Johnny Depp doesn’t appear to be anywhere close to ending his ongoing defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard; in fact, judging by this news, it sure seems like things are only escalating.
Through his legal team, the Pirates of the Caribbean star just submitted a lengthy declaration of support document to the court regarding the lawsuit, in which he makes some pretty shocking claims about the nature and status of Heard’s alleged injuries she is reported to have sustained as part of their relationship.
Related: Johnny Depp Calls Into Question A Key 9-1-1 Call
Depp’s claims include a shocking allegation that Heard wasn’t actually injured by him, but rather that she “painted on” bruises seen in photographs, while at the same time allegedly inflicting “serious bodily injury” upon the 55-year-old actor in retaliation.
Furthermore, according to E! News, Depp’s court docs claim that Heard’s actions took place “while she was under the influence of a mix of prescription amphetamines and non-prescription drugs with alcohol.”
And Depp’s new declaration also alleges some bizarre acts beyond just physical harm, as well. At one point, he references an apparent incident in which the actress and one of her friends allegedly “defecated” in his bed “as some sort of a sick prank.” As a result of that incident piling on top of everything else he claims, he wrote (below):
“As a result of the years of domestic abuse I had suffered at the hands of Ms. Heard—most recently the April 21 physical attack and defecation on my bed sometime before she and her friends left the next morning—I resolved to divorce Ms. Heard.”
Hmmm…
Defecation allegations aside, most of this declaration doc directly contradicts previous court filings by Heard, who submitted photos of her bruises and pictures of property damage that she blamed on Depp.
So, in a response to to the actor’s bombshell declaration, Heard’s legal team released their own response (below):
“It is regrettable that it will take a judge to finally end the persistent harassment of Ms. Heard by Mr. Depp, but Ms. Heard will take whatever action is necessary to vindicate the truth.”
And her lead lawyer on the case, Eric George, felt it necessary to double down on that with another brand new statement about the new court docs on Tuesday morning, saying (below):
“The evidence in this case is clear: Johnny Depp repeatedly beat Amber Heard. The increasingly desperate attempts by Mr. Depp and his enablers to revive his career by initiating baseless litigation against so many people once close to him — his former lawyers, former managers, and his former spouse — are not fooling anyone. In light of the important work done by the #TimesUp movement highlighting the tactics abusers use to continue to traumatize survivors, neither the creative community nor the public will be gaslit by Mr. Depp’s baseless blame-the-victim conspiracy theories.”
For now, at least, this battle will be waged lawyer-to-lawyer, both in the courtroom and out in the court of public opinion. Depp’s attorney’s didn’t respond for comment after George’s second statement there, but we can be sure — this is far from the last we’ve heard on this defamation lawsuit.
Speaking of lawyers…
There’s a little problem. According to a separate set of court docs obtained by The Blast on Monday evening, Depp is being accused by Buckley LLP of not paying his legal bills, to the tune of a whopping $347,979 and some change! Not a small amount of money!
The Buckley firm had been instrumental in helping Depp with his $30 million lawsuit against his previous legal team over a controversial oral agreement that they eventually nixed in the actor’s favor… but now, he’s allegedly showing his appreciation by failing to pay up for services.
The firm no longer represents Depp; apparently, he requested they stop providing him legal services back in January. However, he still had that previous invoice to take care of and, according to the newly filed court docs, he hasn’t settled the bill. The lawyers do say Depp paid about $187,000 of his roughly $535,000 legal bill, but he still owes a good chunk of change.
They’re now suing for the $347,979.89 owed to them — PLUS interest and additional damages.
Just reading those numbers makes our blood pressure rise… can’t be great news for Johnny!
[Image via WENN]
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