ABC/Randy Holmes(LOS ANGELES) –Johnny Depp has slapped his his ex-wife, Aquaman actress Amber Heard, with a $50 million defamation lawsuit in response to a piece she wrote for The Washington Post about domestic abuse.
The complaint, filed Friday in the Circuit Court of Fairfax, Virginia and obtained by Deadline, claims “Ms. Heard is not a victim of domestic abuse, she is a perpetrator,” adding that the allegations were, “part of an elaborate hoax to generate positive publicity for Ms. Heard and advance her career.”
“I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse,” Heard wrote in the Post article. “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”
Depp’s suit claims that while the article didn’t mention him by name, it was clear Heard was talking about him, and that the Pirates of the Caribbean star has suffered financial losses as a result of the accusations, including being dropped from his role as Capt. Jack Sparrow in future Pirates of the Caribbean films.
In a statement to Deadline, Heard’s attorney, Eric M. George, says, “This frivolous action is just the latest of Johnny Depp’s repeated efforts to silence Amber Heard.”
“Mr. Depp’s actions prove he is unable to accept the truth of his ongoing abusive behavior, adds George. But while he appears hell-bent on achieving self destruction, we will prevail in defeating this groundless lawsuit and ending the continued vile harassment of my client by Mr. Depp and his legal team.”
Heard first accused Depp of domestic violence in May 2016, the year after they were married. Their divorce was finalized in 2017.
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