More than five years after their break-up, Johnny Depp’s $50 million defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard is taking centre stage in a Virginia courtroom this month.
In opening statements shared on April 12, Depp’s lawyers argued that Heard ruined the actor’s reputation by “choosing to lie about him for her own personal benefit.”
In 2018, Heard wrote a piece for the Washington Post in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”
Although the op-ed article never mentioned Depp by name, his attorneys said in court documents that it was all part of an elaborate hoax that Heard concocted her story in the hopes of generating “positive publicity” and to “advance her career.”
Heard is counter suing for £100m.
So far Depp’s evidence has centred on painting Heard as an abuser with borderline personality disorder, using testimonies from staff and doctors close to the actress.
Heard is giving her testimony and presenting her case this month and is expected to give damning evidence of domestic abuse and Depp’s alcohol and drug addiction.
