After 14 years together, Johnny Depp and his long-time partner, Vanessa Paradis, are parting ways. According to a statement from Depp’s publicist that was released on Tuesday, the pair “have amicably separated. Please respect their privacy and, more importantly, the privacy of their children.” The American actor and French chanteuse started dating in 1998 after meeting in the lobby of a hotel in Paris, where Depp was filming Roman Polanski’s thriller ‘The Ninth Gate’. Of the encounter, Depp told Oprah Winfrey in 2004, “I saw her back, from about 25 yards away, and I was just staring at this back. And suddenly it turned around, and the back had a face and it walked towards me-directly at me-and just said, ‘Hi.’ And then I just knew it.” Although the pair never married, the Hollywood star and long-time Chanel spokesmodel have spoken publicly about their deep connection over the years. “I love the romance of ‘let’s get married,’ but then, when you have it so perfect. I mean, I’m more married than anybody can be.” Paradis told Elle. More than any marriage certificate ever could, Depp said that the pair’s two children-Lily-Rose, 13, and Jack, 9-gave the couple “a real foundation, a real strong place to stand in life, in work, in everything.” As recently as May, while promoting his latest Tim Burton collaboration, Dark Shadows, Depp said that the relationship was intact: “The rumors of a split are not true. No matter what I say about this, people believe the opposite. I can’t say enough about it not being over.”
