In a raw and revealing interview, Johnny Depp has shed light on some of the darkest chapters of his life—his traumatic childhood, the professional fallout he endured amid legal battles, and the personal betrayals that cut deepest of all.

The 62-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean star recounted the harrowing abuse he suffered at the hands of his late mother, Betty Sue Palmer, who passed away in 2016.

Speaking candidly to The Telegraph, Depp described a childhood marked by physical violence and emotional torment. “She beat me with a f-cking stick, a f-cking shoe, an ashtray, a phone, it didn’t matter, man,” he said bluntly.

Yet, despite the pain, Depp expressed a complicated gratitude, explaining that his mother’s harshness taught him “how not to raise kids,” vowing to do the opposite for his own children, Lily-Rose and Jack.

The actor first publicly addressed these traumatic experiences during his high-profile 2022 defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard, where he denied all abuse allegations. The trial itself became a media spectacle that led to Depp’s ostracization from major Hollywood projects, including his sudden removal from the Fantastic Beasts franchise.

Reflecting on that professional blow, Depp told The Telegraph, “It literally stopped in a millisecond… They said we’d like you to resign. But what was really in my head was they wanted me to retire.” Far from yielding, Depp’s defiant response was clear: “F-ck you. There’s far too many of me to kill. If you think you can hurt me more than I’ve already been hurt, you’re gravely mistaken.”

Amid these career struggles, Depp revealed the sting of personal betrayals, sharing with The Sunday Times that three of his closest friends deserted him during his most trying times.

“Those people were at my kids’ parties, throwing them in the air,” he said, underscoring the heartbreak of being abandoned by those once closest to him. He also acknowledged the complex nature of their decisions, understanding that “the most frightening thing to them was making the right choice.”

Depp’s childhood memories painted a grim picture of instability and fear. After moving from Kentucky to Florida, his family lived in a motel for nearly a year, enduring a home where “physical violence, physical abuse… was a constant.”

He described living in a state of constant alert: “You’d shield yourself because you didn’t know what would happen.” Though the physical beatings left scars, Depp said the psychological and verbal abuse cut far deeper. “The verbal abuse, the psychological abuse, was almost worse than the beatings,” he explained. “The physical pain, you learn to deal with. You learn to accept it.”

Despite these hardships, Depp found vindication in his 2022 defamation trial victory, describing the jury’s decision as a moment that “gave me my life back.”

Johnny Depp’s candid reflections reveal a man shaped by pain but unbroken by it—a father determined to break the cycle of abuse, an actor fighting to reclaim his place, and a human being confronting betrayal with resilience and honesty.