JOHNNY CASH
Heard’s £5m pledge a ‘lie’
AMBER Heard’s claim she donated her £5million divorce settlement from Johnny Depp to charity was a “calculated and manipulative lie”, a court heard yesterday.
She pledged to divide the cash between the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the American Civil Liberties Union when their 15-month marriage ended five years ago.
But ACLU received just £322,000 while the hospital got only £71,000, the court was told.
Ms Heard, 34, used what would have been a “remarkable act of philanthropy” to give the judge in Depp’s libel trial last July a “potent favourable impression” of her, appeal court judges in London heard.
Depp, 57, sued a UK publisher over an article branding him a wife-beater. After a three-week hearing, Mr Justice Nicol ruled in November that Depp assaulted her 12 times and the article was “substantially true”.
Yesterday Depp’s lawyers returned to London’s Royal Courts Of Justice seeking permission to overturn the ruling and force a new trial. Andrew Caldecott QC, for Depp, said the alleged false cash pledges by Ms Heard “strengthened her credit in an exceptional way” and helped convince the judge she was telling the truth about the attack. But Adam Wolanski QC, for the publisher, said Heard had done “nothing dishonest” and planned to donate the money in instalments. Sasha Wass QC, also for the publisher, said Ms Heard’s complaints were supported by diary entries, texts, photos of injuries, medical evidence and apologies by Depp.
She said the Pirates Of The Caribbean star became a “monster” on cocaine and booze and his behaviour, at times, was “deranged”. The appeal court judges will give a written ruling later.