Now Johnny Depp finds out who his true pals are – I hope they get him help
IN the Hollywood blockbuster Gone Girl, the attractive blonde protagonist creates a web of lies to try to frame her unfaithful husband for her murder.
Sorry for the spoiler, but the bestselling book it is based on came out eight years ago, so if you haven’t read/seen it yet, then tough.
My point is that, ultimately, she fails in her warped quest because the accusations are merely written in a diary, or planted via “useful idiots”, and there’s no actual evidence to back it up.
The same cannot be said for the real-life Hollywood drama between Johnny Depp and former wife Amber Heard.
Despite online trolls accusing Amber of being a gold-digging liar who was making it all up, the evidence was there and, in a London High Court ruling, a judge has agreed that she was attacked by her former husband on 12 occasions.
As Mr Justice Nicol put it, Johnny’s drink and drugs binges turned him in to a “monster”.
It doesn’t negate the fact that he is a talented actor who charmed us with his quirky portrayals of Edward Scissorhands and Willy Wonka, or that he has been immensely charitable to numerous good causes, or that he is reportedly lovely to cleaners and waiters.
All of that is true. But equally, none of it means he is not capable of hitting his wife, either. Paul Gascoigne was the cheeky joker who stole hearts when he sobbed on the pitch during the Italia 90 World Cup. But he also hit his wife.
Domestic violence crosses all socio-economic, age, gender, education and religious boundaries. Anyone who runs a women’s refuge will tell you that violent partners can be anything from the unemployed to high-flying businessmen, judges and, yes, even famous actors.
Johnny Depp was once the heart-breakingly handsome, unassuming poster boy of indie cinema and, as his previous girlfriends Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis testified, was known for being a quiet gentleman.
But people can change. So can their habits. And if one of those habits is heavy alcohol and drug abuse, then those in their midst can see and suffer a very different side to them.
That’s their truth, even if it isn’t or wasn’t yours.
A VERY DARK PLACE
The evidence showed that cinema’s “Mr Cool” descended in to a barely recog-nisable wreck who had whisky and cocaine in the morning, scrawled unin-telligible messages on walls in his own blood and had a private nurse from whom he demanded “some f***ing knockout yum yum”, which referred to strong painkillers.
He texted his sister to say, “I will f***ing savage some motherf***er” and sent actor friend Paul Bettany a message that he was plotting to drown and burn Amber as a witch and “f*** her burnt corpse after-wards to make sure she’s dead”.
Whatever their admiration for him as an actor, surely no one can deny that such disproportionately angry outbursts aren’t normal and come from a very dark place.
So, once the dust has settled and Johnny is left sifting through the rubble of his career, he will now learn who his true friends are.
Not the ones who came along for the joyride of private planes, parties and endless drugs, but the ones who perhaps cared enough to express their concerns long ago and found themselves pushed to the periphery of his life.
Hopefully, now he has hit rock bottom, they will find the strength to pick him up and get him the help he so clearly needs to get sober and take responsibility for his actions.
Margot's flying the flag for iconic Geri
Margot Robbie’s Suicide Squad character Harley Quinn is one of the most copied outfits for women at Halloween.
Yet when it came to her own outfit, the Aussie actress dressed up as Ginger Spice in her iconic Union Jack dress.
It follows Adele’s revelation that Ginger was her favourite Spice Girl too, and that she was “truly heartbroken” when she left the group.
Ginger – aka Geri Halliwell – might not have been the best singer or dancer, but when it came to chutzpah and girl power she definitely stood out.
And now she’s a respectable mother of two, how wonderful to be able to tell her children that she was the idol of two such kick-ass, successful women.
Ikea is a slot of hassle
Ikea is launching a green “buy back” scheme where it will give you a voucher in exchange for its old furniture.
Let’s hope it runs more smoothly than the store’s policy for selling new items.
We recently ordered a chest of drawers online and were sent the wrong one.
After waiting an age to speak to a human, Ikea wouldn’t refund the delivery charge and said it couldn’t collect/exchange the item for another month.
The customer service was of the “like it or lump it” variety.
So, we waited a month and, after allocating us a 7am to 7pm slot last week, it didn’t turn up.
Voters Trump celebs
American celebrities have been coming out in force to support Joe Biden’s bid for the presidency.
Oh dear. And it was all going so well.
But as Brexit taught us, A-listers can preach all they like from their ivory towers and ordinary folk will vote whichever way they damn well please.
It also taught us that voters say one thing to pollsters then do something entirely different in the privacy of that booth.
Thus, we could find out today if, once again, the poll favourite has been Trumped at the post.
Dream of Thatcher
The other night I had a dream that Margaret Thatcher was still Prime Minister.
Standing next to one of Chris Whitty’s predictive charts, she threw her headscarf over it and declared: “Now let’s all use our common sense.”
Or was it just wishful thinking?
Brexit fears
ACTOR Tom Conti says he is nervous about driving to France next year because, post-Brexit, he’s, “afraid that British cars will be vandalised”.
He says it happened to him once before, when all four tyres of his car were slashed in Paris “because it was a British motor with British number plates”.
Well, that’s one point of view.
Another is that perhaps they’d just watched him in the critically not acclaimed movie StreetDance 2?
Super-fan Sean
A few years ago, The Bloke and I were having dinner with his old mate, the golfer Nick Faldo.
At one point, a fan came to the table to shake Nick’s hand and say how much he admired him.
It was Sir Sean Connery.
Funny, isn’t it, how even Hollywood A-listers turn in to super-fans when they meet someone at the top of their favourite game?
Campmates menu
THE I’m A Celeb campmates in Wales will reportedly be fed black pudding, tripe and pig’s trotters in this year’s eating trials.
What’s taxing about all that? I was brought up on them.
Fighting talk
Boxing legend Frank Bruno is opening a gym in Northampton to train people to fight mental illness.
He says: “This year is going to be a record breaker for people going through stress.”
READ MORE SUN STORIES
It is indeed, yet from tom- orrow, gyms are being forced to close.
Well. Done. Every–one.
GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL [email protected]