Newly unsealed court documents from Johnny Depp's defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard have revealed a number of new cross accusations and allegations - that both parties were prevented from flinging at each other -two months on from the actor successfully winning his libel case against his ex-wife.
It's been reported that unsealed pretrial court documents claim that the Pirates of the Caribbean actor, 59, allegedly wanted to submit his former wife's nude pictures as evidence during the high-profile trial earlier this year. Whilst Ms Heard was equally prevented from making allegations against Mr Depp.
The court documents - which were unsealed over the weekend - claim Ms Heard, 36, walked away from "tens of millions of dollars" when divorcing the actor in 2016, and lawyers for the Aquaman actress sort to allege her ex-husband suffered from erectile dysfunction in the filings.
Mr Depp's legal team also reportedly attempted to exclude his text messages with friend Marilyn Manson from the blockbuster court case in Virginia, while lawyers for Ms Heard argued to exclude "Amber's brief stint as an exotic dancer years before she met Mr. Depp" from the trial.
Earlier this year, Mr Depp successfully sued his ex-wife over a newspaper article titled: "I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change."
Although the op-ed did not directly name the actor, Mr Depp's lawyers successfully argued in court that the article defamed him and impacted his career, thanks to the implied allegations he had abused his ex-wife throughout their marriage - something the actor has always strongly denied.
The dad-of-two was awarded compensatory damages of $10million (£8 million) and a further $5 million (£4 million) in punitive damages in June , following a six-week long high-profile televised defamation, in which a jury found Ms Heard's allegations to be false and defamatory of Mr Depp.
The jury also found the City of Lies star liable for defamation against his one-time wife when one of his attorneys claimed her allegations of sexual abuse were a "hoax." They awarded the mum-of-one $2 million in compensatory damages and $0 in punitive damages.
Nude picture evidence allegations
According to the court documents, obtained and seen by the Daily Beast, Ms Heard's attorneys argued to block Mr Depp's legal team from introducing "nude pictures of Amber Heard" into evidence for the high-profile trial, saying that it fell under "irrelevant personal matters."
In the now-unsealed documents, Ms Heard's attorneys also argued to exclude "Amber's brief stint as an exotic dancer years before she met Mr. Depp" from the televised trial - claiming Mr Depp's legal team was seeking "to frivolously and maliciously suggest or imply that Ms. Heard was at one time an escort."
Erectile dysfunction claims
Ms Heard's lawyers alleged the Edward Scissorhands star suffered from erectile dysfunction and that "such condition absolutely is relevant to sexual violence, including Mr. Depp's anger and use of a bottle to rape Amber Heard." , according to the unsealed documents.
Mr Depp strongly denied any and all allegations of sexual violence throughout the six-week trial which concluded in May - calling the claims "cruel and all false". The jury found heavily in Mr Depp's favour.
Speaking on the stand at one point, the actor said: "I don't think anyone enjoys having to split themselves open and tell the truth, but there are times when one simply has to because it's gotten out of control.
"Horrible. Ridiculous. Humiliating. Ludicrous. Painful. Savage. Unimaginably brutal. Cruel and all false."
In their verdict, a jury found that all three statements from Ms Heard's Washington Post op-ed were false, defamed Depp, and made with actual malice.
Marilyn Manson text claims
According to the documents seen by the Daily Beast, Mr Depp's lawyers tried to exclude the actor's text messages with controversial singer and friend Marilyn Manson from the trial, arguing that it would "smear Mr. Depp under a guilty by association theory."
"Ms. Heard's attempt to insert Marilyn Manson into this case lacks foundation and is wholly speculative and constitutes improper character evidence," the filing reportedly reads.
In February 2021, Evan Rachel Wood named the singer - real name Brian Hugh Warner - as her alleged abuser via her Instagram account, where four other women also made allegations against the singer.
The Tainted Love singer has always denied the claims and launched legal action against his ex-girlfriend in March this year - arguing that the Frozen 2 actress, 34, is guilty of intentionally inflicting emotional distress, defamation, impersonation and violating the Computer Data and Access Fraud Act.
Divorce settlement claims
Ms Heard's lawyers sought to claim that she walked away from "tens of millions of dollars" when she settled for $7million during her divorce from the actor.
The actress and Mr Depp struck up a romance in 2011, after meeting on the set of the set of the comedy-drama film, The Rum Diary. They tied the knot in a civil ceremony in February 2015.
The actress filed for divorce from the dad-of-two in May 2016 and obtained a temporary restraining order against him.
The final terms of the divorce settlement were agreed in January 2017, with the Alice in Wonderland actor required to complete a payment of $7 million to his former wife over the course of the year.
According to the unsealed court documents, Ms Heard's legal team urged her to reconsider her decision to walk away from "tens of millions of dollars", due to the fact Mr Depp filmed a fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie during their marriage - meaning it was therefore considered a "community property asset" which Ms Heard was entitled to half of.
Due to the fact Mr Depp earned over $33million thanks to his appearance in Pirates 4, it was estimated his fee for the fifth installment would be even higher.
But Ms Heard reportedly refused to pursue a bigger settlement - prompting her lawyers to tell her via email that she was being "amazingly true to your word, that this is not about the money."
Any evidence related to divorce proceedings in the defamation trial was dismissed by Judge Penny Azcarate, who oversaw the high-profile trial.
The Mirror has approached representatives for Amber Heard, Johnny Depp and Marilyn Manson.
Jury verdict
The Depp-Heard trial took place in Fairfax County, Virginia from April 11, 2022, to June 1, 2022.
In their verdict, the jury found that all three statements from Ms Heard's Washington Post op-ed were false, defamed Mr Depp, and made with actual malice, so the jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages from his ex-wife.
For Ms Heard's counter-suit, the jury found that Mr Depp's former lawyer second statement to the Daily Mail regarding a sexual abuse hoax was false, defamatory and made with actual malice.
As a result, Ms Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages and zero in punitive damages from her ex-husband.
Speaking after the verdict was delivered, Mr Depp declared that "that the "jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled."
In July, the judge denied Ms Heard 's request to have the verdict of the defamation trial dismissed and the case re-tried, after her legal team questioned the eligibility of one member of the jury during the case.
Judge Penny Azcarate ruled that there was "no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing" by the juror and that the jury's verdict should stand.
* If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
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