Johnny Depp‘s lawyer, Adam Waldman, told HollywoodLife in a statement statement that the actor is responding to ex-wife Amber Heard‘s claims of abuse by fighting fire with fire. Heard claims in court documents, obtained by People and Page Six on April 11, that Depp abused her multiple times throughout their marriage, calling him a “monster” who allegedly beat her while abusing drugs and alcohol. Depp, who counter-sued her earlier this year for defamation, following a December 2018 op-ed Heard wrote for The Washington Post, alleges that she abused him. Waldman wrote in his statement that Depp’s legal team is now interviewing several women who have come forward with claims that Heard acted violently toward them, and that Heard’s new court filing is an example of “sustaining her hoax [by] shifting to new lies.” “Which part of 87 surveillance videos, 19 (and growing) sworn eyewitness statements, audio tapes, time and date stamped photographs, police depositions, and her own sworn testimony do [Amber] and her PR team not understand?” Waldman said in his statement.
“Ms. Heard has a new problem besides defamation, perjury, and filing a demonstrably false temporary restraining order demand with the court: we are now interviewing other women who have come forward claiming they are victims of horrific acts of violence and other abuse at the hands of Amber Heard, [including] Johnny Depp and Tasya van Rhee, the latter of whom Ms. Heard was previously arrested and incarcerated for assaulting,” he continued. He also states that subpoenas have been issued to Amber Heard, Elon Musk (Heard’s former boyfriend), and other witnesses “to explain the avalanche of evidence with which we intend to confront them.”
Waldman continues: “Despite [yesterday’s] claim ‘that was the only time I ever hit Johnny’ to explain away our release of published, time stamped photos, Ms. Heard grudgingly admitted in her deposition to multiple instances of violence against Mr. Depp. And those admissions are a mere fraction of the catalogued violence and other abuse Mr. Depp suffered, including the severing of his finger in March 2015, right before Ms. Heard flew back to LA to stay in Mr. Depp’s penthouse with Elon Musk.”
Heard claims in the new court documents that Depp, “on some occasions,” would abuse “both illegal narcotics and prescription medications” and be violent towards her. She recounts in the court docs an alleged incident that occurred on a flight from Boston to Los Angeles in May 2014: “On the flight, Johnny ordered the flight attendants to give him an oxygen tank, and drank heavily. Johnny’s handlers told me that he was upset that I was filming a movie with a romantic scene with James Franco the day before. Soon, Johnny began to throw objects at me. Instead of reacting to his behavior, I simply moved seats. That didn’t stop him. He provocatively pushed a chair at me as I walked by, yelled at me, and taunted me by yelling out the name ‘James Franco.’
The court filing goes on to state: “At some point, I stood up, and Johnny kicked me in the back, causing me to fall over. Johnny threw his boot at me while I was on the ground. Johnny continued to scream obscenities until he went into the plane bathroom and passed out locked in the bathroom for the remainder of the flight.” Later, she claims in the recent court document, Depp was horrified by what happened, and apologized to her via text. She alleges in the court docs that he wrote, “Once again, I find myself in a place of shame and regret. Of course, I am sorry. I really don’t know why or what happened. But I will never do it again… My illness somehow crept up and grabbed me … I must get better . . . Again, I am so sorry, so sorry. … I love you and I feel so bad for letting you down.”
However, Waldman centered these claims, writing, “In the face of 87 surveillance videos, 19 (and counting) sworn eyewitnesses, audio tape and date stamped photographs, Amber Heard’s sole witness is now Amber Heard, a woman previously arrested and incarcerated for domestic abuse,” Waldman told HollywoodLife exclusively. “Under oath, she refused to answer whether she had domestically abused her own sister. And now, new women are coming forward with their stories of violent abuse at the hands of Amber Heard. She is about to learn that Court filings are not Instagram.”