Amber Heard was granted a restraining order against her estranged husband after she alleged he had been physically abusive for the duration of her relationship and marriage to him.
Shortly after the restraining order was granted, comedian Doug Stanhope wrote a column making the statement that Depp was being blackmailed by Heard.
Stanhope, who is a friend of Depp’s described Heard as ‘duplicitous’ in the strongly worded article.
He's sticking up for his friend. https://t.co/Ts2vnrjvLG
— Her.ie (@Herdotie) May 30, 2016
He alleges Depp “got used, manipulated, set up and made to look like an a–hole”.
The Guardian reports that Heard is suing Stanhope for defamation of her character and hopes to donate the proceeds from the suit to a domestic violence charity in Arizona.
Her lawyer, Charles J. Harder stated:
“The complaint alleges that Stanhope is a close friend of Johnny Depp and, as part of a coordinated effort, wrote a highly defamatory article about Ms Heard, filled with completely false, highly defamatory and very hurtful statements
“Defendants are engaged in a classic case of ‘attacking the victim,’ in an effort to discredit Heard, destroy her good name and reputation, and severely harm her hard-earned entertainment career, on top of the campaign of violence that Depp has inflicted upon her for years,” the suit alleges.”
In the statement, Heard called Depp an ‘alcoholic and drug addict’ and stated that she gave him multiple chances to get, and remain, sober.
On her birthday, Depp allegedly threw a magnum size bottle of champagne at a wall and a glass of wine at her, grabbing her hair and shoving her to the floor.
“I endured excessive emotional, verbal and physical abuse from Johnny, which has included angry, hostile, humiliating and threatening assaults to me whenever I questioned his authority or disagreed with him.”
