Why Johnny Depp’s legal team fought to exclude references to Marilyn Manson during Depp v Heard trial, explained

Although the verdict of the Depp v. Heard trial aka John C. Depp, II v. Amber Laura Heard (CL-2019-2911), one of the most contentious celebrity trials of all time, was supposedly decided on June first this year, new information continues to come to light. Over 6 thousand pages of court records were unsealed this weekend revealing a series of revelations that may come to light as Heard attempts to appeal the $8 million ruling against her in the case.

According to The Daily Beast, several of the documents allegedly indicate that Depp and his legal team fought unsuccessfully to keep references to Depp’s longstanding friendship with shock rocker Marilyn Manson out of the trial. Yahoo News has reported that Depp’s team attempted to exclude any “references to and evidence regarding Marilyn Manson” out of concern it might “smear Mr. Depp under a guilty by association theory.” Manson is currently embroiled in a legal battle with his ex-girlfriend actor Evan Rachel Wood. Wood and several other individuals have accused Manson aka Brian Warner of multiple instances of grooming, sexual abuse, and rape. Manson has denied the charges and, similar to Depp, has filed a lawsuit against his ex, Wood for defamation following the release of Wood’s documentary Phoenix Rising.

The New York Post reported that Warner texted Depp in 2016 in regards to what the singer described as an “amber 2.0” situation. Manson, whose wife is named Lindsay Usich, then allegedly texted “Lindsay just puled [sic] an amber on me…please delete,” Manson Depp reportedly replied, “I been reading A LOT of material on that and sociopathic behavior…it is fucking real my brother!! My ex-cunt is goddamn TEXTBOOK!!!” Then Manson, then was said to have texted, “I got a serious police amber type scenarios with L’s family. I’m fucking stressing. I don’t know if you are back but I need asylum somewhere because I think the cops might be headed my way.”