Jonathan Shaw grew up inside Hollywood’s elite, became close with Johnny Depp before he was famous, battled heroin addiction, tattooed cultural icons, traveled the world with almost nothing and said what he witnessed behind Hollywood’s curtain took decades to fully understand.

He recalls being around figures including Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Marlon Brando as a child. But underneath the celebrity, money and glamour was another world entirely.

Jonathan eventually became a pioneering tattoo artist and met Johnny Depp before Depp had become a household name. They were young, immersed in Hollywood’s punk and drug scene, and Shaw says they were both heavily using heroin during that period.

Years later, Shaw says he began recognizing pieces of himself in Depp’s performances and claims he became one of the inspirations behind Captain Jack Sparrow.

But this conversation goes far beyond Johnny Depp.

Jonathan discusses his belief that his mother participated in early MKUltra-era LSD experimentation and describes her connection to people associated with the CIA program.

At 73, Shaw has survived addiction, arrests, Hollywood, decades on the road and a life that reads more like fiction than biography.

It’s the story of a man who lived on the edge of celebrity, addiction, art and self destruction, survived it all, and came out the other side with an entirely different view of reality.

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Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome Jonathan!

04:17 Growing Up Inside Old Hollywood

09:36 Meeting Johnny Depp Before He Was Famous

14:52 Heroin, Punk Rock & Hollywood in the 1980s

20:41 Did Jonathan Inspire Jack Sparrow?

26:08 Hitchhiking Across Mexico With Almost Nothing

31:47 Learning to Tattoo Sailors & Traveling the World

37:26 Charles Bukowski, Writing & Finding His Own Path

43:11 Addiction, Sobriety & Surviving Himself

49:38 The Arrest That Nearly Put Him Away

55:44 Returning to Tattooing & Becoming a Legend

01:00:27 Growing Up Around Hollywood’s Dark Side

01:04:53 His Mother, LSD & MKUltra

01:08:21 CIA, CERN & Jonathan’s View of the Occult

01:11:06 David Icke & Who Jonathan Believes Really Holds Power

01:13:12 Where to Find Jonathan Shaw

#JonathanShaw #JohnnyDepp #JackSparrow #Hollywood #HollywoodInsider #MKUltra #CIA #DavidIcke #TattooHistory #HeroinAddiction #AddictionRecovery 

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