Johnny Depp and Amber Heard‘s legal battle began ugly — but it’s only getting worse as it goes.
The two are currently embroiled in a defamation lawsuit over Amber’s op-ed about domestic violence, which is obviously about Johnny (though she never uses his name).
The case has become a de facto trial to prove whether or not the alleged abuse happened; if she can prove it to a jury, then she plainly didn’t write lies about him, therefore no defamation.
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So clearly both stars are fighting this case with everything they have.
Recently Amber scored a victory when the court ordered Johnny to turn over his medical records to her legal team, something they hope to use to prove his history of alcohol and drug abuse.
Their argument that Depp’s substance use is relevant because it was a big factor in the alleged physical abuse was apparently persuasive.
Then again, the man has a “Wino Forever” tattoo. His drinking hasn’t ever exactly been a secret. Time will tell how Heard’s legal team uses the info they find.
However, one thing which doesn’t need explanation? Their search for corroboration.
See, the Aquaman star was also granted permission to investigate whether Johnny has ever abused other women in his life.
Depp’s team called the investigation a “fishing expedition” and “irrelevant” to this case.
Heard’s lawyer John Quinn rebutted during Friday’s hearing:
“He says he is not a perpetrator of domestic violence. So we have requested documents relating to Mr. Depp’s commission of domestic violence against other romantic partners.”
If Amber can show a history of domestic violence, that will no doubt bolster her own case. The judge agreed Depp had opened the door by making his declarative statement about not being a domestic abuser.
So what about that history do we know so far??
Well, with such a high profile case, it turns out we’ve already heard from some of Johnny’s exes on these very allegations…
Lori Anne Allison
Johnny and his first wife, Lori Anne Allison, were married from 1983 to 1985 — yes, back when he was a baby, just 20 years old.
Remarkably, the two are still friends and in occasional contact. (In fact, she still goes by Lori Depp.)
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj1J9jzA1bG/
According to a 2016 report from TMZ, she told friends she didn’t believe Heard’s claims because he never got physical with her — or even screamed at her for that matter!
She referred to Johnny’s gentle nature with parenting the couple’s dog, calling him a “soft person.”
Lori reportedly thinks he isn’t capable of hurting a woman.
Sherilyn Fenn
The Twin Peaks actress dated Johnny from 1985 to 1988 and is apparently still on his side after three decades apart.
In a tweet about the allegations, she wrote she knows her ex is “not capable of the things being written.” And she included a pic of the two together with little hearts.
I know JCD is not capable of the things being written. ???????????? pic.twitter.com/b0OIu8zU4n
— sherilynfenn (@sherilynfenn1) May 29, 2016
Winona Ryder
Johnny famously dated his Edward Scissorhands costar for four years from 1989 to 1993, just as they were both coming into their own as huge movie stars.
They were engaged for at least half that time, though they never married. However, Johnny did get a “Winona Forever” tattoo, which ironically, was not forever either — he has subsequently doctored it (see above).
Here’s what she had to say about Heard’s allegations in a June 2016 interview with Time magazine:
“Look, I mean, obviously I can only speak from my own experience. It’s very tricky because if it were any other type of scandal, like cheating, you could be like, ‘None of my business. No comment. Not appropriate for me.’ But I think because what is being said is so horrific and such a global issue for millions of women, obviously, that I understand why people feel it is their business. I get it. And I get why you would ask.
I can only speak from my own experience, which was wildly different than what is being said. He was never, never that way towards me. Never abusive at all towards me. I only know him as a really good, loving, caring guy who is very, very protective of the people that he loves.”
The Stranger Things star continued:
“I wasn’t there. I don’t know what happened. I’m not calling anyone a liar. I’m just saying, it’s difficult and upsetting for me to wrap my head around it. Look, it was a long time ago, but we were together for four years, and it was a big relationship for me. Imagine if someone you dated when you were — I was 17 when I met him — was accused of that.”
1989, when she was 17… For reference, that’s the same year Heathers came out.
She concluded:
“It’s just shocking. I have never seen him be violent toward a person before.”
