Johnny Depp with his mother Betty Sue Palmer.Photo: Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
“We would run and hide,” she recalled of seeing her mom being abusive toward their father, who she said would not react. Dembrowski added, “She would hit us. She would throw things.” When asked if Depp ever hit back at his mom when she was abusive, Dembrowski said no, “He never went to that place.”
For more on Johnny Depp’s defamation suit against Amber Heard, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.
“Really early on as a young child,” she said, “none of what was happening in our home felt good. And so, as I got older, both Johnny and I actually, we decided that once we left, once we had our own home, we were never going to repeat, ever, anything similar in any way to our childhood. We were gonna do it different.”
Betty “softened” as she grew older, Dembrowski said. Shedied at age 81 in May 2016, just days before Heard filed for divorce from Depp. Depp and Heard, who met making the 2011 movieThe Rum Diary, broke up in May 2016, when she sought a domestic violence restraining order against him, accusing the actor of abusing her. Depp denied the claims, and the former couple settled theirdivorceout of court in August 2016.
SAMUEL CORUM/AFP via Getty; STAR MAX/AP Images
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Depp originally filed the $50 million lawsuit in March 2019, but it waspostponeddue to the pandemic.
Back in November 2020, Depplost his highly publicized U.K. libel lawsuit caseagainst British tabloidThe Sunfor calling him a “wife-beater.” The court upheld the outlet’s claims as being “substantially true” and Heard testified to back up the claims. In March 2021, his attempt tooverturn the decision was overruled.
On Saturday, Heardwroteon Instagram that she will be avoiding social media until after the trial,thanking her followers for their support.
She said, in part, “Hopefully when this case concludes, I can move on and so can Johnny. I have always maintained a love for Johnny and it brings me great pain to have to live out the details of our past life together in front of the world. At this time, I recognize the ongoing support I’ve been fortunate to receive throughout these years, and in these coming weeks I will be leaning on it more than ever.”
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at1-800-799-7233, or go tothehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
