Lily Rose Depp’s Parents ‘Protected’ Her From Fame—She’s ‘Careful’ About Nepo Baby Conversations

Johnny Depp

One of Lily-Rose Depp’s famous parents is Johnny Depp. He exploded into fame in the series 21 Jump Street and early roles in Crybaby and Edward Scissorhands. He’s more recognized for his role as Jack Sparrow in Disney’s Pirates of The Caribbean series. 

Depp talked about his daughter in a fond way. “Lily’s really together, she’s a sharp kid and one of the smartest human beings I have ever met,” he told the Daily Mail in 2015. “Whatever she is doing, if she needs any advice, I’m there for her. Kids are going to make their own decisions, but I guess that the only thing you can do as a parent is to offer support. And I do.”

Johnny Depp’s defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard started in mid-April 2022 and came to a close on June 1, 2022. Heard wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post in 2018 about her experiences with domestic abuse. Though no names were mentioned, many people speculated it to be about her marriage to Depp. He won the defamation trial after he sued Heard for $50 million. Depp claimed that the op-ed cost him his acting jobs. In the end, Depp was awarded $15 million in damages, but Heard will have to pay $10.35 million due to a Virginia law cap on punitive damages. Heard was also awarded $2 million after she won one count of her countersuit against Johnny.

Lily broke her silence on her father’s trial in November 2022. “My parents protected my brother [Jack] and me from it as much as possible,” she said in an Elle profile. “I know my childhood didn’t look like everybody’s childhood, and it’s a very particular thing to deal with, but it’s also the only thing that I know.”

She continued, “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. 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. And I’m really ready to be defined for the things that I put out there.”

Vanessa Paradis

Lily-Rose Depp’s mother is French model and actress Vanessa Paradis. Since her modeling career started in 1981, Paradis has modeled for more than 300 magazine covers, including Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Madame Figaro, Paris Match, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Premiere or Marie Claire. Karl Lagerfeld also hired her as a spokesperson for Chanel in 1991 starting with the commercial  “L’Esprit de Chanel” directed by Jean-Paul Goude. She also modeled for Chanel’s The New Mademoiselle bag in 2005, as well as Miu Miu in 2008. She was also offered to star in a campaign with Calvin Klein in 1991 alongside Mark Wahlberg but declined the offer. The offer then went to Klein’s second choice, Kate Moss.

On growing up with a model mom she idolized, Lily-Rose told Elle,  “It was really cool for me and my brother to see our mom being the ultimate comforting and loving person, but also having such a rich, full life of her own, watching her go onstage and sing for thousands of people, and just be so in her own zone and in touch with herself and her art.”

Depp and Paradis confirmed their breakup in June 2012. In a statement in 2020, Paradis defended Depp against Heard’s abuse allegations against him. “I have known Johnny for 25 years. We have been partners for 14 years and we raised our two children together. Through all these years I’ve known Johnny to be a kind, attentive, generous and non-violent person and father,” she said. On movie sets the actors, directors and entire crews adore him because he is humble and respectful to everyone, as well as being one of the best actors we’ve seen.” She continued, “I am aware of the allegations which Amber Heard has publicly accused Johnny of for more than four years now. This is nothing like the true Johnny I have known, and from my personal experience of many years, I can say he was never violent or abusive to me.”