Who is iO Tillet Wright?

iO TILLETT WRIGHT is an American author who has been thrust into the spotlight this week after giving evidence in the Depp vs Heard defamation lawsuit.

But what is known about iO Tillett Wright and what did he say during his testimony?

iO Tillett Wright is an author, TV and podcast host who calls himself "a polymath native New Yorker", now living in Joshua Tree.

He became a columnist for the New York Times' T Magazine with two blogs at the age of 22.

One of his featured series was named Notes From The Underground and the other was The Lowdown.

Tillett Wright has also written three books - Darling Days, A Memoir, Self Evident Truths: 10,000 Portraits Of Queer America; and Oasis: Modern Desert Homes Around The World.

According to his website, he has worked as host and producer of The Ballad of Billy Balls, co-host of MTV Catfish and creator of the hit TED talk “50 Shades of Gay”.

He is the founder and photographer behind the Self Evident Truths project.

Tillett Wright's bio states: "iO’s life purpose is encouraging people to be real about how they enjoy living, and to get psyched about it."

On May 18, 2022, he was pulled into the public spotlight after testifying via a pre-recorded video in the ongoing defamation case between Amber Heard and her ex-husband Johnny Depp.

He told the court about a conversation which allegedly took place with Johnny at the couple’s wedding in the Bahamas in 2015.

In his evidence, he said Depp could become "very mean, very surly, very paranoid, extremely paranoid".

In one example, Tillett Wright said Amber had called him during a moment of distress.

He said: "I could hear him [Depp] walk away from the phone.

"He came clomping back down the stairs and I heard like a [punches hand] noise and then the phone dropped and he said to her, 'Oh? You think I hit you? You think I f**king hit you? What if I peel your f**king hair back?'

"And then I heard the phone drop again and then I heard her scream."

Tillett Wright claimed he worried how Johnny could function as so often he would see him with a cigarette or joint in his mouth.