Johnny Depp tells of drug sessions with wife Amber Heard, as tabloid’s lawyers seek to get libel lawsuit thrown out

Lawyers for British tabloid urge judge to throw out Johnny Depp’s libel claim after he failed to disclose illicit drug use.

Johnny Depp has claimed that he occasionally took MDMA, magic mushrooms and cocaine with his wife Amber Heard. Picture: Amber Heard

Johnny Depp has claimed that he occasionally took MDMA, magic mushrooms and cocaine with his wife Amber Heard as the High Court in London heard calls for his libel claim against The Sun to be thrown out.

The Pirates of the Caribbean actor detailed his long history of substance abuse as lawyers for the newspaper said that his failure to disclose texts referring to his illicit drug use meant that his case should be dismissed.

Depp, 57, is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), the tabloid’s publisher, and Dan Wootton, its executive editor, over an article in April 2018 that referred to Depp as a “wife beater”.

The article related to allegations made against Depp by Ms Heard, 34, that he was violent towards her during their marriage – claims he strenuously denies. The Sun and The Times are both owned by News UK.

Two weeks before a trial of the star’s claim is due to begin, NGN asked Mr Justice Nicol, the judge, yesterday (Thursday) to strike out Depp’s claim. Adam Wolanski QC, for the publisher, told of a “stark conflict” between the evidence of Depp and Ms Heard, in particular over events on a visit to Australia in 2015.

Depp and Heard pictured in Brisbane. The Sun’s lawyer alleges that texts between Depp and an assistant reveal that he tried to get drugs while in Australia. Picture: News Corp

Mr Wolanski read out passages of Ms Heard’s evidence in which she claims she was subjected to “a three-day ordeal of physical assaults” by her former husband, during which time he was taking MDMA and drinking heavily.

The barrister said Ms Heard alleges she was assaulted after she challenged Depp for taking a number of pills with red wine. He said Depp’s version of events is that he “expressly denies” he took the drug and that the row followed discussion of a postnuptial deal to which Ms Heard did not agree.

However, Mr Wolanski said that a series of messages, which he referred to as the “Australia drugs texts”, between Depp and Nathan Holmes, an assistant, show that the actor tried to get drugs in Australia. He read out messages sent in late February and early March 2015 – shortly before the alleged incident between Depp and Ms Heard – and told the court that the texts included references to “happy pills”, which he said referred to MDMA, and to cocaine.

The barrister said these messages should have been disclosed in evidence and that, by not doing so, Depp was in “serious” breach of a court order.

David Sherborne, representing the actor, said that he had not deliberately withheld evidence and argued that the text messages were “not relevant” because the core issue in the case was not about his drug use.

He said: “The defendants claim, wrongly, that Mr Depp has withheld this document because it is ‘profoundly damaging to his case’; their implied accusation being that he withheld it deliberately. This is untrue.”

In his witness statement, Depp said: “I have been open about my challenges with alcoholism and addiction [all] my life.” Depp, who appears to be viewing the virtual hearing, said no drug or alcohol had ever made him violent against anyone. He also said that he and Ms Heard “took drugs together” but “these were not common occurrences”.

A three-week trial at the Royal Courts of Justice in London is due to begin on July 7, with Depp’s former partners Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder among the witnesses expected to give evidence. Depp’s claim arises out of an article in The Sun in April 2018, under the headline: “Gone Potty – how can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife-beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”

The Times