POGUES frontman Shane MacGowan has spoken out in defence of his friend Johnny Depp, insisting that the actor "would never hit a woman."
The 62-year-old exclusively said was "dumbfounded" at the accusations by Johnny’s ex-wife Amber Heard that the actor had been domestically abusing her, according to the Sunday World.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star has been embroiled in a very messy, very public domestic abuse row with former partner Amber Heard.
In early 2019, Depp sued Heard for $50 million for defamation over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018, which "depended on the central premise that Ms. Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr. Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her," despite it not mentioning Depp or any of the alleged incidences of violence perpetrated by him.
Earlier this year, Depp released audio recordings of conversations between himself and Heard which he alleges proves that Heard had in fact physically abused him during the marriage rather than the other way around.
On July 7, a three-week libel trial began at the High Court in London between Depp and News Group Newspapers, publisher of The Sun, after an article was published which described Mr Depp as a "wife beater".
Depp and MacGowan have been close for many years, and in February the Hollywood star announced he was producing a documentary about the singer.
"Knowing Shane for 30 years, I am honoured to be producing the definitive film on both my friend and one of the most important artists and beloved poets of the 20th century," Depp said in a statement.
