Actor Johnny Depp has recently talked in depth on the stand about his drug use during his defamation suit against his ex-wife, Amber Heard. He also mentioned some of his interactions with shock rocker Marilyn Manson. The actor has been permitted by a Virginia judge to pursue his case against Heard over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed. She didn’t mention Depp by name, but his lawyers have argued the article falsely implies that Depp was abusive towards her. During cross-examination in the ongoing trial, Depp was asked about his drug use with Manson. “We drank together, we’ve had cocaine together maybe a couple of times,” Depp said. Heard’s lawyer then asked if pills were involved, and Depp replied with a chuckle: “I once gave Marilyn Manson a pill so that he would stop talking so much.”
The lawyer later showed the court a picture of a Keith Richards demo CD next to what appeared to be four lines of cocaine and glasses of beer. There was also a box with Depp’s initials and a skull and crossbones. Heard’s lawyer asked if the box contained cocaine. “I can’t say that I carried cocaine in it … but it looks like it would fit some cocaine,” Depp said.
Depp plays guitar alongside Alice Cooper and Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry in the supergroup, Hollywood Vampires. Cooper has defended Depp following the accusations by Heard. “Johnny Depp and I are best friends… I’ve never seen him lift a finger against anybody,” Cooper said to NME. “He’s one of the most gentle people. And all of his former girlfriends and wives say the same thing. It’s really hard to believe that all of a sudden he’s gonna turn into this monster. And I know the guy — I’m with the guy on tour all the time. He’s one of the most gentle, harmless people I’ve ever met.”
Cooper was also previously asked about Depp’s guitar playing and if it holds a candle to his acting. “I respect Johnny – of course, he’s a great actor,” Cooper said. “He’s really great, he’s fun, I’ve seen all of his movies…but I see him as a guitar player, and he can play – he just did an album with Jeff Beck! I mean, anybody who thinks he’s a movie star trying to be a rock star is totally wrong on that. He’s a much better rock star, and it’s in him, he was a guitar player way before he was an actor. So when he steps on stage with Joe Perry, he can trade leads with Joe, and Joe says, ‘Yeah, he’s good.’ And I can totally trust Johnny to take any lead up there, but like I said, we all respect each other so much that nobody would ever argue, it would just be so uncool to argue with the other. We would rather just say, ‘OK, let’s try that,’ and we try it, rehearse it, and go, ‘Ah, it doesn’t work, OK, let’s go on to the next idea…’”
