The ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ actor said he wanted his daughter to trust him, and didn’t want her experimenting at a party.
Johnny Depp was trying to be a “responsible parent” when he gave his then 13-year-old daughter, Lily-Rose, cannabis. He knew his own supply was “trustworthy” and worried about her trying the drug at a party, and “going into some sort of paranoid tailspin.”
Depp told London courts about this incident Tuesday in his ongoing libel lawsuit against The Sun. The actor added that he reached this decision after discussing the matter with his ex-wife and Lily-Rose Depp’s mother, Vannessa Paradis. According to the UK’s Evening Standard, Depp denied “encouraging” his daughter to use cannabis.
“My daughter was 13-years-old and as we all know at 11, 12, and 13-years-old when you go to a high school party you are approached by people who will want to give you drink because they are drinking at 12 and 13, doing cocaine at 12 and 13, and smoking marijuana at 12 and 13, doing ecstasy and doing many, many drugs,” he said.
Depp told the court this all started when Lily-Rose, who is now 21, attended a party where someone passed her a joint.
“She was just 12 and she said she didn’t know what to do,” he said. “I said ‘listen sweetheart, if you are at a party and someone hands you the joint, take the joint from the person and pass it to the next person. Please don’t experiment with drugs with people you don’t know.’”
He urged his daughter not to experiment the drug in an uncontrolled environment. That’s why he presented her with the unique arrangement.
RELATED: Legal Weed Does Not Increase Underage Cannabis Use
“‘Please, please, when you are really at the moment in your life when you are passed the joint and you really want to try it,’ I said, ‘please do me the honor of coming to me when you are ready and you really feel you are ready,” Depp told the courts. “‘I don’t want your first experience to be with people you don’t know, taking things you don’t know, that you don’t trust,’”
“It’s a safety issue, it’s a father worried about his daughter in this kind of situation,” he added.
Depp wanted his daughter to trust that she could come to him in these kind of situations without retribution. He didn’t want to be in a position as a parent where Lily-Rose hid things from him. This is why, after discussing with Paradis, he put forward this unique solution and gave his daughter marijuana.
“I want her to trust me. If my daughter says she was ready, she was ready. I wanted to make sure the settings were perfection, put on family TV, fill the refrigerator with ice cream, fill the freezer, make a situation where the experience is as pleasant as possible,” Depp said.
RELATED: Study Links Adolescent Cannabis Use To Memory Loss
“I don’t want a 13-year-old going into some sort of paranoid tailspin. I knew the marijuana I had myself, that I smoked myself, is trustworthy and good quality.”
Depp sued The Sun for libel after the tabloid labeled him a “wife beater” in an April 2018 article. The actor admitted that cannabis does have its dangers, especially for teenagers using the drug. He also added that he had tried most drugs but not ketamine.
Said Depp, “If this is wrong in your eyes, I appreciate what you think but I was raising a daughter and I was being a responsible parent so far as I’m concerned.”
