Back in 2017, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard finalized their divorce and signed a non-disclosure agreement designed to protect the reputations of both actors.
And yet, three years later, details of the former couple’s tumultuous time together continue to come out in court thanks to an endless parade of legal battles.
Currently, Depp is suing The Sun for $50 million in response to the UK tabloid’s claims that he physically assaulted Heard on numerous occasions over the course of their brief marriage.
The media group stands by its claim that Depp was “controlling and verbally and physically abusive” towards Heard, “particularly when he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.”
And in a London courtroom today, lawyers for The Sun presented evidence to that effect during the wild first day of what promises to be a bizarre legal battle.
One photo displayed in court today was taken by Heard and allegedly showed Depp passed out in the midst of an alcohol and drug bender.
Other images showed what appeared to be lines of cocaine laid out next to a glass of whiskey and a pill box adorned with Depp’s initials.
The court also examined texts Heard sent to Depp’s sister in which she alleged that the actor had disappeared on a bender with rockstar Marilyn Manson after dropping his then-15-year-old daughter off at school.
“He went to drop Lily-Rose off this morning and hasn’t been back since,” Heard wrote.
“JD is on a bender with Manson,” the messages read aloud in court continued.
“I think he’s at Marilyn’s now continuing the rage and coke booze binge.
“He’s gonna hurt himself and take us as a couple down with him. He just aims all his anger at me when he’s on it. Don’t know what to do.”
Confronted with the evidence, Depp admitted to doing drugs with Manson — who is Lily-Rose’s godfather — “three or maybe four times,” but he says the talk of a 24-hour bender was mere speculation on Heard’s part.
Interestingly, Lily-Rose was in favor of Depp’s relationship with Heard, as she believed the actress was a “good influence” on her hard-partying father.
It was also revealed in court today that Depp smoked marijuana with Lily-Rose when she was just 13 years old.
“I want her to trust me. If my daughter says she was ready, she was ready,” Depp admitted, explaining that he would prefer his daughter experiment at home, under his supervision.
“I wanted to make sure the settings were perfection, put on family TV, fill the refrigerator with ice cream, fill the freezer, make a situation where the experience is as pleasant as possible,” he told the court.
“If this is wrong in your eyes, I appreciate what you think. But I was raising a daughter, and I was being a responsible parent so far as I’m concerned.”
To his credit, Depp knows whereof he speaks when it comes to getting into drugs while still a child.
In today’s testimony, he admitted to abusing substances at a “very young age, when it was not a particularly stable or secure or safe home life, and there was quite a lot of unpleasantness in the house,”
He stated that he spent much of his life in “an internal fight… in terms of alcohol and drugs and other numbing agents throughout my life, from the age of 11 on through.”
Depp’s wine budget has been the subject of speculation for years, and the actor admitted to spending $30,000 a month on exotic reds during his relationship with his children’s mother, Vanessa Paradis.
Depp said in court that he “got sober off alcohol” for a “long while” after splitting from Paradis, but resumed drinking and doing drugs while he was with Heard.
Of course, the biggest point of contention was the claim made by The Sun that Depp violently assaulted Heard on 14 occasions between 2013 and 2016.
The Sun reported that Depp once attacked Heard in a fit of jealous rage when he suspected her of having an affair with James Franco.
In court today, Depp stated that he still believes Heard cheated on him with Franco, but insisted that he never assaulted her.
Instead, he claims, Heard assaulted him on several occasions, at one point nearly slicing off his finger with a broken liquor bottle.
“The claimant’s position is clear — Ms Heard’s allegations are complete lies,” an attorney for Depp said in court today.
“The claimant was not violent towards Ms Heard, it was she who was violent to him.”
The civil trial between Depp and The Sun is scheduled to last for 15 court days.