Paul Bettany Addresses Messages With Johnny Depp That Went Public

Paul Bettany reminisced on his text exchanges with Johnny Depp being thoroughly read over by lawyers during the latter's court trial.

The 50-year-old "WandaVision" actor spoke to the UK's The Times about how embarrassing the incident was. He mentioned that the court case was a very "surreal moment," and he "didn't know Johnny when he was married to" Amber Heard, with whom he had a tumultuous split.

"I knew him before. But we hadn't spoken for years. During the marriage, I didn't know them. So I wasn't around for any of that," Bettany added. "We live in a world without context."

The texts he had with Depp were in 2013, and one of them included a message from Depp which read, "Let's burn Amber."

"I'm not sure we should burn Amber. She is delightful company and pleasing on the eye. We could of course do the English course of action and perform a drowning test. Thoughts? You have a swimming pool," Bettany replied, as reported by The Times.

"Let's drown her before we burn her!!!" Depp reportedly replied.

He concluded his interview, "I know how this works. Anything that you say is oxygen for a fire. And there's just no fucking fire," he added. "The only real way to deal with this elegantly is to say: I'm not sure there's anybody who has one of these devices that would feel comfortable having a team of lawyers scour their private text messages."

The "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" actor lost his libel case against the Sun newspaper over an article that labeled him a "wife beater."

However, while ruling his verdict, the Judge said the Sun had proven the article's content to be "substantially true," as he found 12 of the 14 alleged incidents to have occurred.

However, the actor's lawyer called the ruling "perverse" and mentioned an appeal for his client.

"This decision is as perverse as it is bewildering. Most troubling is the judge's reliance on the testimony of Amber Heard and corresponding disregard of the mountain of counter-evidence from police officers, medical practitioners, her own former assistant, other unchallenged witnesses and an array of documentary evidence which completely undermined the allegations, point by point. The judgement is so flawed that it would be ridiculous for Mr. Depp not to appeal this decision," the lawyer added.

On the other hand, The Sun's spokesperson thanked Ms. Heard for "her courage in giving the evidence for the court."

The trial was heard for over 16days in July at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Ms. Heard's lawyer, Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, said the ruling was "not a surprise."

"Very soon, we will be presenting even more voluminous evidence in the US," she said.

The domestic violence allegations spanned from 2013 to 2016, when the couple split. The judge highlighted three incidents where Depp put his estranged wife in "fear of her life."

In one of those incidents, Mr. Depp was reportedly physically and verbally abusive towards Ms. Heard while drinking and taking drugs. However, Depp accused Ms. Heard of severing his finger, but the Judge didn't lay the responsibility of the physical abuse on Ms. Heard.

"Taking all the evidence together, I accept that she was the victim of sustained and multiple assaults by Mr. Depp in Australia," said the judge, Mr. Justice Nicol. "It is a sign of the depth of his rage that he admitted scrawling graffiti in blood from his injured finger and then, when that was insufficient, dipping his badly injured finger in paint and continuing to write messages and other things," the judge said. "I accept her evidence of the nature of the assaults he committed against her. They must have been terrifying."

Bettany had continually defended the actor against all allegations. The 50-year-old wrote in a Twitter post, "Known Johnny Depp for years and through several relationships. He's the sweetest, kindest, gentlest man that I've ever known. Just saying."

The pair starred together in 2014's sci-fi thriller movie "Transcendence" and 2015's action-comedy movie "Mortdecai."

His interview with The Times comes after he admitted to the Independent that having his messages with Depp go public was a "strange moment."

"You suddenly have one of the most scabrous newspapers in London and their lawyers pouring through your texts for the last 10 years. Can you imagine what it would be like, honestly, to have a bunch of lawyers go through every one of your emails and texts for 10 years? All I can tell you is that it was an unpleasant feeling," he concluded.

The pair met on the location of 2011's "The Rum Diary," where they both played on-screen lovers.

Their on-screen chemistry was palpable, but despite a flurry of rumors, neither of the stars confirmed the status of their relationship. This was because, at the time, Depp was involved with his partner of 14 years, Vanessa Paradis, and Heard was dating her former partner Tasha Van Ree.

Nonetheless, after nine months of dating, the couple revealed their engagement in July 2014. Depp confessed that his feelings for Heard intensified after they left the location of "Rum Diary."

"She was in my head, so I tracked her down," Depp said. "We tracked each other down," he added. "We tracked each other down. Actually, incidentally, it was amazing. It was at the first day of press on The Rum Diary. Then we married that very day!"