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She's remained silent about her father.
By Nia Tipton — Last updated on Nov 17, 2022
Lily-Rose Depp is making a rare public statement about her father, Johnny Depp, after years of speculation about their relationship.
In a cover story for Elle, Lily-Rose spoke candidly about why she has remained silent amid her father's public legal battles with his ex-wife Amber Heard.
Does Lily-Rose Depp support Johnny Depp?
The now-23-year-old has given only a few insights in how she feels about her father since 2016 — when Heard first alleged that Depp had physically abused her during their marriage.
Heard told a Los Angeles County Court that she feared for her safety. It was during that time that photos of her bruised face, which she said came after engaging in an altercation with Depp, were first published on TMZ, before quickly circulating online.
Lily-Rose Depp says she has chosen to keep her relationship with her father private.
Speaking to Elle, she said, "my parents protected my brother [Jack] and me from it as much as possible."
"When it’s something that’s so private and so personal that all of a sudden becomes not so personal…I feel really entitled to my secret garden of thoughts," she added.
"I also think that I’m not here to answer for anybody, and I feel like for a lot of my career, people have really wanted to define me by the men in my life, whether that’s my family members or my boyfriends, whatever. And I’m really ready to be defined for the things that I put out there."
In 2016, Lily-Rose defended Johnny Depp from Heard's allegations.
In response to the allegations, Lily-Rose posted a photo of her as a toddler being held by her father.
“My dad is the sweetest most loving person I know,” she captioned the photo. “He’s been nothing but a wonderful father to my little brother and I, and everyone who knows him would say the same.”
Along with that statement, Lily-Rose also shared a since-deleted screenshot of an article published by People that revealed a Los Angeles Police investigation of a reported incident found no evidence of a domestic assault.
Lily-Rose Depp has since deleted statements defending her father.
Fans noticed that the post supporting her father has since been taken down, though she still follows her famous father on Instagram.
During Depp's defamation trial against Heard, Lily-Rose stayed relatively silent on social media, which angered many of Johnny Depp's fans, who targeted the young actress with hateful messages on her social media page because of her silence.
Though, it seems like Johnny Depp's fans weren't the only ones angered by Lily-Rose's silence.
In June 2022, Johnny Depp seemingly called out his daughter's lack of support this time around in a collection of images from his NFT project titled: "Never Fear Truth," which was launched back in January.
The collection was described as the “first public exposure of Johnny’s art,” with the website adding: “People he has known well, and who have inspired him as a person. Each image is an intimate reflection of their character in Johnny's eyes; a portrayal of how they have revealed themselves to him.”
Featured in Depp's collection are fellow actors River Phoenix, Heath Ledger, and Elizabeth Taylor — as well as his daughter, Lily-Rose.
In the art featuring Lily-Rose, there are various quotes written across her face, including "Silence. Exile. Cunning," while another states, "Words become feeble."
In a statement to BuzzFeed News, a spokesperson for Depp claimed that the words written on the portraits are “in no way” a message from Johnny to his daughter, “who he loves and adores.”
“The pictures of Lily-Rose with those specific words are an unfortunate coincidence of the randomization and we are working through our options to try to get them removed as quickly as possible.”
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.