Who is Amber Heard's father? David Heard was once jailed for running illegal dogfighting ring
Amber Heard is already dealing with controversy about her brief marriage to Depp that by all accounts was highly dysfunctional. Now, as Depp's libel suit heats up, her other relationships are under scrutiny too. Although she rarely discusses her family, it was recently reported that her father David Clinton Heard ran an illegal dogfighting ring that led to his incarceration.
Johnny Depp’s ex-wife has made headlines in the last few years for her very public divorce from her husband and her allegations of domestic violence against the 'Pirates of Caribbean' actor. The accusations have led to a host of lawsuits being fought between the pair. But news about David Heard's dark and criminal past has come as a surprise. Information about Amber's father was uncovered by Paul Barresi, who was once hired by Heard's legal team to find evidence against Depp.
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Who is David Clinton Heard?
According to his IMDB profile, David was born on May 5, 1950 in Dallas, Texas. He is an actor, known for 'Machete Kills' (2013) and 'Overhaulin'' (2004). He was previously married to Paige Heard, who is also Amber Heard's mother
During Depp’s libel case against The Sun, the 'Aquaman' actress had testified that Depp was far worse than her abusive dad when Depp went on an alcohol binge. She had also accused Depp of going on a 36-hour cocaine and alcohol binge after he suspected her of cheating on him with her ex. Amber added during her testimony that while her father was also abusive towards her mom, his actions didn’t come close to Depp’s abuse. “My father was violent to my mother and they really loved each other… He [Depp] makes my Dad look like a saint when he falls of the wagon. My dad struggled with alcohol abuse issues his whole life. He’s an addict and he was very violent, but I love him very much," she said.
David Killackey, who owns auto repair shop Performance Allison Transmissions and once did work on then-couple's classic cars told Ace Showbiz in 2019 that Amber's father once made death threats toward his former son-in-law. He claimed to have "received many text messages and phone calls from Amber's father, Mr David Heard" and "after the separation of Amber and Mr. Depp, Mr. Heard became very bitter towards Mr. Depp."
During a phone call with Amber's father, Killackey claims that the actress' dad said of his then-son-in-law, "That f***ing piece of s**t is f***ing me too because I'm supposed to get 10% of the money and without it I can't produce the movie I was gunna make!" and "He is ruining my baby girl's career and blackballing her in Hollywood." Amber's father allegedly continued, "and when I get to him I'm going to beat the s**t out of him" and "I'm from Texas, and men from Texas carry 45's and Johnny is going to meet the f***ing end of mine!" When Killackey suggested that David sounded like he was drunk, the latter replied, "Yeah, maybe I am and I'm going to shove the whiskey bottle up your a**!" Killackey said he "strongly advised him to stop making death threats about Johnny and threats of violence against me."
David Heard's criminal record
Barresi, a Hollywood 'fixer,’ revealed that David, a self-proclaimed animal lover, was once arrested and convicted for animal cruelty after he orchestrated a torturous pit bull ring in Texas in the 1980s. A record of the criminal court filings was obtained by Radar Online from Midland County, Texas. They prove that David ran an animal abuse ring involving no less than seven pit bulls on his property of 10 acres of land.
David pleaded guilty and was jailed for 15 days on the charge of cruelty to animals after he pleaded “nolo contendere," which is similar to a guilty plea but is not the official admission of guilt. Interestingly, Depp was the one who was portrayed to be an animal abuser in his case against The Sun newspaper that labeled him a “wife-beater” in an article published in April 2018. The 58-year-old actor sued News Group Newspapers (NGN), which is the publisher of The Sun after one of their articles accused him of being violent towards Heard. He ultimately lost the case.
In that case, one of the more disturbing allegations was that of Depp dangling a dog out of a moving car while traveling with Amber. "When you were in the car, you were smoking and you opened the window and you were angry and you were aggressive," The Sun's lawyer, Sasha Wass QC, said as he questioned Depp on the witness stand, who replied that he was "not in that mode at all."
Depp was then accused of holding Yorkshire terrier, Pistol out of the car and "making howling noises." The claim by The Sun's lawyer was slammed by the actor as an "absolute utter falsity" and "fraudulent," as he added, "I don't think hanging an animal, a small defenseless dog that weighs three pounds, out of a window is fun." The actor was also asked he once found the suggestion of putting the pet in a microwave funny and Depp responded by saying that it was a "running joke" between himself, Amber, and others. "I wouldn't say that I was the inventor of that particular joke and also I wasn't the only one who brought anything like that up," he told the court. He also joked about the dog once getting "hold of a little ball of hashish."