Paul Bettany has said he had not spoken to Johnny Depp for years when private text messages between them were made public during the actor’s legal battles involving Amber Heard, and that they have not spoken since.
Bettany said he was surprised to be portrayed as a close friend of Depp after their contact had ended. “I hadn’t spoken to Johnny in years when that happened and I haven’t spoken to him since,” he told The Times.
The messages, exchanged in 2013, contained graphic comments about Heard and were read aloud at a preliminary hearing in February 2020. Depp reportedly wrote, “Let’s burn Amber!!!”
Bettany reportedly replied: “Having thought it through I don’t think we should burn Amber – she’s delightful company and easy on the eye, plus I’m not sure she’s a witch. We could of course try the English course of action in these predicaments – we do a drowning test. Thoughts?”
Depp’s reported response included a further violent and sexual remark about Heard.
Bettany said he chose not to respond publicly when the messages emerged, believing people would view the episode as insignificant. “So I decided to say nothing because, I think, people know me,” he said.
Paul Bettany on the Johnny Depp text messages
The actors had worked together on several films and had remained friends for years. Bettany had previously defended Depp publicly, writing that he was “the sweetest, kindest, gentlest man that I’ve ever known”.
The messages became public during Depp’s libel action against The Sun over the newspaper’s use of the term “wife beater” to describe him. Depp lost the case and also lost a bid to have the ruling overturned.
Speaking about the disclosures in 2021, Bettany described the experience of having lawyers examine years of private communications as “an unpleasant feeling”. He said: “What was strange about it was you suddenly have one of the most scabrous newspapers in London and their lawyers pouring through your texts for the last 10 years.”
