Johnny Depp's old friend has testified against him.
Photographer iO Tillet Wright was a close friend of Depp and his ex-wife Heard when they were married. He was called to the witness stand amid the celebrity exes' ongoing defamation trial in Fairfax County, Virginia.
While he didn't say that he had ever seen Depp hit Heard, Wright did give the court a revealing insight into Depp's substance abuse issues - and claimed that he was often cruel about his loyal fan base.
Over the past few weeks, Heard and Depp have been embroiled in an explosive trial in which Depp is suing his ex-wife for claiming to be a domestic abuse survivor in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed.
The Hollywood star claims that the article wrecked his career and reputation and that it was him not his former wife who was the real victim in the volatile marriage.
Heard, meanwhile, is countersuing her ex for $100 million, doubling down on her allegations and citing several incidents during their relationship when he was physically abusive.
The high-profile trial has prompted an outpouring of support from Depp's adoring fans, many of whom have flocked to the courthouse in Virginia to greet him every morning and wave 'Justice For Johnny' signs.
While the star has made a point of courting his fans by greeting them and interacting with them when he arrives each morning, his old friend Wright has implied that his real feelings toward them are much less fond.
Per The Mirror, the photographer said that Depp would "insult his fans" and likened them to parasitic fish.
"He would insult his fans, he called them – I remember, he called them remoras, which is a type of suckerfish that attaches itself to the hull of a ship and puts a hole in it and then sinks it," Wright told the court.
Wright went on to describe how Depp would become a cruel, unbearable version of himself while under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
"He would rail against his mother, his sister – sisters. Pretty much anyone he felt had crossed him or would cross him. He became very nasty," he said, adding: "Cocaine and alcohol would bring out an ugly side of him, misogynistic and cruel. When he would take any kind of psychedelic, he would become paranoid. When he would drink alcohol, he would become paranoid."
Wright also testified the Depp was a completely different person when sober, saying: "Johnny, when sober, was lovely and magical and very funny."
