The summer of messy legal drama doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down any time soon. Amber Heard and Johnny Depp are currently embroiled in a defamation case, which stems from the Aquaman actress’ allegations of domestic abuse at the hands of her ex-husband. He’s adamantly denied the claims though and is now suing her in an attempt to clear his reputation.
The incident in question dates back to May 21st, 2016 when a 911 call was made. Depp’s team has provided video surveillance footage that shows him leaving the couple’s home at 8:30 PM. The plaintiff said that his ex-wife’s friend waited ninety minutes to call the police, but later testified in court that he’s actually the one who called 911 after his partner at the time started screaming during a particularly tense fight.
Heard, on the other hand, has records that show two calls were made in regards to an assault that night. One was at 8:30 PM and another at 10:09 PM. The actress says that Depp “clearly perjured himself claiming that there was only one 911 call reporting his abuse on the evening of May 21st, 2016.” She has also said that she hopes he’s “held responsible for submitting provably false and misleading, and in any event, irrelevant statements in his declaration.”
“These signal an intention by Mr. Depp to litigate in the court of public opinion,” reads a statement from Heard’s team. “The true impetus of this lawsuit is not the alleged defamation but that three years after the fact, Mr. Depp found ‘new evidence’ he wanted to present to a court some 3,000 miles from where any evidence or witnesses are found.”
A lot of times these cases can turn into a he-said, she-said ordeal. This, however, seems to be different. Though it’s possible Depp may be misremembering the night, Heard’s now shown evidence that her ex-husband has lied on record. She also has the infamous photograph of her facial bruises on the night she was attacked, though Depp has claimed that those were painted on in order to “fabricate” what happened.
There clearly’s no love lost between these two. The accused reportedly tried to get Heard fired from Aquaman, while simultaneously blaming her for losing his Pirates of the Caribbean role. As such, any hope that the pair will ever reconcile seems slim.
How this courtroom drama ends is currently anyone’s guess. With lies, accusations, sabotage and more constantly coming out every day, this is a legal battle that’s sure to stretch on for the coming weeks. With any luck, though, the public will have a concrete answer as to who’s in the wrong soon enough.
