Johnny Depp branded his ex-wife Amber Heard as “scum” in text messages sent after their divorce was finalised in 2016.
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp
The 57-year-old actor and the ‘Aquaman’ star reached a divorce settlement in August 2016 before the final paperwork was signed off in January 2017, and in newly uncovered text messages that were sent by Depp after the settlement was agreed, he said he “f****** hates” his ex-wife and “wouldn’t touch” her with a “hazmat suit on”.
The text messages were made public this week when they were shown to the Court of Appeal in the UK after Depp appealed against the loss of his defamation case against The Sun newspaper, who had branded him a “wife-beater” following the allegations made by Heard after their split.
Depp’s lawyer, Andrew Caldecott, argued Heard may have “deceived” the judge in the defamation case into thinking “she was a likely victim of domestic violence”, but in response, The Sun’s lawyer Adam Wolanski uncovered text messages which they argue prove Depp was “preoccupied” with the idea that his ex was a “scumbag gold-digger”.
The texts, which were sent to Depp’s nurse in August 2016, read: “Thank f*** she’s gone!!!
“Makes me sick to think of how hard I tried to make it work. Now...
"Honestly, I wouldn’t touch that f****** w**** with a hazmat suit on!!!
“What scum. I f****** hate her!!! (sic)”
Another message also saw Depp insist Heard wouldn’t give “one penny” of her $7 million divorce settlement to charity after she pledged to do so.
He wrote: “She won’t donate ONE PENNY!!!! No way she’ll give a dime to anyone!!! (sic)”
After showing the texts to the Court of Appeal, Wolanski then claimed it was “fanciful” and “absurd” to suggest that Heard’s charity donations influenced the judge’s findings in the defamation case, and branded Depp’s comments as a “misogynistic trope”.
He told the court: “The labelling of Ms Heard as a ‘gold-digger’ was a misogynistic trope. It was hopeless, just like [Depp’s] theory that these accounts of abuse are a ‘hoax’.
"It’s nonsensical, and goes to no issue in the case.”
However, Depp’s lawyer claimed the judge in the original case “failed to examine the evidence and the arguments with the care that the parties were entitled to expect”, despite the trial takin four weeks, with the judge taking a further three months to prepare his judgement.
As of the time of writing, Heard has donated $350,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and $100,000 to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, and representatives for the actress have insisted she still intends on fulfilling her pledge to donate the full amount.
Heard’s attorney Elaine Bredehoft, said: “Amber has already been responsible for seven figures in donations to charitable causes and intends to continue to contribute and eventually fulfil her pledge.
“However, Amber has been delayed in that goal because Mr. Depp filed a lawsuit against her, and consequently, she has been forced to spend millions of dollars defending Mr. Depp’s false accusations against her.”
The Court of Appeal will announce its decision on whether to give Depp leave to appeal at a later date.
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