Winona Ryder defends Johnny Depp

The 44-year-old actress, known for her first role as Rina in the 1986 film Lucas, recently came to the defense of Johnny Depp amidst ongoing accusations of domestic violence.

Depp’s wife, Amber Heard, recently filed for divorce and was granted a restraining order against the 53-year-old actor. Ryder dated Depp for four years in the 1990s and the two were engaged before ultimately going their separate ways.

Ryder recently said, “I can only speak from my own experience, which was wildly different than what is being said. He was never, never that way towards me. Never abusive at all towards me. I only know him as a really good, loving, caring guy who is very, very protective of the people that he loves.”

She admits the relationship was very long ago, however. Speaking with Time magazine, she also added, “I wasn’t there. I don’t know what happened. I’m not calling anyone a liar. I’m just saying, it’s difficult and upsetting for me to wrap my head around it. Look, it was a long time ago, but we were together for four years, and it was a big relationship for me. Imagine if someone you dated when you were – I was 17 when I met him – was accused of that. It’s just shocking. I have never seen him be violent toward a person before. It’s just hard to picture. The only word I can come up with is unimaginable. You know with certain people you hear something and go, ‘I can see that.’ But this isn’t that…”

The restraining order against Depp is granted until August.