You may not have heard of Raquel “Rocky” Pennington until her involvement in the Amber Heard trial. Raquel Pennington made headlines after she appeared as a witness in the high-profile defamation case pitting Amber Heard against her former celebrity husband, Johnny Depp.
Raquel Rocky Pennington, a popular yoga instructor, celebrity friend, jewelry designer, media face, and entrepreneur, proved to all and sundry that she was Amber Heard’s ride-or-die. Pennington is everything you wish for in a BFF – loyal, caring, and supportive, even when the odds are stacked against you.
Despite the prospects of facing severe backlash from millions of Johnny Depp’s fans, Raquel stuck by her best friend’s side. She appeared as a key witness for Amber Heard, often breaking down as she recalled the events of Amber’s tumultuous marriage to Johnny Depp.
Strap in as we detail the life of Raquel “Rocky” Pennington, Amber Heard’s best friend forever, that we all wish for.
Who is Raquel “Rocky” Pennington?
A minor celebrity in her own right, Raquel “Rocky” Pennington is an American entrepreneur who wears many different hats. She’s a yoga instructor and jewelry designer. After testifying for Amber Heard in the high-profile defamation case against her ex-husband, she recently became a media personality. Amber Heard is a celebrity mega star renowned for her role as Queen Mera in the blockbuster movie Aquaman.
Besides being a professional jewelry designer, Rocky Pennington also runs Raqie Shop, an online jewelry store. She deals with Estate jewelry, chokers, gemstones, chain, and other exquisite jewelry pieces.
Raquel Pennington Early Life
A California native, Raquel “Rocky” Pennington was born on August 29, 1985, in Los Angeles, California. She is the eldest daughter of Drew and Leola Perez. Raquel Pennington’s father, Drew, is an entrepreneur, while her mom works in the Austin Film industry.
Rocky Pennington’s mom, Leola, is an avid social media user, and Instagram is her favorite platform. The doting mum is a University of Texas alumnus who is mighty proud of her daughter. Rocky’s mom is not above littering her timeline with Raquel Pennington’s baby pictures.
She frequently posts photos of Rocky Pennington’s childhood and her family. Rocky Pennington’s mom loves and adores her family and constantly shares family moments with family and friends on social media.
Anyone would be lucky to have a supportive mother like Raquel Pennington. During Raquel’s birthday, which falls on the 29th of August, her mom Leola Perez took to social media to wish her a happy birthday, declare her love, and, get this, promote her online businesses. That partly explains why Raquel Pennington is such a loyal friend – she learned it from her mama!
Pennington’s mom wrote her daughter Raquel a heartfelt message on Facebook on her birthday.
“Happy birthday to my all-time favorite person in the world…. Raquel, my beautiful darling… you’re beautiful, smart, intelligent, and a funny Virgo clown. I’ll forever cherish your presence on earth… you brighten the lives of so many people. Cheers to you and your zest for life. I love you. Hugs and Kisses @raqie.life, @raqie.shop!”
Raquel Pennington must thank her lucky stars daily for having such a supportive mom. Not only did she broadcast her love for a lovely daughter to the entire world, but she also helped to advertise her daughter’s business – not one but both of them. The birthday message to her daughter is overflowing with motherly love and support. Raquel must’ve been lucky to grow up in such a loving and supportive home environment.
Raquel “Rocky” Pennington’s Siblings
It’s unclear whether Raquel Pennington has any siblings, but all indications point to Amber Heard’s BFF being an only child. While Raquel doesn’t share much of her childhood on social media, her mother does. Leola Perez shares numerous images of Raquel “Rocky” Pennington as a child and her family. One picture shows the three of them – Leola, Drew, her husband, and the young Raquel Pennington.
It is safe to assume that Leola is a loving mom who would dote on all her children, even if they weren’t as well-known or successful as Rocky Pennington. A clear indicator that Raquel is an only child comes from the mom’s birthday wishes on Facebook. Her mother made it clear that Raquel was her most favorite person in the entire universe. That would be a tough call to make if you have other children.
