Paul Bettany called Johnny Depp 'sweetest, kindest' AFTER actor allegedly texted him about 'burning' Amber Heard
After actor James Franco got dragged into the ugly ongoing battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, another big star, Paul Bettany, has found himself embroiled in the bitter scandal that has reached the courts now.
On Wednesday, February 26, a series of texts that the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star allegedly sent his actor friend were read out loud during a preliminary hearing in his libel suit against British newspaper, The Sun, over a 2018 article that alleged Depp had been abusive to Heard. The texts in question date back to 2013, when Depp had not yet gotten married to his then-girlfriend Heard.
Depp wrote to Bettany on November 6, 2013, saying, “Let’s burn Amber." In a separate text sent on the same day, he wrote: "Let’s drown her before we burn her!!! I will f**k her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she is dead.”
The Sun's lawyers also submitted a tirade of violent texts that Depp allegedly sent to Bettany in May 2014. “I’m gonna properly stop the booze thing, darling… Drank all night before I picked Amber up to fly to LA, this past Sunday…Ugly, mate. No food for days…powders…half a bottle of whiskey, a thousand red bull and vodkas, pills, 2 bottles of Champers on plane and what do you get..???" the content of some of those texts read.
Depp and Bettany have always been good friends, ever since both of them co-starred in several films, including the 2010 movie, 'The Tourist,' 2014's 'Transcendence,' and 2015's 'Mortdecai.'
Back in May 2016, after the 'Aquaman' actress brought allegations of domestic abuse against Depp and got a temporary restraining order against him, Bettany publicly defended his friend on Twitter. “He's the sweetest, kindest, gentlest man that I've ever known. Known Johnny Depp for years and through several relationships. He's the sweetest, kindest, gentlest man that I've ever known. Just saying. All I'm saying-Domestic violence is a serious allegation. Trial by twitter is unhelpful. Let the facts come out before rushing to judgment" he said in a series of tweets.
At the time he faced considerable backlash for his comments. “Just because you get on well with someone, does not mean they are incapable of doing something horrific,” wrote one user in response to Bettany, while another said, “This is dangerous trash. Delete it. And believe women.”
In response to the hate that he received online, Bettany clapped back at the first troller saying, "Well that might be true, but I probably have MORE insight than say... Uh... You... Or all the other piranhas on the internet."