Late Pogues singer Shane MacGowan allegedly gave Johnny Depp some advice concerning Amber Heard while the two stars were embroiled in their court case.
Now, the highly-publicized defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard made global headlines everywhere due to the shocking nature of the accusations as well as the evidence presented in court.
It all started in 2018 after Heard, 37, published an op-ed in The Washington Post in which she referred to herself as a victim of domestic abuse and while she did not name Depp, 60, in the piece, the Pirates of the Caribbean actor filed a defamation suit against his ex-wife.
When the jury decided in Depp's favor, Heard was initially ordered to pay more than $10 million in damages to Depp, however, the final figure she owed was lowered due to limitations in the state. Depp, meanwhile, was ordered to pay Heard $2 million after she filed a countersuit accusing him of defamation after his lawyer, Adam Waldman, called her abuse claims a "hoax."
Johnny Depp is seen outside court during his trial with Amber Heard in 2022. Credit: Cliff Owen/Consolidated News Pictures/GettyHeard initially appealed the ruling but has since dropped that effort, taking to Instagram to explain her decision.
"It’s important for me to say that I never chose this," the post on Instagram read. "I defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed. The vilification I have faced on social media is an amplified version of the ways in which women are re-victimized when they come forward.
"Now I finally have an opportunity to emancipate myself from something I attempted to leave over six years ago and on terms I can agree to. I have made no admission," she continued, before adding: "This is not an act of concession. There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward."
Amber Heard departs court in 2022. Credit: Cliff Owen/Consolidated News Pictures/GettyIn a separate legal battle in the UK back in 2020, Depp lost a libel case against The Sun after he sued the newspaper for publishing an article calling him a "wife beater."
Now, just weeks after his death, Shane MacGowan’s widow, Victoria Mary Clarke, has opened up about the advice the late star gave Depp amid the trial.
According to the Independent, the Pogues frontman had urged Depp to forgive Heard as per a eulogy given by Clarke at the singer's funeral which took place just days after his death on November 30.
"I hope you don’t mind me saying this, Johnny," Clarke began with a smile in the actor’s direction. "When Johnny had a court case involving his ex-wife Amber, Shane had a long conversation with you, didn’t he? And urged you to forgive Amber.
"Yeah, he just thought it was the best thing to do because he believed genuinely in forgiveness," she continued.
Then speaking directly to the actor, she asked: "I’m sure you have by now, haven’t you? Of course you have; of course you have."
The late Pogues star urged Depp to forgive Heard. Credit: Tristan Fewings / GettyThe news comes after Depp was among the pallbearers who carried the coffin out of the church and gave a reading during the Prayers of the Faithful segment of the funeral.
MacGowan was 65 at the time of his death.
