Johnny Depp sues ex-wife Amber Heard for $50m in defamation case - NEWS.com.au

Johnny Depp has launched a mammoth lawsuit against his ex-wife, fellow actor Amber Heard, for allegedly defaming him.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star has sued Heard for a staggering $50 million in damages.

It comes almost three years after the couple’s two-year marriage dissolved in a very public way.

They finalised their divorce more than eight months after they separated.

Heard took out a restraining order against Depp, and a judge ordered him to pay his former wife $7m — which she donated to a series of domestic violence charities.

According to celebrity website Deadline, Depp’s lawsuit revolves around an opinion piece Heard wrote in December last year.

The piece, published in The Washington Post, spoke about her relationships with men and experience with domestic violence.

In legal documents, obtained by Deadline, Depp’s lawyers allege: “Ms. Heard is not a victim of domestic abuse, she is a perpetrator.”

Appearing on TV show USA Today, Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman, said Heard was the real reason the marriage didn’t last.

“First she abused him physically, then she abused his reputation,” he said.

The lawsuit accuses Heard of orchestrating “an elaborate hoax to generate positive publicity for (herself) and advance her career”.

Depp’s team also allege Heard physically abused her former husband and faked injuries which she claimed he had inflicted on her.

“Mr. Depp never abused Ms. Heard … Her allegations against him were false when they were made in 2016,” the document allegedly stated.

Heard’s lawyer, Eric George, told USA Today that the allegations were “frivolous”.

“This frivolous action is just the latest of Johnny Depp’s repeated efforts to silence Amber Heard,” he said.

“Mr Depp’s actions prove he is unable to accept the truth of his ongoing abusive behaviour,

“But while he appears hellbent 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’s Washington Post piece appears to be the central issue around which the $50m defamation case has been built.

While not explicitly calling out Depp as the perpetrator of domestic violence, the Aquaman star’s tone was clearly accusatory.

“I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse,” Heard wrote.

“I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”

According to the AV Club, the lawsuit blames Heard’s article for getting him dropped from Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise shortly after it’s publication.

To complicate matters further, Depp’s lawyers are also alleging Heard was involved with Tesla’s Elon Musk, who she dated after her divorce, while she was still married to Depp.

This isn’t Depp’s first legal rodeo, however.

He is currently embroiled in a range of lawsuits, including one against the Australian government over the alleged illegal importation of his pet dogs into the country.

Depp also pursued legal against after The Sun called him a “wife-beater” based on Heard’s allegations.

He is also enmeshed in a lawsuit against his former managers and another against his former attorneys.

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