Aquaman actress Amber Heard called the $50 million defamation lawsuit her ex-husband, Pirates of the Caribbean actor Johnny Depp, filed against her on Friday “frivolous.”
“This frivolous action is just the latest of Johnny Depp’s repeated efforts to silence Amber Heard,” Heard’s attorney, Eric M. George, told Deadline late Friday. “She will not be silenced.”
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The attorney continued, “Mr. Depp’s actions prove he is unable to accept the truth of his ongoing abusive behavior. But while he appears hell-bent 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.”
In the lawsuit, Depp called Heard’s abuse claims against him an “elaborate hoax to generate positive publicity” and “advance her career.”
Depp’s attorneys specifically cited a December 2018 op-ed Heard wrote for the Washington Post titled “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”
Although Heard never directly mentioned Depp in the op-ed, the lawsuit claimed it “depends on the central premise that Ms. Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr. Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her.”
In the lawsuit, Depp claimed he was once a victim of domestic abuse, accusing Heard of throwing a vodka bottle at him a month into their marriage. He also claimed he had a neighbor and the testimony of two police officers who disputed Heard’s claims she was attacked by Depp on May 21, 2016.
The lawsuit also points out that Disney dropped Depp from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise four days after her op-ed was published.
“Ms. Heard also knew that her elaborate hoax worked: as a result of her false allegations against Mr. Depp, Ms. Heard became a darling of the #MeToo movement, was the first actress named a Human Rights Champion of the United Nations Human Rights Office, was appointed ambassador on women’s rights at the American Civil Liberties Union, and was hired by L’Oreal Paris as its global spokesperson,” Depp’s attorney said in a statement to The Blast.
Heard filed for divorce in May 2016 after only 15 months of marriage. The divorce was finalized in January 2017, with Depp paying Heard a $7 million settlement. The Magic Mike XXL actress donated the settlement to charities for victims of domestic violence and the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
In her op-ed, Heard wrote about being exposed to abuse throughout her life, and noted she “became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out” after she spoke out against Depp.
Heard most recently played Mera in the box office hit Aquaman, which will get a sequel in 2022.
Photo credit: Stuart Wilson/Getty Images
