Johnny Depp Files $50 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against Amber Heard
Johnny Depp is demanding damages from ex-wife Amber Heard after she wrote an op-ed characterizing herself as a domestic abuse victim.
Depp’s lawsuit calls Heard’s allegations of domestic violence against him a “hoax.”
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 lawyers state in the lawsuit obtained by PEOPLE. “The op-ed depended on the central premise that Ms. Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr. Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her.”
“Mr. Depp never abused Ms. Heard. Her allegations against him were false when they were made in 2016. They were part of an elaborate hoax to generate positive publicity for Ms. Heard and advance her career,” Depp’s lawyers say in the lawsuit.
Depp’s lawyers filed a $50 million defamation suit against Heard on Friday over her Dec. 18, 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post titled, “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”
In response, Heard’s rep said in a statement: “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.”
Depp’s lawyers go on to say that op-ed’s “implication that Mr. Depp is a domestic abuser is categorically and demonstrably false,” and that the allegations were refuted by police officers, a “litany” of neutral witnesses and 87 surveillance camera videos.
Depp, 55, and Heard, 32, met on the set of 2011’s The Rum Diary and were married from Feb. 2015 to May 2016.
The actress filed for a domestic violence restraining order against Depp in May 2016 after she accused him of abusing her. Depp denied the claims, and the former couple settled their divorce out of court in August 2016 for $7 million, which she donated to charity. Both actors signed NDAs barring them from discussing their relationship publicly.
Depp’s lawyers also say that the op-ed negatively affected Depp’s career, claiming that it cost him the role of Jack Sparrow in the ongoing Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. They say it was written to boost Heard’s profile before the premiere of Aquaman three days later.
The lawsuit additionally claims that Heard began a relationship with Tesla founder Elon Musk “no later than one month after” her and Depp wed. Depp claims Heard received “late night” visits from Musk, with his lawyers saying they’ve deposed members from the building’s security team to testify.
He goes on to claim Musk was granted access to his home the same night “she presented her battered face to the public.”
Reps for Musk did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Heard and Musk were first linked together in 2016. The two first broke up in August 2017 due to their busy schedules but rekindled their romance in January 2018 only to split for a second time a month later.
Depp is suing for compensatory damages following the op-ed, as well as punitive damages for the “willfulness and maliciousness that Ms. Heard demonstrated when she knowingly published the op-ed with the false implication that Mr. Depp violently abused her.”
