuser. Seven years after Amber first accused Johnny of assault, the two were due to meet in a Virginia courtroom over defamation. Johnny was seeking $50 million in damages.
"To harm someone you love? As some kind of bully? No, it wasn't like that, it couldn't even sound like me," Depp said in a 2018 interview with GQ Said. "Twenty-five feet away from him, how am I going to kill him? Well, that's the last thing I would have done. I may sound stupid, but I'm not stupid."
In November 2020, Johnny lost his defamation suit against The Sun for calling her a "wife-beater" (and an appeal was denied, per Deadline 2021.)