Johnny Depp denounced that Amber Heard's allegations of violence had a “devastating” effect on his career

The allegations of domestic violence that Amber Heard made against Johnny Depp, whom she was married to, have had a “devastating” effect on the movie star's career, her lawyer said Tuesday in a court in Fairfax County, Washington, where both accuse themselves of defamation.

This trial, which is being held near Washington, is part of a column published in the Washington Post in 2018, in which Heard described herself as a “victim of domestic violence” harassed by society after denouncing Depp two years earlier.

“This case demonstrates how words can be devastating when they are false and spoken in public,” said the actor's lawyer, Benjamin Chew, at the opening of the trial. “Amber Heard changed Depp's life and reputation forever and you'll hear him tell what a terrible impact this had on his life,” he said, addressing the jury.

According to Benjamin Chew, Amber Heard accused her husband of violence in 2016 to get revenge on him for deciding to divorce.

And two years later, in the wake of “the MeeToo movement” that denounced sexual violence and “just before the release of the film Aquaman,” in which she participated, Amber Heard “chose to remind the world of these poisonous accusations in a world-famous newspaper,” said the actor's lawyer in his initial presentation.

Freedom of expression

In her opinion piece, the 35-year-old actress doesn't name 58-year-old Johnny Depp, whom she met in 2009 and married in 2015.

A year later he applied for a restraining order, claiming that the actor had hit him. But he resigned from these charges as part of his divorce, which concluded in 2017.

After the column was published in the newspaper, Depp, who denies hitting him, filed a defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard, claiming $50 million in damages.

The actress, in turn, filed a defamation lawsuit asking for 100 million dollars, for the continuation of the “abuses” and “harassment” that Depp imposed on her during the marriage.

The actor filed the lawsuit in the state of Virginia, where the Washington Post is printed and where the legal framework is more favorable to defamation complaints than in California, where the two actors reside.

This case is mainly about “the First Amendment” of the Constitution which authorizes Amber Heard “the right to speak the words she said,” answered the actress's lawyer, Ben Rottenborn, and asked the jury to “confirm and protect” this right.

Addictions

“If Amber had intended to use this article to detail the abuses she suffered... this article would have been very, very different,” he explained.

“They are going to see the real Johnny Depp, beyond the red carpets, the fame and money of pirate costumes,” added the lawyer, who describes him as a man who became violent by alcohol and drug abuse, addictions that destroyed his career.

The actors attend the trial, broadcast live on television and which will last weeks. The witness list is worthy of Hollywood films, with billionaire Elon Musk, actors James Franco and Paul Bettany, and actress Ellen Barkin.

This trial is reminiscent of the one held in London in 2020, when the actor of “Pirates of the Caribbean” sued the editorial of The Sun newspaper for an article that portrayed him as a violent husband.

Called as a witness, his ex-wife had recounted a dozen attacks committed, according to her, by a husband transformed into a “monster” by drug use.

Johnny Depp acknowledges having used too many drugs and alcohol, but insists that he never hit a woman. He is backed by his former partners Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder.

The British justice ruled in favor of The Sun, considering that “the vast majority of the alleged attacks had been proven”.

After this setback, the actor's career sank and he was expelled from several projects, including the sixth installment of “Pirates of the Caribbean”.

(With information from AFP)

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