The monster

**The monster** is a term used in reference to Johnny Depp's alternate side he morphed into with while under influence of alcohol and/or drugs.

## Description

Depp’s use of drugs and alcohol induced rages, in which he would damage property, throw bottles at walls, break furnitures, but eventually he began physically hitting Amber Heard and at one point sexually assaulting her.

### Heard's account

Heard described Depp's personas: “He was the love of my life but he was also this other thing… And that other thing was awful. An awful thing that would come out and take over and you couldn’t see the Johnny I loved underneath it.” She testified she never knew which version of him she was going to get. ”Johnny on speed is very different from Johnny on opiates. Johnny on opiates is very different from Adderall and cocaine Johnny, which is very different from quaaludes Johnny, but I had to get good at paying attention to the different versions of him.”

### Depp's account

Depp claimed that 'the Monster' was a fiction created by Heard. According to him, the term was what she called him if he disagreed with her in the course of their arguments.

## Evidence

The term is mentioned on multiple occasions:

* March 22, 2012: In an e-mail Depp sent British musician Elton John, he thanked him for helping him sober up from alcoholism and referred to to a version of himself as the monster: "I would’ve been swallowed up by the monster if it weren’t for you. That is a simple fact.”

* Early 2013: After Depp assaulted Heard for the first time, he apologised afterwards and cried: “I thought I put the monster away.”

* April 26, 2015: Depp's then head of security, Jerry Judge, had sent him a text message commenting on how pleased Judge had been to see Depp and Heard getting on so well. The same day, Depp replied: "Thank you, my dear Jerry!!! Very very kind mate!! All I had to do was send the monster away and lock him up!!! We've been happier than EVER!!! Love you brother JD"

* June 28, 2015: Depp sent a text to his doctor David Kipper, which said: "... By the way Amber and I have been absolutely perfect for 3 fuckin' months solid!!!! I have locked my monster child away in a cage deep within and it has fuckin' worked!!! We're goddam best friends now!!! Amazing!!! Big love to you, my brother... JD"

* May 14, 2015: Depp texted his assistant Stephen Deuters and said: "Need to discuss the News Helicopters hovering outside the house this morning ... I'm ready to shoot a motherfucker!!! But don't worry ... The Monster is not involved."

* October 4, 2014: Depp sent a text to an unidentified number in which he said: "I am going to, quite gracefully, glide into a massage of my broken back and neck ... I shall exit in one hour, a MONSTER!!! Shall we swallow an E each (or perhaps it's MDMA) at around 8pm and go to dinner with A few of my wee team at a wonderful Peruvian spot ...??? Let us enjoy this night my brother!!! Let us reward ourselves for the hard work and the misery of the heat that we push ourselves to conquer every goddam day!!! The Shatter"

## Trials

### UK trial

Considering that Depp referenced to 'the Monster' in his communications with people other than Heard, the judge of the UK trial did not accept that Heard invented the expression, still less that her use of it is a reason to disbelieve her evidence about her allegations of violence by Depp. He found that Ms Heard's use of the expression was not, as Depp's lawyer David Sherborne submitted, an example of 'retro-engineering'. The judge accepted Depp used the term to “refer to that part of his personality when, affected by drink and/or drugs he would do things which he would not otherwise do.”

## References

1. ↑ Elizabeth Rosner and Ben Kesslen (May 4, 2022). Emotional Amber Heard testifies about Johnny Depp’s multiple drugged-up, ‘abusive’ personas. New York Post.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 John Christopher Depp II v News Group Newspapers Ltd. & Dan Wootton. BAILII (November 2, 2020).