Amber Heard threatened to publicly serve Johnny Depp with a restraining order if he did not continue financially supporting her lifestyle after she filed for divorce, court exhibits from the couple’s $100million defamation trial reveal.
Jurors on Wednesday were shown a letter Heard’s attorney had sent to Depp’s legal team in May 2016, just a few days after the actress filed to end their marriage following a fight at their home.
Through her lawyer, Heard, 36, issued a list of financial and property demands, with the Aquaman star promising to ‘keep this matter out of the spotlight’ if her requests were granted.
Among her demands was the ‘exclusive use and possession’ of the black Range Rover she drove, with Depp continuing to make payments towards the vehicle.
She also wanted to carry on living rent free in three Los Angeles penthouses she and her friends were staying in, all owned by Depp, and asked for her estranged husband to cover $125,000 of her legal and accounting fees.
Amber Heard (pictured entering the courtroom Thursday) sent Johnny Depp a laundry list of demands, including the use of three penthouses he owned, soon after filing for divorce in 2016, court exhibits reveal
Among her demands was the ‘exclusive use and possession’ of the black Range Rover Heard drove, with Depp continuing to make payments towards the vehicle. She is pictured driving in West Hollywood in 2015
The letter, which was entered into evidence in the trial, sheds light on the hardball tactics used during the breakdown of the marriage with the Pirates of the Caribbean star.
Depp, 58, is suing Heard for $50million over her 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she implied she was abused by the actor after identifying as a survivor of domestic abuse.
Heard has also filed a countersuit for $100million for a ‘smear campaign’ which she alleges cost her her career as an actress.
Samantha Spector, Heard’s attorney at the time, sent the letter – titled ‘In RE: Marriage of Depp’ – to Depp’s lawyer Jacob Bloom dated May 24, 2016, requesting his cooperation in the divorce.
Three days earlier, Depp and Heard had their final argument where she claims he hit her with a mobile phone.
At the time, Spector wrote Heard had not yet filed for a temporary restraining order (TRO) and wished to keep the incident from the public.
‘Although Amber is afraid of Johnny, she strongly insists that we do everything possible to keep this personal matter out of the media spotlight, which is why she has not yet sought a DV TRO and why we did not arrange for Johnny to have been personally served at last night’s movie premiere,’ Spector wrote.
Depp had been promoting 2016 Disney film Alice Through The Looking Glass, in which he starred as the Mad Hatter, at the time.
The letter states that Depp had ‘violently attacked and threatened’ Heard and that there were ‘several witnesses’ and photographs of the property damage.
Heard was often seen driving a black Range Rover in LA when she and Depp were still married
Heard also requested ‘exclusive use and possession’ of three downtown LA penthouses, all owned by Depp, with Depp continuing to make payment on the homes
Through her lawyer, Heard, 36, issued a list of financial and property demands, with the Aquaman star promising to ‘keep this matter out of the spotlight’ if her requests were granted
The altercation was ‘not the first incident of domestic violence perpetrated by Johnny against Amber’, Spector wrote, adding that there were ‘two other incidents in the last six months.’
She insisted Heard wished to work toward a ‘private and amicable resolution’ and requested Depp sign the acknowledgement of the divorce within three days before apparently threatening to file a TRO if he did not comply.
‘If the requested Notice is not signed and the original executed form is not returned to me by May 27th, we would have no alternative but to arrange for Johnny to be personally served,’ Spector wrote.
The letter then went on to list Heard’s demands which are couched as ‘pendent lite support.’
The demands are the ‘exclusive use and possession of the Black Range Rover’ which she was currently driving with Depp to ‘make all payments’ for the vehicle.
Heard also wanted ‘exclusive use and possession’ of penthouses 1, 3, and 5 at the Eastern Columbia Building in West Hollywood – Depp’s properties – with Depp continuing to pay the mortgage and all utilities.
She also asked for ‘a contribution towards her reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees in the amount of $100,000 and $25,000 for forensic accounting costs,’ to be paid by the same date.
The final demand was that the case be assigned to a private retired judge with the fees split between each side.
It is not clear how Depp’s legal team responded, but the day after the letter was sent the first reports emerged of the divorce, which had gone unnoticed on the court docket for three days.
These photos were shown in court from May 2016 of Amber Heard with an apparently bruised cheek. Saenz said, ‘I did not identify her as a victim of domestic violence,’ adding that she did not see any evidence of a crime, including broken glass or mess in the penthouse
Heard would go on to apply for a temporary restraining order against Depp on May 27 and included a photo of her bruised face in her filing.
She was later snapped arriving court where she claimed Depp had been violent towards her.
Depp claims his ex-wife’s op-ed, published two years later, cost him the role of Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates films.
The exes previously fought a libel trial in London at the High Court in 2020 where a judge ruled that Mr Depp had beaten up Miss Heard.
The trial is due to finish in late May.
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