More than a year after finalizing their divorce, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are still going head to head.
The Pirates of the Caribbean actor, 55, claims in new court documents filed in the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice in the U.K. and obtained by The Mirror that the actress, 32, assaulted him in April 2016 for being nearly two hours late to her birthday party.
Depp claims in the filing that Heard “had been drinking” that evening and “began criticizing” him after her guests left. He alleges that she proceeded to become “aggressive and violent” before “punching him twice in the face.” He claims he “defended himself by grabbing [her] arms to stop her punching him again and told her to stop.” He then allegedly “pushed her away from him onto the bed” and left the room.
In response to the accusations, an attorney for the Friday Night Lights star told the British newspaper: “These allegations are totally false. One needs only read the recent Rolling Stone article about Mr. Depp and the lawsuit filed against him by a location manager, among many other recent news stories and lawsuits, to understand his state of mind.”
The statement from Heard’s attorney references the lawsuit filed against the Fantastic Beasts actor on July 6. City of Lies crew member Gregg “Rocky” Brooks claimed in his filing that Depp physically and verbally assaulted him on the 2017 set of the upcoming crime film. Director Brad Furman defended Depp’s behavior in a statement to Us, calling the movie star “a consummate professional” who “always treats the crew and people around him with the utmost respect.”
Heard filed for divorce from Depp in May 2016 after 15 months of marriage. Days later, she was granted a temporary restraining order against the Edward Scissorhands star after accusing him of verbal and physical abuse. He denied the allegations. The former couple reached a settlement that August and finalized their divorce in January 2017. Heard pledged to donate the $7 million she received to nonprofit organizations.
“I was as low as I believe I could have gotten,” Depp said of the aftermath of his divorce in an extensive profile published by Rolling Stone in June. “The next step was, ‘You’re going to arrive somewhere with your eyes open and you’re going to leave there with your eyes closed.’ I couldn’t take the pain every day.”
