Johnny Depp Scores Small Victory Amid $50 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against Amber Heard [DETAILS]
In his legal struggle with Amber Heard, Johnny Depp was able to score a minor triumph.
The "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor has been granted access to his ex-wife's phone in the hopes of uncovering evidence that she fabricated the injuries he allegedly caused her, according to Page Six.
Amber Heard Faked Her Injuries?
The "Aquaman" actress is suing the "Aquaman" star for $50 million, claiming that she manufactured photos purporting to show her with two black eyes, which she claims she received from the A-list actor in 2015.
"Ms. Heard's counsel has frequently presented these fake images at a deposition," Depp's lawyer Benjamin Chew said in the court filing.
The 58-year-old "Edward Scissorhands" star is suing his 35-year-old ex in Virginia after Heard wrote about domestic abuse in a 2019 op-ed for the Washington Post, and Depp believes the move was a malicious attack on his character.
Despite the fact that she did not identify Depp in her op-ed she did allege elsewhere that her ex-husband gave her two black eyes, a fractured lip, and a broken nose at their Los Angeles home in 2015.
Pictures that appeared to prove Heard had been beaten up were widely circulated on the internet and in news media.
According to Depp's lawyer, the Los Angeles Police Department responded to the claimed violence and stated that Amber Heard was not injured and that their residence was not disrupted at the time.
"Ms. Heard and her friends then fabricated photos that she used to obtain an ex parte TRO [temporary restraining order] and a $7 million divorce settlement that Ms. Heard falsely testified she gave to the ACLU and, more scandalously, to the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles; sick children with cancer," according to Chew.
The officials "disavowed the images," he said, claiming that they didn't "depict what they witnessed."
Johnny Depp's UK Libel Loss
On Wednesday, the court decided that Depp's side may have an expert examine the phone for signs of photo manipulation.
Even if the latest court decision is minor, it is crucial for Johnny Depp, who recently lost a libel action against UK tabloid The Sun after they published an article branding him a wife-beater. He was denied the right to appeal the decision.
The article established "substantially true" allegations, according to the judge, including 12 of the 14 purported incidences of domestic abuse that allegedly occurred.
