Paul Bettany Says He Hasn’t Spoken to Johnny Depp Since Text Scandal

Paul Bettany says he has not spoken to Johnny Depp since private text messages between the stars became public during Depp’s 2020 libel case against The Sun. The Marvel actor said they had already been out of contact for years before the exchange attracted widespread attention.

“I hadn’t spoken to Johnny in years when that happened, and I haven’t spoken to him since,” Bettany said in a recent interview with The Times. He also explained why he chose not to comment publicly on the controversy, saying he believed people knew him and that he preferred to stay out of the spotlight.

Paul Bettany Said He Was Portrayed as Depp’s Close Friend

The texts in question came from a conversation Depp and Bettany had about Depp’s then-wife, Amber Heard, in 2013. They became public during Depp’s libel case against News Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Sun, in the United Kingdom.

Depp sued the newspaper over a 2018 article that described him as a “wife beater.” He denied the allegations, but the court ruled against him in November 2020. Judge Andrew Nicol concluded that the newspaper had established that the description was substantially true based on the evidence presented.

The texts attracted significant attention because they included violent remarks about Heard. Their publication also brought Bettany under public scrutiny because of his exchanges with Depp.

In his recent interview, Bettany said he found it strange to be portrayed as a close friend of someone he had not spoken to for years. His comments focus on clarifying their relationship and explaining his decision not to make a public statement, rather than revisiting the contents of the messages or the court’s findings.

He Said the Situation Was Uncomfortable for Him

Bettany discussed the experience in a 2021 interview with The Independent. He described the scrutiny of his private communications with Depp over a decade as unpleasant.

“He [solicitor] read out texts and emails I’d sent him over ten years – stuff I’d written in private,” Bettany said in the interview. “It was unpleasant to have that put out there for everybody to read.”

He also spoke about his preference for keeping his personal life private. “I’m married to my wife, and you don’t see me with her all the time,” he said.

The Two Actors Worked Together on Three Films

Bettany and Depp appeared together in The Tourist (2010), Transcendence (2014) and Mortdecai (2015). Their shared film credits helped fuel public interest in their relationship when the private messages became public, although professional collaborations do not necessarily reflect the closeness of a personal friendship.

Depp later faced Heard in a separate defamation trial in Virginia in 2022. The jury found that Heard had defamed Depp in a newspaper opinion piece, while also finding that one statement by Depp’s lawyer had defamed Heard. The former couple subsequently settled.

The UK libel case and the Virginia defamation trial were separate proceedings involving different claims and evidence.

Bettany’s comments challenge the perception that he and Depp were close friends during the legal controversy. He said they had not spoken for years before the messages became public and have not spoken since.