French-US actress Lily-Rose Depp. EPA/CAROLINE BLUMBERG
Lily-Rose Depp is not "here to answer for anybody".
The 23-year-old actress has defended her decision to remain silent during her father Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard's defamation dispute.
The “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor sued the “Aquaman” star over an op-ed she wrote about being a victim of domestic violence.
Lily-Rose insisted that she didn’t want to be "defined" by any of her relationships and she was "really entitled" to keep her opinions private.
She told the December 2022/ January 2023 issue of America's ELLE magazine: "When it’s something that’s so private and so personal that all of a sudden becomes not so personal… I feel really entitled to my secret garden of thoughts.
"I also think that I’m not here to answer for anybody, and I feel like for a lot of my career, people have really wanted to define me by the men in my life, whether that’s my family members or my boyfriends, whatever.
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“And I’m really ready to be defined for the things that I put out there."
The “Yoga Hosers” star credited Johnny and her mother, Vanessa Paradis, for teaching her the importance of retaining privacy while living in the public eye.
She said: “I know my childhood didn’t look like everybody’s childhood, and it’s a very particular thing to deal with, but it’s also the only thing that I know.
“My parents protected my brother, (Jack), and me from it as much as possible. I’ve just been raised in a manner that has taught me that privacy is something that’s important to protect.”
Lily-Rose also admitted she is frustrated by the "nepo baby" label. She said it was negatively used more towards the daughters of celebrities than their sons.
She said: “It’s weird to me to reduce somebody to the idea that they’re only there because it’s a generational thing. It just doesn’t make any sense.
“If somebody’s mom or dad is a doctor, and then the kid becomes a doctor, you’re not going to be like: ‘Well, you’re only a doctor because your parent is a doctor.’ It’s like: ‘No, I went to medical school and trained.’
“I just hear it a lot more about women, and I don’t think that it’s a coincidence.”
“The Idol” actress insisted talent was far more important than personal connections, though she acknowledged it had given her a "foot in the door".
She said: “The internet seems to care a lot about that kind of stuff. People are going to have preconceived ideas about you or how you got there, and I can definitely say that nothing is going to get you the part except for being right for the part.
“The internet cares a lot more about who your family is than the people who are casting you in things. Maybe you get your foot in the door, but you still just have your foot in the door. There’s a lot of work that comes after that.”