Amber Heard built dossier of fake claims against me, Johnny Depp tells libel trial

Alleged drug and alcohol binges recorded by his ex were part of her ‘premeditated’ domestic violence ‘hoax’, Johnny Depp says.

Johnny Depp, left, and former wife Amber Heard, right, outside court. A series of pictures recording Depp's alleged drug and alcohol use, bottom right, were tendered to the court. Pictures: Getty/AFP/Supplied

Johnny Depp has rejected claims that he was a serial abuser whose drinking and drug use fuelled attacks on Amber Heard, insisting that her allegations of domestic violence were a premeditated “hoax” and an “insurance policy”.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star told the High Court in London on Wednesday that Heard, an actress, began making a “dossier” of false allegations before their wedding in 2015. Depp, 57, is suing Dan Wootton, The Sun’s executive editor, and its publisher in the High Court over a 2018 article that described the actor as a “wife beater”. He denies a series of attacks on Heard, 34.

Details of his lifestyle, where drinking and drug use were frequent, were given to the court on Wednesday.

Photographs of the actor allegedly passed out on the floor next to his bed and lines of cocaine and other drug paraphernalia on a kitchen table were displayed.

Depp and Heard began a relationship in 2011. An email that she allegedly wrote to him but did not send in the early days of the relationship was read in court. In the message she compared him to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, adding: “Half of you, I love. Madly. The other half scares me.”

Photos of lines of powder and glasses of alcohol supplied by Amber Heard to UK court. Picture: Supplied

Another supplied picture shows Depp allegedly passed out after a binge. Picture: Supplied.

She added: “Many times you have hurt me. Physically and emotionally from the things you say and did while f***ed up. The monster comes out and you become mean and horrible. The opposite of why I love you.”

Depp dismissed the allegations as a hoax, telling the court: “It appears that Ms Heard was building a dossier very early on that appears to be an insurance policy for later. She did not like me using alcohol or drugs because she had some delusional idea that they turned me into this ‘monster’.”

‘No food for days’

Depp joked to Paul Bettany, the British-American actor, about “burning Amber as a witch” and “f***ing her dead corpse” as she tried to wean him off drugs, the court was told. In another exchange with Bettany, 49, Depp said that he was going to “stop the booze thing”. He described consuming a mix of alcohol as well as “powders” and having had “no food for days”.

“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 whisky,” Depp wrote. “A thousand Red Bull and vodkas, pills, 2 bottles of champers on plane and what do you get? I’m done. I am admittedly too f***ed in the head to spray my rage at the one I love. For a little reason as well … I’m too old to be that guy … But pills are fine.”

Domestic violence denied by Depp

Depp and Heard got divorced in 2017. The Sun relies on 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence, all of which are denied by Depp.

The court was told that Depp allegedly slapped Heard on the face three times in March 2013 when she laughed at a tattoo that he had altered from “Winona Forever” to “Wino Forever”. The tattoo on his arm was originally dedicated to the actress Winona Ryder, his former fiancee.

‘The monster’

Sasha Wash, QC, representing News Group Newspapers, part of News UK, parent company of The Sun and The Times, said that after the attack Depp “started crying and apologising and said you would never hit her again. You explained to her it was not you, it was your sickness. You told her for the first time about ‘the monster’, the alter ego, the person who took over when you are under the influence of drink or drugs.”

Depp allegedly attacked Heard again later the same month after demanding that she remove a painting from her bedroom that was a gift from the artist Tasya van Ree, her former girlfriend. The actor was accused of trying to set fire to the painting before hitting Heard with the back of his hand while wearing large rings. He then allegedly grabbed Heard’s arm. The court was shown a photograph of bruising on her biceps.

Three months later Depp allegedly went “berserk” because he believed that Heard had been sexually touched by a woman called Kelly-Sue during a party with friends at a trailer park in Hicksville, California.

‘A place of shame and regret’

He told the court that he had become jealous while filming the crime saga Black Mass in May 2014 as Heard was starring in a thriller called The Adderall Diaries opposite James Franco. Depp said that Heard had previously complained about Franco making sexual advances towards her when they filmed Pineapple Express, a 2008 comedy. Depp denied that when they were flying home by private jet he accused Heard of enjoying “getting f***ed on set” and described her as a “go-getter slut and a whore” before slapping her across her face and kicking her in the back.

He later sent her the message: “Once again I find myself in a place of shame and regret … I will never do it again. My illness … crept up and grabbed me. I feel so bad for letting you down.”

Depp has told the court he has the values of a “Southern gentleman”, which meant “I would never strike a woman, under any circumstances”.

The case continues.

The Times