When Johnny Depp saved Courtney Love’s life
As a Hollywood A-lister, Johnny Depp is anything but conventional. Where most dark-haired pinups find themselves leading romantic dramas, Depp was cut from a different cloth. Thanks to his eccentricity and astute eye for character acting, we have seen Depp portray a swaying, Keith Richards-inspired pirate, a man with scissors for hands and a madman in a ludicrous hat, among other zany characters.
Depp’s departure from convention has also plagued his personal life, which has seen almost as much drama as his professional life in recent years. Most memorably, Depp found himself in a gritty PR war in the spring of 2022 when his ex-girlfriend Amber Heard launched a defamation lawsuit against him.
During the trials, from which Depp emerged triumphant, both sides of the case corralled support. Thanks to his high-ranking Hollywood status, Depp had a solid wall of support from fans and famous friends.
Among Depp’s supportive allies during the trial was Hole frontwoman and the former wife of Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love. The pair have been acquainted since the 1990s. “I have nothing bad to say about Johnny Depp, never,” Love told The Guardian when quizzed on her relationship with the actor in 2006. “I think he’s very smart, he’s a brilliant actor, and he once saved my life.”
In 2009, Love elaborated while speaking to the British publication Style Magazine. “I was going to die on a few occasions [during a past struggle with crack addiction]. Johnny Depp gave me CPR once,” she recalled. “I was watching that movie where he plays Dillinger, and I was like, ‘Motherfucker, I never had myself any JD except CPR.”
Over a decade later, during the Depp v. Heard trial, Love revealed empathy for Heard despite her support for Depp. “I’ve been the most hated woman in America,” she said in a clip shared on her social media. “I’ve been the most hated woman in the world before TikTok, and it’s really a lot of empathy for what that must feel like for Amber. Fuck man. Can you imagine how that feels? Jesus.”
“But if you use a movement for your own personal gain, and you inhabit queer feminist intersectional spaces, and you abuse that moment, then I hope justice gets served whatever it is,” Love added, addressing her disapproval of Heard’s actions.
