We haven’t seen Johnny Depp in months, ever since he got handsy with a microphone during a drunken HFAs speech. I did see a picture of him with Amber Heard at his children’s school a week later. Some Depp supporters were shipping the photos as new, but it could have been an older photo. We heard that Amber was allegedly “mortified“ at Johnny’s behavior at the HFAs. I find it telling that she didn’t attend the event with him, but maybe she was working (on a Friday night).
Depp was notably missing at the Into the Woods premiere. Some people thought it was no big deal because Johnny only appeared in the film (as The Big Bad Wolf) for a few minutes. But he was a big part of the movie’s marketing. He earned $1 million for less than a week of work. Is that enough money to appear at a premiere?
For whatever reason, Johnny’s disappeared from the public eye. People published an article about how he and Amber were “cooling off” because of “turmoil” in the relationship. Another story quickly followed from Us Weekly, which said Amber was rethinking the wedding because of Johnny’s “erratic behavior” and “awful mood swings.”
A newish story from last week’s Enquirer (apologies – it got lost in the holiday shuffle) talks about how Johnny’s been doing some at-home rehab. There’s some weird stuff about Amber hiding in a bathroom from drunk Johnny. This story may not be true for reasons I’ll discuss in a moment:
After falling off the wagon with a thud, Johnny Depp is trying to kick booze with an at-home rehab program, sources have told the National Enquirer.
It’s understood Depp, 51, started treatment when family members and financeé Amber heard demanded he get help after his boozy speech at the Hollywood Film Awards on Nov. 14. The rehab stint forced Depp to miss the NYC permiere of his new film, Into the Woods on Dec. 8, according to a top Hollywood insider.
Depp’s absence “raised a lot of questions,” the source told The Enquirer. “People were discreetly told that Johnny is relying on professionals to help him get throught his fight in private.”
According to another insider, “The decision was motivated at least in part by concerns over Johnny’s privacy. Having caregivers come to him eliminates the risk of fellow patients or clinic staff spilling the beans about his treatment.”
Depp first got sober after filming 2011’s Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides,” said the insider. “During filming, Johnny would drink a whole bottle of Spanish red wine almost every day.”
“After realizing her clearly had an issue, Johnny would often be seen traveling with a companion to help ‘encourage’ his sobriety.”
Although Depp denies ever being an alcoholic, in a 2013 interview he claimed he’d been sober for 18 months. He split from his longtime love, Vanessa Paradis, mother of their two children, in 2012, and got engaged to Amber in 2014.
As The Enquirer has reported, Vanessa blames Amber for what she’s called Johnny’s “mid-life crisis.” “Amber broke his sobriety a bit, but she isn’t necessarily a bad influence. She’s not a party girl, whatsoever,” said an insider. “But Johnny being Johnny, he couldn’t have just one.”
Another insider added: “Johnny’s problem has always been his issue with moderation. Once he starts drinking, it’s as if he can’t stop. Things got bad one time and Amber locked herself in the bathroom for hours waiting for him to sober up.”
After Depp’s embarrassing display at the HFAs, “Amber and family members asked him to get help,” the insider said. “She’s deadly serious about walking away unless he cleans up his act.”
[From The National Enquirer, print edition, January 5, 2014]
I don’t know how true this story is because The Enquirer likes to make stuff up about Johnny. Last month, they wrote some fan fiction about how Vanessa Paradis was mad at Amber for causing Johnny’s boozing. It sounds like The Enquirer took a little kernel of truth — Johnny being MIA — and turned into a home rehab story. Johnny may simply have decided he “doesn’t give a f***“ and wants to hang at home. Or maybe his team convinced him to get sober. Who knows what’s going on behind all those scarves and ratty hats.
Johnny does look sober-ish in some recent photos from the set of his latest movie, Yoga Posers. He’s wearing a heavy disguise, as per usual, so it’s hard to tell.
A new TV clip for Mortdecai surfaced last week. Johnny and Goop kiss each other and gag.
Photos courtesy of WENN
