'Hell-bent on revenge': Amber Heard lawyers call Johnny Depp an ‘obsessed ex' who wants to ruin her career
As the bitter legal battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard continues, the actress's lawyers have described 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star as an "obsessed ex-husband hellbent on revenge."
Depp, 58, is suing his ex-wife Heard, 35, after he claimed an op-ed she penned in 2018 painted him as an abuser. While the 'Aquaman' star did not name her former lover in the Washington Post opinion piece, his legal team has argued that it hampered his career and cost him several gigs in Hollywood. Depp is suing Heard for $50 million in damages, while the latter has filed a counterclaim of defamation for $100 million.
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The couple first began dating in 2017, after Depp split from his longtime partner Vanessa Paradis, with who he has daughter Lily-Rose and son Jack. Depp tied the knot with Heard in 2015, but the latter filed for divorce just a year later.
Opening statements from the legal teams of both parties began on Tuesday, April 12, in a courtroom in Fairfax County, Virginia. Depp's lawyer Benjamin Chew told the jury about the actor's troubled childhood and offered for reference his long-term relationships with Winona Ryder, Kate Moss, and ex-partner Vanessa. Chew said Heard was a “profoundly troubled person” who manipulated the actor and was often “angry” and taunted him. He said his client would "retreat" into different rooms around their home to get away from her abuse.
Depp's lawyers acknowledged his use of drugs and alcohol, but maintained that it didn't make him "an abuser." They further alleged Heard was a "compulsive liar." Camille Vasquez, a star attorney from Depp's legal team, said Heard used the allegations against her husband to "advance her own career" by depicting herself as an "innocent survivor of abuse." Vasquez continued, “Common sense and the evidence will tell you that this is all a lie ... [Amber] tells a lie and covers up that lie with still more lies, in a constantly changing, evolving, evermore dramatic way."
On the other hand, Heard's lawyer Ben Rottenborn told the jury that Depp had been on a mission to "humiliate" his ex-wife for years. “The evidence will show that for years, all Mr Depp has wanted to do is humiliate Amber, to haunt her, to wreck her career - that’s what the evidence will show,” Rottenborn told the court. He argued that his client didn't mention her ex-husband in the WaPo piece but maintained that her allegations were true. “Amber did suffer sexual violence at the hands of Depp,” the lawyer told the court, accusing Depp's team of insinuating Heard had “made it up”.
Rottenborn also denigrated Depp directly, describing him as an “obsessed ex-husband, hellbent on revenge." He added, “I have to say, it’s pretty ironic that a piece that briefly discussed Amber moving on from Johnny Dep, that briefly discussed her life experiences after Johnny Depp, is the very vehicle that he uses to try and keep her from moving on, to try to keep her from living her life." Heard is expected to take to the witness stand later this month to talk about the alleged sexual violence carried out by Depp, who will also give evidence and tell his side of the story.