There was another twist in the contentious ongoing legal battle between famous exes Johnny Depp and Amber Heard over the weekend, when unsealed court documents shed new light on evidence that was kept out of the courtroom during the highly publicized defamation case. And they certainly don’t portray the Pirates of the Caribbean actor in the best light.
Though the jury ruled in favor of Depp following the six week trial, ordering Heard to pay $10.35 million in damages, the 36-year-old actress has since been attempting to overturn the verdict. After a judge dismissed Heard’s motion for a mistrial, her legal team filed an appeal of the verdict — though it’s unclear whether the unearthed documents could factor into the court’s decision.
But whether or not the 6,000 pages of documents will be considered, there are a number of revelations that could undoubtedly sway the court of public opinion away from Depp. In addition to the 59-year-old’s team attempting to bring up Heard’s friend, who died in a car accident as a teenager, manipulating photo and audio evidence, and Heard’s decision to walk away from “tens of millions of dollars” in the couple’s divorce — there was also a laundry list of eye-popping legal evidence that Depp and his lawyers fought to exclude.
What legal evidence did Depp’s team fight to exclude?
Among the legal evidence Depp attempted or succeeded in suppressing was a testimony from actress Ellen Barkin, who had previously dated Depp and stated that he once threw a wine bottle at her; disturbing text messages between Depp and his friend, actor Paul Bettany, which “joked” about drowning and burning Heard; testimony from various psychiatrists, psychologists, and relationship consultants who spent time treating Heard and believed she was the victim of domestic abuse and/or suffers from PTSD as a result of it; and evidence pertaining to Depp’s medical history.
Specifically, Depp’s team was concerned that Heard would bring up the fact that Depp allegedly takes Valtrex, a common medication used to treat herpes — according to The Daily Beast.
“Team Depp also wished to exclude … any evidence regarding Depp’s “medical condition and medical history” other than “physical injuries sustained by Mr. Depp during the parties’ relationship, or the use of drugs or alcohol in Ms. Heard’s presence in the context of alleged abuse,” as they worried Heard wished to “present evidence that Mr. Depp takes Valtrex.”
For a point of reference, Web MD states that Valtrex, or Valacyclovir, “is used to treat infections caused by certain types of viruses.”
In children, it is used to treat cold sores around the mouth (caused by herpes simplex) and chickenpox (caused by varicella zoster). In adults, it is used to treat shingles (caused by herpes zoster) and cold sores around the mouth. Valacyclovir is also used to treat outbreaks of genital herpes.”
So, while it doesn’t sound as though Depp definitely and unequivocally has genital herpes, it also doesn’t sound like it can be ruled out that he doesn’t have them.
In either case, one can imagine why Depp would want to keep this embarrassing piece of information out of the public eye. But when suing someone for $50 million in a defamation lawsuit, one had better be prepared for all their skeletons — or herpes medication, in this case — to be dredged out of the closet.
