Amber Heard and Johnny Depp: Man who lived with couple for a year speaks out

iO Tillet Wright says he has only remained friends with Heard since the Hollywood couple divorced

The estranged couple reached an out of court $7 million settlement in August, with Heard choosing to donate the entire settlement to domestic violence and children’s charities (Getty)

It would be fair to say Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s divorce has been one of the most tumultuous and acrimonious high-profile separations in recent history. Reminiscent of a real life soap opera, every twist and turn has played out in the unremitting limelight of the public eye.

In contrast to media outlets reporting on the breakup from a distance, iO Tillet Wright has firsthand experience of their marriage. The 31-year-old gay rights activist and co-host of MTV show Suspect lived with the couple for a year before they married and is a long-time friend of them both.

Tillet Wright became publicly embroiled in the separation after he called the police over claims Depp had physically abused Heard. Becoming a key voice in the public row, he condemned the “witch hunt” against Heard and the culture of victim blaming.

On top of this, Tillet Wright penned a blog post titled “I called 911 because she never could…” in which he claimed Depp was physically abusive to Heard during their short marriage. The blog post has since been removed from the internet.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Tillet Wright has said he felt morally compelled to publicly speak out about the situation. “I’m not ever going to be one of them - I’m not ever going to be an A-list celebrity. But I chose to get involved in that situation because it was imperative to say what I thought was right".

Tillet Wright moved in with the couple while he was in midst of a mental breakdown, something which he says they both helped him through. While he was a good friend of Depp’s previously, describing them as “like brothers”, he said he has only remained friends with Heard.

When asked whether his friendships had managed to endure the ordeal, he replied: “Yup. One of them. Amber is one of my best friends.” But when asked about Depp, he said: “It’s a tough thing. My attitude about that is the same as the attitude about my parents. People are very rarely bad people. People have things that happen to them, and people have pain that they’re trying to get around.”

“Everybody is trying to dance with their pain and sometimes it’s, who do you stab in the process?” he added. “It’s what you do about having stabbed them that’s the delineation between people you can have in your life and people you can’t.”

In the divorce proceedings, Heard alleged she experienced physical and psychological abuse at the hands of Depp throughout their marriage. Depp has strenuously denied all allegations of abuse.

Since then, Heard has dismissed her petition for a temporary restraining order against Depp. The estranged couple reached an out of court $7 million settlement in August, with Heard choosing to donate the entire settlement to domestic violence and children’s charities. In a joint statement released after the settlement, Heard and Depp said: “Our relationship was intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love. Neither party has made false accusations for financial gain. There was never any intent of physical or emotional harm.”