IS AMBER THE VICTIM TIM OF A SMEAR CAMPAIGN?
WHEN AMBER HEARD CLAIMED she had been the victim of physical and emotional abuse throughout her relationship with Johnny Depp in May, the actor had just one response. The 53-yearold is said to have enlisted his Hollywood allies, who duly assembled to paint Amber as a ‘manipulative arsehole’ (wrote the comedian Doug Stanhope online) and a liar.
Johnny’s partner of 14 years, Vanessa Paradis, also penned a handwritten open letter, alleging that Amber’s ‘outrageous’ claims looked ‘nothing like the man I lived with for 14 wonderful years’ and insisting the actor had never been abusive towards her.
The move has since been labelled a ‘smear campaign’ by Amber’s camp, who have accused Johnny of attempting to ‘thwart’ the divorce at every opportunity.
Now, Johnny has gone one step further, and has brought together a team of 23 witnesses – including Vanessa – to testify in court against Amber this week over her request to be granted a permanent restraining order against him.
Court documents reportedly reveal that Johnny has called upon Amber’s publicist Jodi Gottlieb, the two security guards called to the scene on the night that Amber claims Johnny struck her face with an iphone, and five concierges who saw Amber the week after the alleged event.
Their housekeeper Hilda Vargas is also on the list, who is apparently to disclose information about a ‘mystery discovery’ she made in April. In addition, the actor is expected to produce the 2009 police report showing that Amber was once herself arrested for domestic violence against
her then girlfriend Tasya van Ree.
The move has already been branded as yet another attempt to ruin Amber’s credibility. But sources say Johnny is attempting to gather a wall of evidence against Amber to persuade her into accepting a smaller financial settlement out of court.
‘Johnny’s playing hardball with Amber now,’ says a close source. ‘The way his lawyers are playing this out, it’s either going to destroy Amber’s reputation or result in her dropping all charges for a negotiated settlement.
‘It’s a risk to take, because it could mean it will all end up in court, but his team are definitely hoping to settle it all privately. It’s scare tactics.’
It comes after conflicting reports emerged last week about Amber’s state of being when she arrived at the office of Johnny’s attorney Laura Wasser to give evidence. According to Laura, Amber seemed ‘manic’ and refused to give her testimony. But sources close to the 30-year-old insisted she ‘waited for 10 hours, and at no time did Amber ever refuse to start the deposition’.
At the time of going to press, Amber was due to give her deposition – but doubts surrounded the hearing after she was thought to be in London hours before it was meant to begin.
Nonetheless, it seems Amber has no intention of backing down. The actor has already assembled her own team of witnesses including Raquel Rose Pennington, Raquel’s boyfriend Joshua Drew, Elizabeth Marz and io Tillett Wright – who was on the phone to the couple on the night of the alleged iphone attack.
Meanwhile, both sides have listed photographs, recordings and medical records to be shown in court. They are said to include pictures of medicine apparently prescribed to Amber following incidents of domestic violence.
‘Johnny’s plan is to destroy her character in court if necessary,’ continued the source. ‘But these cases are often a matter of “he said, she said” and domestic violence rarely occurs with a witness in the room.’