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Amber Heard seeks legal records of Johnny Depp's substance abuse and arrests

Westwood, CA - November 21 Johnny Depp, Amber Heard Attending Premiere Of Focus Features' "The Danish Girl" At The Westwood Village Theatre On November 21, 2015. Photo Credit: Faye Sadou / MediaPunch/IPX
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard (Credit: Faye Sadou/MediaPunch/IPX)

Amber Heard is seeking legal documentation of her ex-husband Johnny Depp's past arrests and details of drug treatment in her defence in the ongoing defamation lawsuit against her.

Depp is suing Heard for $50 million over an op-ed piece she wrote for the Washington Post, in which she described herself as a victim of domestic abuse.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star is in turn claiming that he was a victim of abuse, and that Heard physically assaulted him during their short marriage, allegations she denies.

Read more: Depp defends axed Dior campaign

Heard's new lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, who is the co-founder of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, is demanding that records relating to Depp's history of substance abuse be turned over, stating that his drug use is key to Heard's allegations.

“Ms. Heard has already testified that it was almost always drugs and alcohol that fueled Mr. Depp’s abusive behavior and this is consistent with multiple accounts of his drug-fueled rages over many years,” Kaplan said in a statement.

Depp's legal team has hit back, however.

En esta imagen tomada de un video difundido por el Departamento de Agricultura y Recursos Hídricos del gobierno australiano el lunes 18 de abril del 2016, el actor Johnny Depp y su esposa, Amber Heard, en una disculpa presentada durante la audiencia del lunes en un tribunal australiano. Heard se declaró culpable de falsificar un documento de inmigración cuando la pareja trajo a sus dos perros a Australia el año pasado, evitando ir a prisión. (Gobierno australiano vía AP Video)
(Credit: AP)

“Amber Heard, previously arrested and jailed for violent domestic abuse, and then caught on tape and by dozens of eyewitnesses for her hoax accusing Johnny Depp of violent domestic abuse, is staring at her trial,” said Depp's lawyer Adam Waldman in a statement to Deadline.

“Now her new #Timesup lawyers try to thread a difficult needle — desperately fight to get the case dismissed out of court for the 3rd time, sweep the unambiguous testimonial evidence of her crimes under seal to hide it from the public and embolden her (curiously silent) hoax-enablers, and smear Johnny Depp with additional false innuendo. All while arguing the abuse defamation she inflicted on Johnny Depp was somehow not about Johnny Depp.”

Depp’s lawyers claim that the accusations against him cost him his role in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

The couple met while making the movie The Rum Diaries in 2011, and married in 2015.

Read more: Depp campaign ‘deleted’ from social media

Heard filed for divorce barely a year later, and obtained a temporary restraining order against him claiming that he been verbally and physically abusive towards her during their marriage.

The couple reached a $7 million settlement in 2016, which Heard donated to charity.

The couple released a joint statement at the time, which described their relationship as 'intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love. Neither party has made false accusations for financial gain. There was never any intent of physical or emotional harm'.

However, Depp, who has long denied claims of physical abuse, then launched a lawsuit against Heard, after she claimed to be a victim of abuse in the article for the Washington Post.

Heard's lawyers claim that Depp was not defamed as he is not mentioned in the piece by name.