Amber Heard Details Alleged Abuse by Johnny Depp in Response to His $50M Lawsuit

Last month, he filed papers against his ex-wife after she wrote an op-ed depicting herself as a domestic abuse victim. He has denied her allegations.

By Corinne Heller Apr 12, 2019 3:13 PMTags
Watch: Is the Johnny Depp & Amber Heard Abuse Commentary Dangerous?

Amber Heard wants a judge to dismiss her ex-husband Johnny Depp's $50 million defamation lawsuit against her, and has detailed more alleged incidents of domestic abuse by him.

Last month, the 55-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean star filed papers against the 32-year-old actress after she wrote a Washington Post op-ed depicting herself as a domestic abuse victim. He has denied her allegations, which she first made while filing for divorce in 2016 to end their 15-month marriage.

Heard filed a motion to dismiss Depp's lawsuit in Virginia on Thursday. Her papers detail several instances when the actress says her ex hit her, shoved her, threw cans and glass bottles at her or ripped out her hair. She claims that during one incident on the Eastern and Oriental Express train, Depp choked her against a wall.

"I remember being afraid that Johnny might not know when to stop, and that he might kill me," she wrote.

Depp, she claimed, "would become a totally different person, often delusional and violent," adding, "We called that version of Johnny, 'the Monster.'"

 

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Johnny Depp & Amber Heard: Romance Rewind

Her documents include photos of her sporting bruises, pictures of property damage she blames on Depp, screenshots of text messages describing the incidents and excerpts of her divorce deposition, in which she talks about the alleged abuse.

 

Getty Images

"Johnny Depp physically and verbally abused Amber Heard," her attorney said in a statement. "Since their divorce, Mr. Depp has continued to publicly harass Ms. Heard, and attempted to gaslight the world by denying his abuse. It is long past time for Mr. Depp's despicable conduct to end. Today, we presented to the court irrefutable evidence of Mr. Depp's abuse. It is regrettable that it will take a judge to finally end the persistent harassment of Ms. Heard by Mr. Depp, but Ms. Heard will take whatever action is necessary to vindicate the truth."

In Depp's lawsuit, the actor claims Heard was the one who physically abused him. In her response, the actress admits to punching him, once, to protect her sister, who was visiting their home while the actor was allegedly acting violently.

Depp's lawyer said in a statement to E! News on Friday, "The only way for Amber Heard to sustain her hoax is to shift to new lies."

"Despite today's claim 'that was the only time I ever hit Johnny' to explain published, time stamped photos we released, in fact she grudgingly admitted in her deposition to multiple instances of violence against Mr. Depp, including: throwing a can of paint thinner into his head in front of witnesses, punching him in the face when they were alone, and kicking a door into his head when he was kneeling," the lawyer said. "And this is a fraction of the catalogued violence and other abuse Mr. Depp suffered, including the severing of his finger in March 2015, right before Ms. Heard flew back to LA to stay in Mr. Depp's penthouse with Elon Musk."

In his defamation lawsuit, Depp accused Heard of cheating on him with Elon Musk a month after they got married. The Tesla founder has said he and the actress started seeing each other only after the former couple's marriage ended.

Depp's lawsuit adds, "Musk's first appearance in Mr. Depp's penthouse occurred shortly after Ms. Heard threw a vodka bottle at Mr. Depp in Australia, when she learned that Mr. Depp wanted the couple to enter into a post-nuptial agreement concerning assets in their marriage. Ms. Heard's violently aimed projectile virtually severed Mr. Depp's middle finger on his right hand and shattered the bones. Mr. Depp's marriage to Ms. Heard came to an end in May 2016."

—Reporting by Alli Rosenbloom and Spencer Lubitz