Depp and Heard’s defamation trial has focused a lot of media attention on their personal lives, including past relationships and ex-partners. During the trial, it was brought up that Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder had an extremely visible connection. The trial included an alleged event in which Heard apparently laughed at a tattoo he had in reference to an old flame.
Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder were the most admired celebrity couple in the early 1990s. Skateboards, crop tops, and Nirvana were all as important to the decade as their relationship. Depp and Ryder made news when they got engaged after only five months of dating. “Jinona” appeared to be an unstoppable pair, which is why the public was taken aback when they broke up after three years of dating. But why did this ideal couple end their relationship?
Johnny Depp and Ryder’s first meeting
From 1989 through 1993, Ryder and Depp dated for nearly four years. They met at the premiere of Great Balls of Fire!, a biopic about the life and career of American musician Jerry Lee Lewis, which was released in 1989. Myra Gale Brown, Lewis’ companion, and novelist was played by Ryder.
When they first met, Depp was 25 and Ryder was 17 years old. Through common friends, the two developed a tighter bond and eventually moved in together. Their first official date took place at the renowned Chateau Marmont, which has welcomed celebrities such as Natalie Wood, Scarlett Johansson, and others. Depp and Ryder were engaged for five months after their first date before breaking it up in 1993.
Why did they Split?
In 1993, Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder announced their breakup, implying that they had battled with media attention to their relationship. They had hoped that by being upfront and honest with the public, the interest in their dating lives would go away, but this did not happen.
Johnny told Los Angeles Times: “It’s very hard to have a personal life in this town. My relationship with Winona, it was my mistake to be as open as we were, but I thought if we were honest it would destroy that curiosity monster. Instead, it fed it, gave people license to feel they were part of it.” Winona too described that overcoming their relationship was the hardest for her, all she could feel was ‘completely lost.’ She opened up about the same in an interview saying “I think it was really ironic because everybody else just thought I had everything in the world, you know, I had no reason to be depressed, everything was sort of at its peak but inside I was completely lost.”
