Partners and coparents. Before Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for defamation, the Pirates of the Caribbean actor was in a 14-year relationship with Vanessa Paradis.
Depp met the French model in Paris in 1998 while he was filming The Ninth Gate. “She was wearing a dress with an exposed back and I saw that back and that neck, and then she turned around and I saw those eyes, and — boom!” The Edward Scissorhands actor told the Daily Mail in 2011. “You have this feeling — I can’t really explain what it was, but I had it when I met her. I saw her across a room and thought: ‘What’s happening to me?’”
Although Depp went on to get married when he tied the knot with Heard in 2015, he and Paradis, who split in 2012, never wed. They share two children together: Lily-Rose, born in 1999, and Jack, born in 2002.
In a 2010 interview with Extra, the Nightmare on Elm Street actor revealed why he and the Heartbreaker actress never exchanged vows.
“I never found myself needing that piece of paper. Marriage is really from soul to soul, heart to heart. You don’t need somebody to say, OK you’re married,” he told the outlet. The actor continued, “If Vanessa wanted to get hitched, why not. But the thing is, I’d be so scared of ruining her last name! She’s got such a good last name.”
In 2012, Depp and Paradis went their separate ways after 14 years together. In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, the 21 Jump Street alum addressed the split. “The last couple years have been a bit bumpy. At times, certainly unpleasant, but that’s the nature of breakups, I guess, especially when there are kiddies involved,” he said.
Depp added that he kept his act together during the separation for the sake of his children.
“In terms of the breakup, I definitely wasn’t going to rely on the drink to ease things or cushion the blow or cushion the situation,” he said. “‘Cause that could have been fatal. I felt it was my duty to be real clear throughout that. I had something pretty serious to focus on, really, which was making sure that my kids were gonna be cool.”
In 2020, Paradis provided a statement defending Depp’s character for his 2020 case against The Sun, calling her former partner “kind, attentive, generous and non-violent person and father.” The statement was in direct response to allegations that Depp was physically violent toward his ex-wife Heard.
Scroll through for a timeline of Depp and Paradis’ relationship:
