Johnny Depp’s legal team have said he is not a wife beater and that allegations of violence against his ex-wife Amber Heard are “complete lies”.
The Hollywood star is in a London court today, to sue The Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an article which called him a “wife beater”.
The piece also stated that there was “overwhelming evidence” that he attacked the actress during their relationship, however Johnny has vehemently denied this.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star’s lawyer, David Sherborne, said the article made “defamatory allegations of the utmost seriousness” against the actor, accusing him of “inflicting such serious injuries that she feared for her life”.
“The articles amount to a full-scale attack on the claimant as a ‘wife beater’, guilty of the most horrendous physical abuse,” he added.
“The author deploys a panoply of cultural and topical references – namely the #MeToo movement, the Time’s Up movement and the disgraced film mogul and serial abuser of women Harvey Weinstein – in order to convey the seriousness of what the claimant is alleged to have done.
“They are allegations which the claimant absolutely denies, and which, at the time of publication, he had already publicly denied.
“Despite that, the defendants published the allegations, without any reference to the claimant’s position, to launch (Mr Wootton’s) ‘brand new column’ with a fanfare.
“The claimant’s position is clear – Ms Heard’s allegations are complete lies. The claimant was not violent towards Ms Heard, it was she who was violent to him.”
“The documentary evidence shows that Ms Heard is a complex individual who suffered extreme mood swings, would provoke endless circular arguments, and fly into violent rages.
“During her relationship with the claimant, she was taking a wide range of prescribed medication and other drugs, and her behaviour was extremely unpredictable – at times she was controlling and ‘mothering’, at other times hostile and angry if she did not get the claimant’s full attention, and at other times the opposite towards him, having affairs or seeking attention from elsewhere.”
“The evidence will also show that the claimant was in love with her, and that he found it very difficult to understand or deal with her often bewildering behaviour.
“The marriage was at times physical, at her instigation, and on occasions he found it necessary to defend himself from her violence.
“He is not a wife beater and never has been,” he added.
His Lawyer went on to accuse Amber of creating “shocking lies” about him.
“From Mr Depp’s knowledge of her and her ability to tell convincing lies, and from material which has emerged in the aftermath of their marriage, it is clear that Ms Heard is someone who was prepared to go to extreme lengths when she was not getting her own way and to characterise herself as a spokesperson for domestic violence, exploiting the rising popular movement for speaking out against violence against women for her own ends.”
Johnny and Amber both arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Tuesday wearing face coverings, with dozens of photographers waiting outside to snap their arrivals.
