Johnny Depp has been ordered to turn over his medical records by the judge presiding over his court battle with Amber Heard after a dramatic hearing on Friday where the actress’s lawyers were given permission to look into whether he may have abused other past partners.
Depp is suing Heard for $50million claiming she defamed him by writing an op-ed in 2016 about domestic violence. She did not include his name in but he says she publicly implicated him by writing it.
Now, she is trying to prove that he did beat her during their short marriage – a claim that has long been denied by him throughout their divorce and subsequent spats.
As part of her case, her lawyers want to present his medical records to show his history of substance and alcohol abuse. They say it is what fueled the physical abuse and that it is relevant.
On Friday, Heard’s attorneys also asked the judge to allow them to prove that Depp might have been violent towards other, past partners.
Johnny Depp was ordered to turn over his medical records by a judge as part of his fight with Amber Heard. Her attorneys also got permission to seek evidence of him allegedly abusing other ex-partner
It is a new claim which he denies and says amounts to her going on ‘fishing expedition’ to ‘harass’ him.
Heard’s team did not name of the other partners they claim he may have been was abusive towards.
‘He says he is not a perpetrator of domestic violence. So we have requested documents relating to Mr. Depp’s commission of domestic violence against other romantic partners,’ her lawyer, John Quinn, said.
Depp’s team fought it, saying it was irrelevant.
The judge then asked why he had stated in his lawsuit that he had never been domestically violent towards anyone.
His attorney said: ‘Mr. Depp understood that this case, since the public op-ed, is going to be in the public press. And so it’s important for him to say that.’
They accused Heard’s team of trying to get access to his medical files to go on a ‘fishing expedition’ to embarrass and ‘harass’ him.
Despite Depp’s claims that it was irrelevant, the judge sided with Heard.
Heard has submitted photos in previous proceedings which she claims show injuries Depp gave her. He has long denied being violent towards her and is suing her for defamation
She also said it was ‘troubling’ that Depp’s actors submitted claims in their lawsuit against Heard for the purpose of having them reported on by the media.
Heard’s lawyers previously tried to keep the case private. She said she did not want aspects of her personal life or of the lives of people close to them to be made public.
Depp’s attorneys have repeatedly claimed he has ‘nothing to hide’.
His lawyer told DailyMail.com that Heard’s latest claims were part of a ‘notorious abuse hoax.’
‘Having been sued for defamation her notorious abuse hoax, Amber Heard’s #TimesUp lawyer doesn’t waste any time trying to prove the unprovable, or dispute the mountain of evidence showing her fraud.
‘Instead, they do what the guilty always do, compounding the original crime with new false abuse allegations and other smearing innuendo.
‘There is a public trial February 3, and that is when truth replaces PR.’
Depp and Heard are pictured in 2016. They were married from 2015 until 2018
Among pieces of evidence which will become part of the court record are Heard’s texts with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who she dated after breaking up with Depp.
Depp’s past partners include Vanessa Paradis, the mother of his two children who previously spoke out in defense of him and the allegation that he would be violent ‘outrageous’.
Others, who he dated in the 1990s, include Kate Moss and Juliette Lewis.
Heard’s attorney Roberta Kaplan told DailyMail.com on Monday they were happy with the outcome of Friday’s hearing.
‘It is Mr. Depp who started this lawsuit on the theory that Ms. Heard somehow made up all the abuse that forced her to obtain a restraining order against Mr. Depp back in 2016.
‘Now that the facts in his own lawsuit are making him uncomfortable, Mr. Depp wants to hide evidence commonly understood to be connected to incidents of domestic violence: his decades-long abuse of drugs and alcohol, his past history of violence, and medical records showing among other things the laundry list of prescription medications he takes daily and injuries from his drug-induced rages.’
She added: ‘Mr. Depp started this fight. Ms. Heard intends to finish it by proving, if necessary, the truth of what really happened.’
Depp’s only other long term partner, Vanessa Paradis, previously said Heard’s allegations against him were ‘outrageous’