Amber Heard's claim that Johnny Depp 'slapped and shoved' her in March 2015 has one GLARING 'inconsistency'
In response to Johnny Depp filing a $50 million defamation lawsuit against her last year — stemming from a 2018 Washington Post op-ed that she had written — Amber Heard submitted a lengthy and detailed declaration in Fairfax County, Virginia Circuit Court, urging the judge to throw out the case.
In an attempt to uphold the allegations of domestic abuse against her former husband and at the same time disprove the counter-evidence submitted by the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' actor in his lawsuit, the 'Aquaman' star categorically recounted specific instances of the alleged violence that she claimed Depp inflicted upon her.
She used subheadings in the declaration which mentioned a dateline — the time and place — where each alleged assault took place.
For example, she started with "Late 2012/ Early 2013, Los Angeles, California" where she claimed was "the first time Johnny hit me." At that time, he allegedly slapped her thrice over an argument over a tattoo. "I froze, whether out of fear or shock, and then I went home without saying a word. I thought about leaving Johnny then," she wrote in her declaration.
Similarly, under the dateline marked, "March 2015, Australia", Heard talks about how she had gone to surprise Depp who was filming a movie Down Under when she discovered that the actor, who was supposed to be clean at the time, had been using MDMA (ecstasy).
She claimed that when she struck up an argument about him using drugs, he "pushed me, slapped me, and shoved me to the ground before I retreated to a locked bedroom." Being jet-lagged, she stated that she went to sleep.
The next day she found that Depp had allegedly downed eight pills of MDMA and stayed awake the entire night. When she threatened to smash his bottle of alcohol, he got violent, she alleged and began throwing pans and bottles at her. A fight ensued and he allegedly got physical with her, hitting her, shoving her to the ground, choking her and spitting on her face, according to her declaration.
"I wanted Johnny to go to sleep, in the hopes that he would sober up. Instead, he began to fight with me about our upcoming marriage," lines in her court papers read.
But here there is a problem: Depp and Heard got married in February 2015 and the dateline in her declaration, as mentioned earlier, says "March 2015." So, according to her claim, the Australia incident happened a month after they got married.
In fact, the couple not only wed once but tied the knot twice. After having a private wedding at their Los Angeles home on February 3, 2015, both of them solidified their love in a tropical beach ceremony on Depp's private island, Little Hall's Pond Cay, in the Bahamas, on February 7, which was the following weekend.
"Johnny's private island is a tropical paradise. Wedding guests were treated to an amazing weekend that ended with a romantic beach ceremony," a source told People magazine at the time. "Guests relaxed on the beaches, had fun snorkeling and enjoyed food cooked by private chefs. Everyone seemed to have the best time. It was a very celebratory vibe."
They swapped vows under a white marquee decorated with flowers, which was witnessed by a close-knit group of guests, which included Depp's daughter Lily Rose, and son Jack, whom he shares with former girlfriend-actress Vanessa Paradis.
“The weather was perfect and the beach setting was gorgeous,” the source added at the time. “The ceremony was beach casual and intimate, yet very romantic.”
According to the U.S. Penal Code, any discrepancy in one's court declaration that does not align with the truth in any way could be grounds for perjury.
"Whoever under oath (or in any declaration, certificate, verification, or statement under penalty of perjury as permitted under section 1746 of title 28, United States Code) in any proceeding before or ancillary to any court or grand jury of the United States knowingly makes any false material declaration or makes or uses any other information, including any book, paper, document, record, recording, or other material, knowing the same to contain any false material declaration, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both," the code says.