Bruce Robinson, the director of The Rum Diary, the movie where Johnny Depp met Amber Heard, has broken his silence on the Hollywood couple’s bitter split defending the Pirates of the Caribbean star following claims he was abusive to his ex-wife.
Heard has filed for divorce from Depp, alleging she ‘lived in fear’ of her husband of 15 months and that he had been abusive. She claims that one recent argument left her with a bruised face after the actor threw an iPhone at her head.
But Bruce Robinson, who directed the film, where the two actors first met, told Heat Street from his farm in Herefordshire, England: “Johnny is one of the sweetest guys I’ve ever met. He’s not a violent man at all.”
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When asked by Heat Street if he was on ‘Team Depp’ and viewed Heard’s allegations as false, Robinson said: “I would be amongst those [on it].”
Together with Robinson, Depp, 52, personally selected Heard, 30, to star opposite him in The Rum Diary, which was based on the 1998 novel by Depp’s friend, gonzo writer Hunter S. Thompson.
The movie began shooting in Puerto Rico in 2009 at which time Depp was still in a relationship with Vanessa Paradis, the mother of his two children, while Heard was dating her former girlfriend Tasya Van Ree.
Their May-December marriage was on the rocks after just three months https://t.co/7luGC3hYwn
— Page Six (@PageSix) May 27, 2016
Depp and Heard started dating in late 2012 a year after the release of The Rum Diary and married in February 2015. They later teamed up again for a film adaptation of Martin Amis’ London Fields, which was panned at last year’s Toronto Film Festival.
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Heard has said of The Rum Diary set, “I drank lots of rum and tried not to fall off my bicycle.” Asked about the filming, Robinson—who also directed cult drinking movie Withnail & I—replied, “I’ve got nothing to say about that.”
Friends of Depp, including his former partner Paradis and director Terry Gilliam, have also sprung to his defense against the abuse allegations made by Heard.
However, a confidante of Heard told the New York Post Wednesday: “I have personally witnessed the aftermath of Johnny Depp’s violent and abusive behavior towards her on many occasions.”
Robinson, who has taken a break from film directing and recently published a book examining British 19th century serial killer Jack the Ripper, added: “It’s all leveling in people’s dirty underwear…I like them both and their deep social problems aren’t my problems.”
