appearing to address his daughter Lily-Rose Depp’s silence amid his defamation trial against ex-wife in a new NFT was an ‘unfortunate coincidence of randomisation.’
The Pirates of the Caribbean star, 59, after accusing Aquaman actress Amber of defaming him in a 2018 op-ed about her being a survivor of domestic violence.
Many , including Johnny’s ex , 48, but fans noticed that his daughter Lily-Rose, 23, refrained from making any public statements about the case.
A appeared to allude to her silence, consisting of a painting of the model and actress with the words ‘Silence, exile, cunning’ appearing across her face.
Johnny had also signed the artwork and added the words ‘All good, always’ to the top corner of the image.
However, it has since been confirmed that the image came about as a ‘unfortunate coincidence of randomisation’ in which the words were added to a series of different images drawn by Johnny.
A spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: ‘The pictures themselves – the underlying art – is Johnny’s art. He drew the portraits and wrote the words themselves as separate pieces.
‘When working with the NFT team, that art was then randomised and edited to create thousands of individual and unique pieces that stem from the same underlying pieces.
‘The pictures of Lily-Rose with those specific words are an unfortunate coincidence of the randomisation and we are working through our options to try to get them removed as quickly as possible.’
They added: ‘To be clear – this was, in no way, a message from Johnny to his daughter, who he loves and adores.’
The words ‘Silence, exile, cunning’ come from a paraphrase of the novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, and are also tattooed on Johnny’s left forearm.
The same text had been overlaid on self-portraits of Johnny himself and other artworks he had created.
He had launched his Never Fear Truth NFT project in January, focusing on his ‘friends and heroes’, with the website adding: ‘People he has known well, and who have inspired him as a person.
‘Each image is an intimate reflection of their character in Johnny’s eyes; a portrayal of how they have revealed themselves to him.’
He has included River Phoenix, who died outside his former club The Viper Room in 1993, as well as Heath Ledger and Elizabeth Taylor.
Speaking in a statement after launching Never Fear Truth earlier this year, Johnny explained: ‘I’ve always used art to communicate my sentiments and to reflect on those who matter most to me, like my family, friends, and people I admire.’
Donations from NFTs purchased also go to Johnny’s chosen charities, with the star adding: ‘It’s a great privilege to be able to thank my fans and support the charities that have meant so much to my family.
‘I’m hoping we can form a new friendship group around these NFTs. My involvement in the NFT space is only getting started.’
While Lily-Rose did not address the current trial, she did defend her father in 2016 when Amber’s allegations first came to light.
In a since-deleted Instagram post of a photo of him helping her to walk when she was a baby, Lily-Rose wrote: ‘My dad is the sweetest most loving person I know, he’s been nothing but a wonderful father to my little brother and I, and everyone who knows him, would say the same.’