Johnny Depp Files $50 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against Amber Heard, Calls Her Abuse Claims an 'Elaborate Hoax'

Johnny Depp has filed a defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife, Amber Heard, alleging her domestic abuse claims were "an elaborate hoax" and he is going after her for a whopping $50 million.

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Depp is taking issue with an article Heard wrote for the Washington Post in December 2018. The lawsuit states, "Ms. Heard purported to write from the perspective of 'a public figure representing domestic abuse' and claimed that she 'felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out' when she 'spoke up against sexual violence.'"

Depp's attorney acknowledges that she never mentions Depp by name, but says the entire article "depends on the central premise that Ms. Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr. Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her."

In the suit, Depp calls the "false allegations" against him "an elaborate hoax to generate positive publicity" for her and "advance her career." The lawsuit strongly states that she is the one attacked him, claiming, "Ms. Heard is not a victim of domestic abuse; she is a perpetrator."

TheBlast.com

He claims that Heard's abuse claims were "conclusively refuted by two separate responding police officers, a litany of neutral third-party witnesses, and 87 newly obtained surveillance camera videos."

A very publicized incident between the couple occurred on May 21, 2016, when Heard claimed Depp attacked her. Depp claims a neighbor gave a declaration saying "he repeatedly interacted with Ms. Heard, at close range, without makeup, and utterly unmarked and uninjured in the days between May 22 and May 27, 2016."

The lawsuit also claims that two police officers "testified under oath that they closely observed Ms. Heard's face in good light on May 21, 2016 and saw no signs of any injury."

TheBlast.com

The lawsuit claims that an employee of the building reviewed building surveillance video three days after the alleged incident. Depp claims the employee "testified under oath that she saw Whitney Heard pretend to punch her sister in the face. Then Ms. Heard, Ms. Pennington [Heard's best friend], and Whitney Heard all laughed."

Heard was granted a temporary restraining order against Depp because of the incident after she claimed to "live in fear that Johnny will return to the residence unannounced to terrorize me, physically and emotionally."

Depp also details an incident one month into their marriage where he claims she threw a glass vodka bottle at him, which shattered when he made contact with his hand. He claims his finger had to be surgically reattached and claims Heard "disseminated false accounts of this incident, casting Mr. Depp as the perpetrator of his own injury."

TheBlast.com

He claims the op-ed caused damage to his career, claiming that four days after the op-ed was published, he was dropped from "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Johnny Depp's attorney sums up everything by saying, "Ms. Heard also knew that her elaborate hoax worked: as a result of her false allegations against Mr. Depp, Ms. Heard became a darling of the #MeToo movement, was the first actress named a Human Rights Champion of the United Nations Human Rights Office, was appointed ambassador on women's rights at the American Civil Liberties Union, and was hired by L'Oreal Paris as its global spokesperson."

Depp is suing for defamation and asking for damages in excess of $50,000,000.

Eric George, an attorney for Amber Heard, tells The Blast, "This frivolous action is just the latest of Johnny Depp’s repeated efforts to silence Amber Heard. She will not be silenced. Mr. Depp’s actions prove he is unable to accept the truth of his ongoing abusive behavior. But while he appears hell-bent on achieving self-destruction, we will prevail in defeating this groundless lawsuit and ending the continued vile harassment of my client by Mr. Depp and his legal team."

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Amber Heard and Johnny Depp finalized their divorce in January 2017. She filed for divorce in May 2016 after just 15 months of marriage.

The couple married in a small ceremony at his home in Los Angeles and had another ceremony a few days later on Depp's private island in the Bahamas. They met on the set of the 2011 movie, "The Rum Diary."

The couple's split was very acrimonious with Heard accusing Depp of domestic abuse. When the couple settled their divorce, with Heard receiving a $7 million payout from Depp, she turned around and donated a portion of the money to charities focused on helping to stop violence against women and the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

In an interview last year with British GQ, Johnny Depp denied he ever abused Heard, saying, "The thing that hurt me is being presented as something that you’re really as far away from as you could possibly get, you know?"