Raquel’ Rocky” Pennington Career
Raquel Pennington doesn’t share much about her educational background, but she’s a well-educated entrepreneur. The 37-year-old graduated from a local high school back in Los Angeles. She later enrolled at a reputable university, where she honed her design and entrepreneurial skills.
Rocky Pennington took her first stab at Anusara yoga in 2014. The Anusara style of yoga is based on the Hatha yoga system and was founded by her friend John in 1997. Initially, Rocky practiced yoga and meditation for her health and wellness. She had never thought of becoming a yoga teacher until much later when she fell in love with the yoga practice. Her mastery of the yoga practice led her to take a chance, and she began teaching Anusara yoga in Roam, LA.
A likable personality, charming smile, and exceptional yoga skills made Raquel Pennington an exemplary yoga teacher. She excelled at it, and her success eventually led her to open her own yoga studio in Los Angeles.
Besides the yoga classes in her studio, Raquel Pennington also offers online classes to her clients. Rocky also runs a popular yoga channel on YouTube. She uses to platform to introduce beginners to the yoga practice and market her studio and yoga classes.
When Raquel Pennington is not practicing or teaching yoga, she puts her creative juices to good use. The professional yoga instructor uses her refined creativity to design custom jewelry. Previously, she ran her custom jewelry business under the name Hanuman Heart. The jewelry designer rebranded her company, giving it a trendy and hip name – Raqie Shop.
Raquel “Rocky’ Pennington Relationship
Unlike her world-famous BFF Amber Heard, Raquel Pennington is lucky in love. She’s married to the love of her life, Kelly Mcnaught, a professional gym trainer, and sportsman. The lovely couple got married in 2018, and Raquel Pennington is smitten with her husband.
She’s constantly uploading selfies with her hubby on social media. The duo has great chemistry and appears to be deeply in love.
Before meeting the love of her life, Raquel Pennington was previously engaged to Joshua Drew, but the relationship soured out, and the couple broke up.
Raquel “Rocky” Pennington and Amber Heard
Raquel Pennington and Amber Heard go way back. They have been friends for close to two decades. The pair met in 2003 and have been best friends ever since. Their friendship may have resulted from good neighborliness since they lived in the same building.
Pennington and her then fiancée, Josh Drew, lived in the same building as Amber Heard and her ex-husband at the time. That might indicate why the yoga instructor cum professional jewelry designer chose to stick by Amber’s side even when the world was against her.
Rocky was present through the celebrities’ relationship with the superstar Johnny Depp, who rose to stardom in the Pirates of the Caribbean blockbuster movies. As Amber Heard’s ride-or-die, Pennington highly supported the movie star’s career. Many images circulating on the internet show the two best friends hanging out or attending events.
For instance, in 2015, Pennington turned up to support her celebrity best friend at a post-premier dinner for the raunchy movie Magic Mike XXL. The lovely Pennington looked stunning in a black evening dress next to Amber Heard in an equally gorgeous red dress.
Rocky Pennington stood by her celebrity bestie as early as 2016 when Amber Heard filed a divorce and a domestic violence restraining order against her hubby. The Raqie founder was even listed as a witness to Amber Heard’s spousal abuse.
Raquel “Rocky” Pennington as Trial Witness
Amber Heard listed Raquel Pennington as a witness to her domestic abuse as early as 2016. It’s not surprising that jewelry designer has stuck with her bestie through the years. While the rest of the world is only becoming privy to the celebrity couple’s tumultuous marriage, Raquel Pennington lived through it. She had courtside seats to the entire drama and readily spilled the beans as Amber Heard’s witness during the highly publicized defamation trial.
Raquel Pennington Protecting Amber Heard
During the trial, Raquel Pennington recalls using her body to shield a frightened Amber Heard during a confrontation with her ex-husband.
