Johnny Depp’s $50 million defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard claims that the Aquaman actress physically abused Depp and even chopped off part of his finger.
Depp’s lawsuit comes after Amber Heard wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post titled, “Amber Heard: I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”
In the op-ed she writes, “Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s warth for women who speak out.”
The lawsuit states that “Mr. Depp’s reputation and career were devastated when Ms. Heard first accused him of domestic violence on May 27, 2016. Ms. Heard’s hoax allegations were timed to coincide with the day that Mr. Depp’s film, Alice Through the Looking Glass, was released in theaters. Her op-ed with its false implication that she was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of Mr. Depp, brought new damage to Mr. Depp’s reputation and career. Mr. Depp lost movie roles and faced public scorn.”
The lawsuit points to Depp being dropped by Disney from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as Captain Jack Sparrow. The lawsuit points out, “Just four days after Ms. Heard’s op-ed was first published on December 18, 2018, Disney announced on December 22, 2018 that it was dropping Mr. Depp from his leading role as Captain Jack Sparrow – a role that he created – in the multi-billion-dollar-earning Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.”
Depp’s lawyers state, “Ms. Heard published her op-ed with actual malice. She knew that Mr. Depp did not abuse her and that the domestic allegations that she made against him in 2016 were false.”
The lawsuit then claims that Heard was the one who abused Johnny Depp.
“Ms. Heard knew that the truth was that she violently abused Mr. Depp – just as she violently abused her prior domestic partner, which led to her arrest and booking for domestic violence, as well as a night in jail and a mug shot.”
The lawsuit even claims that Amber Heard tried to falsely accuse Johnny Depp of hitting her:
“Ms. Heard falsely began yelling ‘stop hitting me Johnny.’ The interaction culminated with Ms. Heard making false allegations that Mr. Depp struck her with a cell phone, hit her, and destroyed the penthouse. There were multiple eyewitnesses to this hoax. Ms. Heard’s friend then called the police, who arrived promptly. Upon their arrival, Ms. Heard refused to cooperate with police or make any claims that she had been injured or assaulted, and two domestic abuse trained police officers testified that after close inspection of Ms. Heard and the penthouses, they observed no injury to Ms. Heard or damage to the penthouses. But then, six days later, Ms. Heard presented herself to the world with a battered face as she publicly and falsely accused Mr. Depp of domestic violence and obtained a restraining order against him, based on false testimony that she and her friends provided.”
The lawsuit actually has an entire section labeled “Ms. Heard Was Not A Victim of Domestic Violence: She Was a Perpetrator.” The section details Amber Heard’s arrest in 2009 for physically assaulting Tasya van Ree in the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. It then goes on to detail “multiple acts of domestic violence against Mr. Depp during their marriage.”
One month after their marriage, the lawsuit alleges that “Ms. Heard shattered the bones in the tip of Mr. Depp’s right middle finger, almost completely cutting it off.” She then “threw a glass vodka bottle at Mr. Depp – one of many projectiles launched at him in this and other instances. The bottle shattered as it came into contact with Mr. Depp’s hand, and the broken glass and impact severed and shattered Mr. Depp’s finger.” The lawsuit indicates Johnny Depp had to get his finger surgically reattached.
The lawsuit continues to claim that “Ms. Heard threw dangerous objects at Mr. Depp, and also kicked and punched him with regularity.” It goes on to state that Amber Heard even used on of her own attacks against Mr. Depp to obtain a restraining order against him. “Ms. Heard falsely claimed that Mr. Depp physically attacked her, threw glasses at her, and broke a champagne bottle in their penthouse after her thirtieth birthday celebration on April 21, 2016.” The lawsuit claims Amber Heard “punched Mr. Depp twice in the face as he lay in bed reading, forcing him to flee their penthouse to avoid further domestic violence at the hands of Ms. Heard.” The lawsuit claims Sean Bett an 18-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was part of Johnny Depp’s security detail and witnessed the aftermath of the attack. It also notes that he had taken photographs of previous attacks in 2015.
The Blast leaked a photo of Johnny Depp with a black eye allegedly from the thirtieth birthday party.
The lawsuit goes on to claim that Ms. Heard’s domestic abuse allegations are false and have in fact been refuted by “police, neutral third party-witnesses, and 87 surveillance videos.”
Depp’s lawsuit is asking for “not less than $50,000,000 in compensatory damages.” But it also asks for punitive damages to the maximum extent permitted by the laws of this Commonwealth, but not less than $350,000.
The lawsuit has multiple counts of defamation including the online version of The Washington Post article, the print version of The Washington Post article, and a tweet linking to The Washington Post article.
Johnny Depp is requesting a trial by jury.
What do you make of Johnny Depp’s claims against Amber Heard? Do you believe him? Do you think he should get paid?