Johnny Depp ‘fired shotgun blanks at assistant’ in wild prank with Hunter S. Thompson, claims Don Johnson

Johnny Depp ‘fired shots from a shotgun’ at a terrified assistant in a wild prank, claims Don Johnson.

Johnson, 74, recalled the dangerous incident when he appeared Thursday on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, detailing how he had been journalist Hunter S. Thompson’s neighbor in Woody Creek, Colorado.

A young Depp began a friendship with the writer in 1994 and would play him in the 1998 film adaptation of his 1972 novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Johnson said, “I called Hunter’s to see if he had any weed, and of course he did. Like a barrel in the back.

“So I said, ‘Listen, I’m coming to get some weed because I have a little group of people here.’

A young Depp began a friendship with the writer in 1994 and would play him in the 1998 film adaptation of his 1972 novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – pictured in 1998 with Benicio Del Toro

Johnson sent his assistant to collect the weed, with the star saying: ‘[He] pulls into Hunter’s driveway and Johnny Depp and Hunter were hiding behind Hunter’s car with shotguns loaded with blanks and my assistant got out of the car and they both jumped out and said, “Die, mother!” before firing blanks.

Johnson said the aide had “wetted his pants” in fear, adding: “God bless him.”

Johnson and Thompson were best friends for thirty years before the journalist died by suicide in 2005 at the age of 67.

Johnson previously told People of Thompson: “I loved him. I learned so much from him.

‘We met, believe it or not, during Andy Warhol’s time when I was shooting my first film in New York. We met because he was the crazy m****rf****r who came in with a bag full of drugs, and our movie was about drugs. So I got to know him quite well.

“And lo and behold, he became my neighbor, literally my neighbor, a quarter of a mile away on my ranch in Colorado.

‘And if I was away for the next 25 years and I had a sick animal or something like that, he would come and sleep in the stable with my animal and I would nurse it back to health.’

Depp also played Thompson’s creation in the 2011 film adaptation of his book The Rum Diary.

Johnson, 74, told how he had been journalist Thompson’s neighbor in Woody Creek, Colorado

Johnson sent his assistant to collect the weed, with the star saying: ‘ [He] pulls into Hunter’s driveway and Johnny Depp and Hunter hid behind Hunter’s car with shotguns loaded with blanks’ – Depp photo last month

Depp also played Thompson’s creation in the 2011 film adaptation of his book The Rum Diary – pictured in 1997

The Rum Diary was inspired by Thompson’s adventures after he moved to the Caribbean to write for the San Juan Star newspaper.

Thompson shot himself to death in his office at his home in Colorado on February 20, 2005, at the age of 67.

His family said they believed he had contemplated suicide due to his chronic medical conditions.

In August of that year, Depp contributed financially to help Thompson’s family help the author fulfill his dying wish: to have his ashes shot out of a cannon.

Depp said: “We had talked a few times about his dying wish to be shot out of a cannon of his own design.

‘All I’m doing is making sure his last wish comes true. I just want to send my friend the way he wants.”

Thompson is known as one of the pioneers of ‘gonzo journalism’, in which the writer is an important part of the story.

He often portrayed himself as drunk or manic while reporting on political figures.