After Amber Heard wrote about being a victim of abuse in a Washington Post op-ed in December, Johnny Depp shortly launched a $50 million defamation lawsuit against her. Heard asked for the case to be thrown out, responding to the suit in a court filing that Depp allegedly threatened to kill her during their marriage. Now, in response to Heard’s claims, Depp says in a new court filing that Heard faked her bruises.
The Guardian reports on Depp’s latest declaration in the suit, in which he writes, “I have denied Ms Heard’s allegations vehemently since she first made them in May 2016 when she walked into court to obtain a temporary restraining order with painted-on bruises that witnesses and surveillance footage show she did not possess each day of the preceding week.” He further claims that Heard was the “perpetrator” and he the “victim,” restating his previous claims that she allegedly committed domestic violence against him.
Heard and Depp settled their divorce out of court in 2017, but documents released from the proceedings this year include Heard talking about Depp’s “monstrous” personality. “Johnny and I refer to his other personality, the part of him that is present when he beats me up—we call that the monster and have called [that] the monster for many years,” she said.