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Ellen Barkin claims Johnny Depp supplied her with Quaalude drug before having sex for first time

Ellen Barkin has claimed that Johnny Depp gave her a drug before they had sex for the first time.

The actor, whose credits include films Drop Dead Gorgeous and The Big Easy, testified about her former relationship with the Pirates of the Caribbean actor back in November 2019.

Sections of the video deposition were shown during Depp’s defamation trial against Amber Heard earlier this year. Other parts, including Barkin’s claim, have come to light following the release of pretrial documents relating to the case.

In the video, Barkin says they first started dating in1994 having been friends beforehand. Entertainment Tonight reports the actor claimed that, ahead of their first sexual interaction, she “protested a little – not too much” after Depp “pulled [her] onto his lap”.

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“He came on to me in the living room of my house, pulled me onto his lap and said something like, ‘Oh, come on Ellen,’ or whatever,” the outlet reports Barkin as saying. “I protested a little and then – not too much. And that was that.”

Barkin clarified in the video that Depp didn’t assault her, but alleged: “He gave me a Quaalude and asked me if I wanted to f***.”

A Quaalude is considered a sedative and hypnotic drug, and was commonly used in the US in the 1970s for anxiety and stress. In the 1980s, it was made illegal by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

Barkin also accused Depp of throwing a wine bottle at her, with the Daily Mail reporting the actor as saying: “There was always an air of violence around him. He’s a yeller, he is verbally abusive. And those things you can see.”

Depp previously denied these claims during his libel trial against The Sun in 2020, stating: “I do not have an anger management problem.”

Another of Depp’s ex-girlfriends, Dirty Dancing star Jennifer Grey, spoke about their former relationship, with the actor stating she didn’t “recognise” him as the man she once knew in footage of the Heard trial.

The actor won his highly publicised trial against Heard, with a jury finding that Heard had defamed Depp on all three counts. He was awarded $10m (£8m) in compensatory damages and $5m (£4m) in punitive damages.

Ellen Barkin claims that Johnny Depp gave her ‘a Quaalude and asked me if I wanted to f***’ (Getty Images for Turner)
Ellen Barkin claims that Johnny Depp gave her ‘a Quaalude and asked me if I wanted to f***’ (Getty Images for Turner)

Meanwhile, Heard was awarded $2m (£1.6m) in compensatory damages, but no punitive damages.

Earlier this week, Christina Ricci opened up about a childhood memory of Depp explaining to her “what homosexuality was”.

“There was something going on on set and someone was not being nice to someone else. And they were like, ‘Oh, well, he might be homophobic,’” Ricci explained to Andy Cohen during a recent appearance on his SiriusXM radio show.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, you can call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, on 0808 2000 247, or visit their website here.