Local boy does good-ish. Florida’s Johnny Depp lost a career, but he just won big in court | Editorial

During the he-said-she-said defamation trial, we were reminded of Johnny Depp’s once glorious film career, his famous girlfriends and his reputation — marred, he claimed, by ex-wife and actress Amber Heard’s 2018 opinion article in the Washington Post saying that he abused her during their stormy marriage.

Wednesday’s verdict was a victory for Depp, who was awarded $15 million in damages and marked the end of a dramatic civil trial that exposed the troubled marriage between these stars. However, some legal experts say Depp’s victory may serve to silence victims who are sued by those they accuse.

That said, the trial brought to light allegations of Heard’s abuse and violence toward her then-husband.

But one South Florida-centric detail buried in all the movie-star trappings of the trial: Depp is a hometown boy, raised in Miramar, in Broward County, where his family moved from Kentucky in 1970, when he was 7, according to old newspaper articles. Depp’s father, a civil engineer, had landed a job with Hallandale Beach and eventually headed that city’s sanitation department.

The Depps and their four children eventually bought a modest three-bedroom, two-bathroom home before Johnny’s 14th birthday.

At one point during the six-week trial, Depp was asked on the stand to discuss his childhood in Broward County to offer a glimpse of his experience with domestic violence. Depp mentioned “moving to South Florida,” but not Miramar. He also detailed suffering psychological and psychical abuse from his mother, Betty, whom he described as “cruel.” Depp said his father, John, was a “kind man” who never retaliated against his mother’s attacks or abused his children, but left the family when Depp was a teen.

Depp attended Miramar Senior High, but dropped out in the 1980s to play with his band, The Kids, which had some local success. Lore has it that Depp tried to return to high school, but the principal refused to allow him back. Looking back, a reprehensible decision by an educator.

Depp went to Hollywood looking for fame, landed small roles in big movies like “Platoon” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” and then caught everyone’s eye in the TV show “21 Jump Street,” followed, eventually with superstardom and “The Pirates of the Caribbean” movie franchise.

In Heard’s Washington Post opinion piece, she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” Though Depp was not named in the article, he said it cost him lucrative acting roles. Truth be told, his career already was on the skids.

During the trial, Depp’s fans helped fuel a public campaign to demonize Heard. While she had a minor victory in the case — she was awarded $2 million for comments Depp’s attorney made to The Daily Mail newspaper — Heard solidly lost her case.

What shouldn’t get lost amid the jokes and memes this odd trial spawned is that the allegations of his-and-her abuse are as disturbing as Depp’s famous character, Edward Scissorhands.

This story was originally published June 1, 2022 at 8:35 PM.