Will Venitian Plaster cover damaged/peeling drywall?

We just pulled tongue & groove cedar, that was glued to painted drywall, off and the walls are damaged where the glue was. There is a lot to repair, lots of spots with paint & texture gone, some spots where drywall is showing, Paper is peeling. Do I have to fill each damaged spot with some kind of filler before I use venetian plaster? Or can I just fill these spots with the venetian plaster?