Johnny Depp revealed the moment he knew his marriage to Heard was over during their second vicious defamation court battle in 2022. The Independent reports that he realized enough was enough after his mom died. “I very calmly said, look, I’ve made a decision, and I think it’s the best thing. I’m going to file for divorce,” he testified to telling Heard. “But I’m not going to cite irreconcilable differences. I’m not going to cite any violence. I’m going to state this: we simply, the two of us, we simply don’t want to feel as though we have a collar around each other’s neck and a leash attached to it, and then this piece of paper that proves that that’s true,” he continued — a dramatization as the no-fault divorce laws of California only offer two options: “irreconcilable differences” and “permanent legal incapacity to make decisions,” per Law Info—but never let the truth get in the way of a good story.
According to the Daily Beast, Depp claimed Betty Sue Palmer’s death made him realize the extent of the toxicity of his marriage. He compared Heard’s alleged treatment of him to the abuse he suffered from his mom as a child.
Read Related Also: North Carolina House Speaker accused of having affair, group sex in exchange for ‘political favor’: Lawsuit
“You start to slowly realize that you are in a relationship with your mother, in a sense. And I know that sounds perverse and obtuse. But the fact is, some people search for weaknesses in people,” Depp said. “It was a sort of rapid-fire, endless parade of insults.”