“Toward a person” is an interesting qualifier considering what happened during his next relationship…
Kate Moss
In 1994, Johnny briefly but famously dated supermodel Kate Moss.
The two were known as much for their public fights as for their public displays of affection.
The screaming matches culminated when Depp was arrested for criminal mischief over damage caused to the couple’s room at New York’s Mark Hotel.
The charges were later dismissed, and Johnny paid the hotel nearly $10k for the damages, plus the bill. He later described the incident in an Esquire animated interview, saying:
“I wasn’t embarrassed about it then, and I’m certainly not embarrassed about it now. I mean, you know, I was in a bad mood, I assaulted a hotel room. I broke a lot of stuff. And it felt good. I felt better afterwards. Can’t say that I would recommend it, but, you know, you do what you have to do in the moment. Then you have to do it.”
Hear him explain (below):
According to police reports from the time, Depp was “in a state of possible intoxication” — but Moss was unharmed.
She has not spoken much about their relationship in the intervening years, but she did say in a 2012 Esquire interview:
“There’s nobody that’s ever really been able to take care of me. Johnny did for a bit. I believed what he said. Like if I said, ‘What do I do?,’ he’d tell me. And that’s what I missed when I left. I really lost that gauge of somebody I could trust. Nightmare. Years and years of crying. Oh, the tears!”
Not exactly definitive defense of Depp, but it is overall positive.
Vanessa Paradis
The longest relationship of Johnny Depp’s life has been with model and actress Vanessa Paradis.
The two were together from 1998 until 2012 and share two children together, Jack (17) and Lily-Rose Depp (20).
In fact Johnny’s relationship with Amber — with whom he costarred in 2011’s The Rum Diary — began as a rebound from the nearly decade-and-a-half relationship with Vanessa.
However, the French baby momma apparently bears no ill will, as she wrote an open letter (which found its way to TMZ) unequivocally in defense of her ex:
“To whom it may concern, Johnny Depp is the father of my two children. He is a sensitive, loving and loved person, and I believe with all my heart that these recent allegations being made are outrageous.
In all the years I have known Johnny, he has never been physically abusive with me and this looks nothing like the man I live with for 14 wonderful years.”
That’s a pretty strong defense.
Actually, with everything we’ve heard from his exes publicly being so positive, we’re surprised Amber’s team is trying this tactic.
It’s certainly not necessary for an abuser to have a history of it. People can change and turn into beings capable of monstrous acts. Still, you can see why some would scratch their heads here at Heard’s strategy.
There are other women Johnny has been with, obviously — including Dirty Dancing star Jennifer Grey, Juliette Lewis, and Ellen Barkin — but so far as we know there’s been no other smoke to imply other fires.
Presumably this investigation will seek information from all of them, or as Heard’s legal team hopes, “proof” of his abusive behavior.
As her attorney Roberta Kaplan said in a statement to DailyMail.com on Monday:
“It is Mr. Depp who started this lawsuit on the theory that Ms. Heard somehow made up all the abuse that forced her to obtain a restraining order against Mr. Depp back in 2016.
Now that the facts in his own lawsuit are making him uncomfortable, Mr. Depp wants to hide evidence commonly understood to be connected to incidents of domestic violence: his decades-long abuse of drugs and alcohol, his past history of violence, and medical records showing among other things the laundry list of prescription medications he takes daily and injuries from his drug-induced rages.
Mr. Depp started this fight. Ms. Heard intends to finish it by proving, if necessary, the truth of what really happened.”
This may indeed have been a poorly chosen fight for Depp.
More graphic descriptions of the alleged abuse have already come out as a result of his legal filing. However, Depp’s lawyer disagrees, once again calling Heard’s initial allegations a “notorious abuse hoax” and saying she is now “compounding the original crime with new false abuse allegations and other smearing innuendo.” He concluded:
“There is a public trial February 3, and that is when truth replaces PR.”
We certainly wish we could get the full truth right now, but something tells us there will always be doubt when it comes to this battle.
[Image via Apega/News Pictures/KIKA/WENN/Avalon/Lori Depp/Instagram.]
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