Lily-Rose Depp defends her decision to remain silent during the trial of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard

Lily-Rose Depp has defended her choice to remain silent during the defamation lawsuit involving her father Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard.

In a candid interview with She, the rising star actress explained why she decided to avoid all drama and not comment directly on the case that unfolded in Fairfax County, Virginia earlier this year.

“When it’s something so private and so personal that suddenly becomes not so personal…I really have the right to have my secret garden of thoughts,” said the model and actress, who is set to star in HBO’s upcoming series, The Idol. in the cover story of the publication.

While addressing her silence, the 23-year-old Neuilly-sur-Seine, France native said she wanted to be judged on her own merits and not by the men in her life, be it her famous father or her boyfriends in her life.

“I also think I’m not here to answer for anyone, and I feel like for a lot of my career people have really wanted to define me by the men in my life, whether that’s either my family members or my boyfriends, it doesn’t matter.’

Sounding confident and somewhat defiant at the same time, she added, “And I’m really ready to be defined for the things I put out there.”

Johnny Depp started dating Amber Heard after announcing he had split from Lily-Rose’s mother, Vanessa Paradis, in June 2012 after being an item for over 14 years.

The Depp and Heard union would only last about a year and a half, ending in Heard’s divorce in May 2016. During that filing, she was granted a temporary restraining order against the A-list actor , alleging that he had been verbally and physically abusive throughout their relationship, usually under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

After denying Heard’s abuse allegations, a settlement was reached and the divorce was finalized in January 2017.

Heard would also continue to overturn the restraining order, and the former couple released a joint statement saying their “relationship was intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love.”

Nearly two years later, Heard penned an op-ed that was published by The Washington Post in December 2018 titled “Amber Heard: I spoke out against sexual violence and faced our culture’s wrath.” . This must change.

In the article, Heard said, “Then two years ago I became a public figure representing domestic violence and felt the full force of our culture’s anger for women speaking out. … I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.

Although he never identified Depp by name, the Pirates of the Caribbean star claimed Heard caused further damage to his reputation and career and filed a $50 million defamation suit. Heard continued to retaliate by filing a countersuit seeking $100 million in damages.

Their trial ended from April to June, with Heard found guilty of all three defamation claims.

Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages from Heard, although the court reduced the punitive damages to $350,000 due to a statutory limit. of the state of Virginia. They also ruled that Depp’s former lawyer, Adam Waldman, defamed Heard by falsely alleging that she and her friends ‘abused’ Depp’s penthouse as part of a hoax, and awarded Heard $2 million in compensatory damages, but zero dollars in punitive damages.

Evidence presented at the trial, which made headlines around the world, showed that Heard and Lily-Rose appeared to have a close relationship.

Her decision not to comment on their lawsuit was criticized by many social media outlets, but she also had many fans come to her defense at the time.

As The Dancer star continued to avoid taking sides in the lawsuit in Elle’s interview, Lily-Rose opened up about her childhood and what it was like to be raised by a father and mother superstar, who has been a big star in her own right as a model, singer and actress in her native France.

“I know my childhood wasn’t like everyone else’s childhood, and that’s a very peculiar thing to deal with, but it’s also the only thing I know,” she explained.

‘My parents protected my brother, [Jack], and me as much as possible. I was just brought up in a way that taught me that privacy is something important to protect.

She has also addressed critics who say her career is partly the product of nepotism.

“People are going to have preconceived ideas about you or how you got there, and I can definitely say that nothing will get you the part except being right for the part,” he said. she said, adding, “The internet cares a lot more about who your family is than about people throwing you into things. Maybe you put your foot in the door, but you still have your foot in the door. It there’s a lot of work that comes after that.