Appearing in a video deposition, Raquel “Rocky” Pennington stated that she was “scared for Amber.” An emotional Raquel Pennington described the series of injuries that her bestie had suffered at the hands of her supposedly abusive husband. A teary Raquel explained a series of injuries, including a bruised eye, swollen nose, bruises, and long scratches on the arms that Amber suffered from alleged altercations with her ex-husband.
Pennington recalled receiving a text message from Amber Heard on May 21, 2016, asking the jewel designer to go to her condominium. She could hear the celebrity couple arguing inside on reaching her bestie’s door. Raquel knocked, but no one opened the door to usher her inside. Raquel recounted how she ran back to her apartment to grab her key to the celebrity couple’s apartment.
Raquel used the spare key Amber had given her to enter the celebrity couple’s condo. Upon entering the condo, Raquel claimed to have witnessed Amber Heard cowering from her irate ex-husband, who was screaming at her. She immediately placed herself between the feuding couple to protect her friend, blocking her husband with her hands.
She further recounted that her celebrity bestie confided that she was in an abusive relationship. Amber had allegedly told Raquel Pennington that her husband was physically and emotionally abusive.
Raquel “Rocky” Pennington’s Credibility Questioned During the Amber Heard Trial
Raquel Pennington is the BFF we all wish for because she stood by her celebrity bestie through thick and thin. Little wonder why Amber Heard described Pennington as her favorite human in a social media post on her birthday.
During the Amber Heard trial, Pennington was accused of conspiring with her best friend to stage damage the celebrity couple’s penthouse in Los Angeles. Rocky Pennington alleged that an intoxicated Depp damaged the couple’s home with a wine bottle. However, the defense picked her story apart starting her narrative didn’t align with the photographic evidence provided by Amber Heard.
Pennington also admitted that she never witnessed Johnny Depp physically assaulting Amber Heard. She resorted to describing the alleged injuries, such as a bloody patch with missing hair and deep cuts on the back of Amber’s forearms from alleged altercations with Johnny.
Pennington stated that she was scared for her bestie Amber and sad for Johnny, her friend. She added that she worried about her BFF’s physical safety. However, the jury wasn’t convinced of Amber Heard’s story and ruled in favor of Johnny Depp.
Are Raquel Pennington and Amber Heard Still Friends?
Contrary to multiple reports calling Raquel Pennington Amber Heard’s ex-BFF, Rocky and Amber are still close friends. Rumors about the duo breaking up started flying following media reports that Pennington hinted their friendship was over.
According to unverified media reports, Pennington said their friendship ended when they had a physical altercation. Pennington and Amber Heard apparently argued about Thanksgiving dishes, which turned ugly.
Rocky Pennington allegedly said the argument worsened, and her celebrity bestie hit her on the cheek. She added that the BFF parted ways shortly after the Thanksgiving incident because she wished to prioritize other relationships.
Amber Heard’s Instagram account may also have helped to fuel these rumors. Previously, the celebrity’s Instagram account was littered with lavish photos of her charming best friend, terming Pennington as her most favorite human being. Since 2017, Amber has never uploaded a picture of her BFF Raquel to her Instagram account. However, the old pictures are still on her account. Secondly, it appears that Amber Heard doesn’t follow Pennington’s new business account on IG despite her BFF following her.
Raquel Pennington’s Net worth
Raquel “Rocky” Pennington is a jill of many trades, and it seems to be paying off. She doubles as a yoga studio owner, yoga instructor, and professional jeweler who makes and sells custom jewelry. Raquel Pennington is estimated to be worth about $1.5 million. That may pale compared to her wealthy BFF, but the entrepreneur has done well for herself.
Raquel “Rocky” Pennington, yoga instructor and custom jewel designer is the best friend we all wish for. She stood by her best friend Amber Heard during her defamation trial against her celebrity ex-husband. Raquel’s testimony may have not carried the day, but it showed her to be a true loyal friend.
