Amber Heard op-ed alleging Johnny Depp domestic violence was written by ACLU staff: Report

In uncovered emails, an ACLU staffer tells Heard they 'hope it sounds true to you' about the Washington Post op-ed
PUBLISHED MAY 29, 2021
Amber Heard may not have written her Eashington Post op-ed (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
Amber Heard may not have written her Eashington Post op-ed (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

It has been three years since Amber Heard alleged domestic violence and physical and emotional abuse during her marriage to Johnny Depp without naming him in an explosive Washington Post op-ed. But now, alleged emails between the 'Aquaman' actress and the staff at nonprofit organization ACLU suggest that Heard might not have penned the op-ed by herself.

In emails exclusively obtained by Daily Mail, an ACLU staffer identified as Robin Schulman can be seen telling Heard they "hope it sounds true to you", allegedly about the op-ed.

The essay on Heard's personal encounter with abusive relationships went on to become the focal point of Depp's lost libel battle against The Sun, which called him a "wife beater." Depp also filed a subsequent defamation case against Heard for alleging he abused her, and is now endeavoring to prove that her entire claim was fabricated. 

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After audio of Heard admitting to abusing Depp and taunting him that no one will believe him resurfaced, several women have also allegedly come forward claiming that Heard's personal essay detailing her abuse was a tad bit similar to their own stories of assault, writes Perez Hilton.com.

Johnny Depp with his legal team in London (Stuart C Wilson Getty Images)

But Depp's team is now claiming Heard's self proclaimed $7 million donation to Children’s Hospital LA and the ACLU, which she was to make with her divorce settlement, never happened.

Depp is currently suing the ACLU to show records of Heard's donations to find out whether she actually gave the money or her billionaire ex Elon Musk did. This comes after the Children’s Hospital claimed they never got their promised funds from Heard's end. And ACLU repeatedly refused to cooperate with subpoenas to show for Heard's supposed $3.5 million donation to them. 

Uncovered emails from the same investigation obtained by Daily Mail, is proving to be quite incriminating for Heard's innocence in the case. After the ACLU appointed the actress as an ambassador on women’s rights in 2018, one of their staffers was hit by the idea of having Heard write an essay from the perspective of a “gender-based violence” to hit back at new laws working against the protection of victims. “If she feels comfortable, she can interweave her personal story, saying how painful it is as a GBV survivor to witness these setbacks," ACLU can be seen mailing Heard's team, following it up with "Would this be of interest? And if so, would you like for us to do the first draft (might: include a quick phone interview to get her thoughts) or would Amber prefer to start it off?”

Amber Heard with her legal team in London (Stuart C Wilson Getty Images)

The final output went on to be entitled 'I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath'. But if emails obtained by Daily Mail are legitimate, it was ACLU staffer Robin Shulman, who penned the thing to capture Heard's “fire and rage”, and which he hoped "sounds true to you," as written in an email to the actress. The essay then suffered the back and forth exchange as lawyers ensured Heard wasn't violating her NDA signed after divorcing Depp. Ultimately Heard wrote back: "Everyone was very impressed. Thank you for finding my voice.”

Heard has also addressed allegations of her negligible input in the op-ed, noting in her legal filings that she wrote it “with the assistance and advice of others”, adding that the “op-ed speaks for itself” and does not leave her incriminated. Depp's lawyer Adam Waldman however believes otherwise. “This new trove of emails finally proves one of the things the ACLU has fought for years to hide: they wrote Amber Heard’s false op-ed for her and were co-conspirators with Ms Heard from the start," he told the outlet, suggesting further legal action against ACLU. “Those who scheme, write and publish defamation, even purported free speech advocates, are not immune from the consequences," he shared.

RELATED TOPICS JOHNNY DEPP AMBER HEARD

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