Vanessa Paradis Married Husband Samuel Benchetrit After Splitting With Johnny Depp
Trigger warning: The following article mentions domestic violence.
Vanessa Paradis has been in some high-profile relationships, including with several fellow French artists and Lenny Kravitz. But none of them compares to the level of attention Paradis's relationship with Johnny Depp received. Depp fell for Paradis the moment he first laid his eyes on her at the Hotel Costes in Paris in 1998. "I saw that back and that neck, and then she turned around and I saw those eyes, and — boom!" he told the Daily Mail in 2011. "My life as a single man was done."
The couple didn't need a lot of time to take their romance to the next level. The following May, Paradis and Depp welcomed their daughter, Lily-Rose, who made them both parents for the first time. They expanded their family in April 2002, when Paradis gave birth to a son, Jack. In 2004, Depp suggested Paradis' first pregnancy was unexpected — but that it changed him for the better. "Fatherhood was not a conscious decision but now I have become the perfect example of all the paternity cliches I laughed at for years," he told TIME magazine.
The couple broke up in 2012, shortly after Depp met Amber Heard during the production of the 2011 film "The Rum Diary." However, the relationship still marks the longest both Depp and Paradis have ever had. Despite having built a family together and the overall longevity of their union, Depp and Paradis never tied the knot. In fact, Paradis got married for the first time at age 45.
Vanessa Paradis got married in 2018
Vanessa Paradis said "I do" to Samuel Benchetrit, a French writer and director, in a small village in north-central France in June 2018. Paradis and Benchetrit got together in October 2016, when she starred in his 2018 film "Chien." The couple quietly became engaged in November 2017, according to a source who spoke with People. Other reports claimed the engagement happened in March 2018, though neither confirmed the rumors.
Unlike his wife, Benchetrit had been married before. In 1998, Benchetrit wed French actor Marie Trintignant, but their marriage ended in tragedy. After starting an affair with the lead singer of the French rock band Noir Désir, Bertrand Cantat, Trintignant abruptly left Benchetrit, The New York Times reported. But the couple continued to have an amicable relationship, which Cantat disapproved of. A message sent by Benchetrit to his estranged wife while she and Cantat were in a Lithuanian hotel room pushed Cantat over the edge.
Cantat beat up Trintignant, who died five days later from brain injuries. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and released on parole in 2007, The Guardian reported. Benchetrit and Trintignant share a son, Jules, who was just 5 when his mother died. In 2017, Paradis paid tribute to her then-boyfriend's ex-wife on Instagram as a way to protest Les Inrocks magazine's decision to feature Cantat on its cover. "We miss Marie," she and her sister Alysson captioned the Instagram post, adding the hashtag "Les Inrocks of shame."
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
Vanessa Paradis wasn't against marrying Johnny Depp
Neither Johnny Depp nor Vanessa Paradis was against marriage. In fact, Paradis liked the idea, but she didn't feel the need to go a step further in her relationship with Depp. "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," she told Elle in 2008. Back then, 10 years into it, she still hadn't dismissed the possibility, though. "Maybe one day, but it's something I can really do without," she explained.
Depp felt the same way. While he didn't oppose it, he also didn't feel the urge. "I never found myself needing that piece of paper," the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star told Extra in 2010. But he would have signed that piece of paper had it been important for Paradis. "If Vanessa wanted to get hitched, why not," he added. Depp was glad she hadn't cared for it because it would have had an unfortunate consequence. "The thing is, I'd be so scared of ruining her last name. She's got such a good last name," he joked.
Even though Depp never married Paradis, his relationship outlasted both of his marriages. Depp was married to Lori Allison from 1983 and 1985, around the time he was finding his feet in the film industry. His marriage to Amber Heard also lasted two years, from 2015 and 2017, though she filed for divorce just a year in.