According to recent court filings in the ongoing defamation lawsuit by Johnny Depp against his ex-wife, Aquaman star Amber Heard, Depp accused Heard of “[hiding] the objective facts that reveal her falsehoods behind an artificial wall of confidentiality” after the actress requested a protective order to prevent certain information related to the case from being made public.
According to documents obtained by The Blast, Heard first claimed that, because “this is a case between two high-profile public figures,” information and evidence entered into the court record should be kept private as the information carried the potential to “inflict significant collateral damage on family members, friends, romantic partners, guards, assistants, coaches, doctors, nurses and many others.” (Related: Amber Heard Responds to Johnny Depp’s Defamation Lawsuit, Claims Depp “Clearly Perjured Himself”)
“In light of Mr. Depp’s theory of the case, discovery may require the exchange of personal documents and details of the utmost sensitivity and intimacy, for the parties personal contact information and medical records to conversations with their closet confidants about incidents of violence and abuse, not to mention a number of traumatic images.”
However, in further documents obtained by The Blast, Depp disagrees with this defense, claiming that it would be “grossly unfair” for Heard to prevent the information and evidence from being made public, as it would vindicate Depp’s defense and offer support for Depp’s assertion that Heard’s claims are “objectively disprovable lies.” (Related: Johnny Depp and Legal Team Respond to Domestic Abuse Allegations Made by Ex-Wife Amber Heard)
“It would be grossly unfair to allow Ms. Heard – who has already disseminated to the media and the public as much defamatory material about her former husband as she could concoct – to now hide the objective facts that reveal her falsehoods behind an artificial wall of confidentiality.
Moreover, Mr. Depp is suing Ms. Heard for objectively disprovable lies that she and a few of her confederates and representatives have told about Mr. Depp in the media. The Protective Order Ms. Heard now seeks would perversely allow all these false and damaging public statements to stand uncorrected.
Only the truth can restore the incalculable damage that Ms. Heard has inflicted on Mr. Depp. Mr. Depp, whose reputation has suffered severe harm from these false claims, should have the right to the restorative transparency of the truth that Ms. Heard seeks to hide.”
Depp and his legal team also believe that Heard is seeking the protective order to hide the embarrassment she may face if her alleged lies are challenged in court:
“Although she has not yet made the assertion, being embarrassed by the factual evisceration of one’s lies would not meet the standard. The court should not allow Ms. Heard to use confidentiality as both a sword and a shield.”
Depp’s lawyer, Adam Waldman, also provided a pair of statements to The Blast, noting the hypocrisy of Heard’s call for privacy now when she was publicly broadcasting her allegations against Depp. (Related: Amber Heard Details Violent Abuse at the Hands of Johnny Depp – Asks Judge to Dismiss $50 Million Defamation Lawsuit)
“Amber Heard didn’t want to keep things secret when she concocted her diabolical abuse hoax, sought a temporary restraining order with painted on bruises, aimed her fake story at Johnny Depp through the world’s media, or had her hoax-assisting friend iO Tillett Wright publish an op ed titled ‘Why I called 911.’ But now, as the evidence blows her story to smithereens, Amber Heard suddenly wants to keep the truth a secret. Today, Johnny Depp filed an opposition motion requesting that all the evidence in his defamation case be publicly available so his reputation may be returned to him.”
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“Lies grow in darkness; sunlight is the best disinfectant. We have opposed Amber Heard’s attempt to hide the truth because injustice must be exposed to be defeated.”
A hearing on Heard’s request for a protective order will take place next week.