Johnny Depp’s lawyers accused his ex-wife, Amber Heard, of fabricating domestic violence claims against him in order to advance her own career, as a defamation trial got underway in Virginia on Tuesday.
Depp has sued Heard for $50 million, alleging that she devastated his career when she revived her allegations against him in a 2018 op-ed in the Washington Post.
Heard’s attorneys, meanwhile, argued in their opening statement that her allegations are entirely true, and that she had a First Amendment right to express her views. Her attorney Ben Rottenborn argued that Depp is seeking to ruin Heard’s life by pursuing the lawsuit.
“For years, all Mr. Depp has wanted to do is humiliate Amber, to haunt her, to wreck her career,” Rottenborn argued, calling Depp “an obsessed ex-husband hellbent on revenge.”
The trial is expected to last about six weeks, as 11 jurors will be asked to sort through a mountain of documentary evidence and conflicting testimony to decide who is telling the truth.
Depp’s attorneys — Ben Chew and Camille Vasquez — noted that the Washington Post piece was published just before the release of “Aquaman,” in which Heard starred, and helped her portray herself as a sympathetic advocate.
“She presented herself as the face of the #MeToo movement — the virtuous representative of innocent women across the country and the world who have truly suffered abuse,” Vasquez said. “The evidence will show that was a lie.”
Heard has accused Depp of numerous instances of...
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