Now Depp sues ex-wife Amber Heard for $50m
JoHNNY Depp is suing his ex-wife Amber Heard for up to $ 50 million in a defamation lawsuit after she accused him of domestic violence.
Miss Heard, 32, has claimed the Pirates of the Caribbean star was abusive during their two-year marriage and sought a domestic violence restraining order in 2016. She applied for a divorce that year.
Images emerged at the time showing the actress with a bruised eye and face. She claimed Depp threw a phone at her face and struck her in their home.
But Depp, 55, described the allegations as ‘an elaborate hoax’.
He has instead claimed that his ex-wife repeatedly attacked and severely injured him.
The lawsuit, published by US website The Blast, refers to an article Miss Heard wrote for The Washington Post last December in which she said she had received death threats and lost out on work after accusing Depp of domestic abuse.
It states: ‘The ... clear implication [is] that Mr Depp is a domestic abuser is categorically and demonstrably false.’
It also claims Miss Heard threw a vodka bottle at him one month into their marriage, shattering bones in his right middle finger.
Depp’s legal papers add: ‘Ms Heard 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.’
Miss Heard withdrew claims Depp had assaulted her in a drunken argument after they agreed an outof-court settlement.
She received £5.5 million when their divorce was finalised in January 2017.
Depp has two children with French actress Vanessa Paradis – model Lily-rose, 19, and John, 16.