Warning: This post includes discussion of domestic abuse.
Lily-Rose Depp explained why she chose not to comment on her father Johnny Depp's defamation trial against Amber Heard earlier this year.
Lily-Rose did not post on her social media throughout the trial — beyond one post marking her 23rd birthday — but it did not stop her previous posts from being the target of harassment from Johnny Depp's supporters.
That being said, Lily-Rose's name did come up in the trial. Amber testified that she comforted a "panicky" 14-year-old Lily-Rose after a "scary" incident where Johnny allegedly drunkenly jumped off a boat. Afterward, Amber alleged that Johnny turned violent and threatened to kill her for "telling on him and calling him a drunk in front of his kids."
Then, a week after the trial, Johnny made headlines for selling NFTs of Lily-Rose with the words “Silence. Exile. Cunning" and “Words become feeble" across her face — which some interpreted as referring to Lily-Rose's lack of comment on the trial.
Ahead of her role in the HBO show The Idol, Lily-Rose told Elle why she decided not to address the coverage surrounding her father. "When it’s something that’s so private and so personal that all of a sudden becomes not so personal. … I feel really entitled to my secret garden of thoughts," she said.
"I also think that I’m not here to answer for anybody, and I feel like for a lot of my career, people have really wanted to define me by the men in my life, whether that’s my family members or my boyfriends, whatever."
"I’m really ready to be defined for the things that I put out there," she said.
You can read Lily-Rose's full interview with Elle here.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger as a result of domestic violence, call 911. For anonymous, confidential help, you can call the 24/7 National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or chat with an advocate via the website.