Unsealed Depp v. Heard court docs reveal crude texts with Marilyn Manson, ‘exotic dancer’ claims
Thousands of pages of documents filed in Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s bombshell defamation case were unsealed over the weekend, including text messages between the actor and Marilyn Manson and his team’s apparent attempt to bring up his ex-wife’s “brief stint as an exotic dancer” at trial.
The court documents, published online and verified by The Post, lay out of a series of behind-the-scenes moves by attorneys from both sides to get certain claims presented to the jury in Fairfax, Virginia.
One 965-page document filed March 28 details Heard’s opposition to a series of motions made by Depp’s lawyers, including one to exclude his medical history from the trial and others that asked to present potentially damaging information about the actress.
Lawyers for the “Aquaman” star said Depp sought to inappropriately bring up “Amber Heard’s sister Whitney’s reality show video” and “Whitney and Amber’s past romantic relationships,” the filing states.
Depp also wanted to tell the jury about “Amber’s brief stint as an exotic dancer years before she met Mr. Depp,” her lawyers wrote, as they also opposed “Mr. Depp attempting to frivolously and maliciously suggest or imply that Ms. Heard was at one time an escort.”
The documents also showed new text messages between Depp and rocker Manson, born Brian Warner, who has been accused of sexual abuse and grooming, including by his former fiancée Evan Rachel Wood, whom he sued for defamation in March.
In a 2016 text, Manson allegedly wrote, “I got an amber 2.0” and also “Lindsay just puled an amber on me…please delete”
Depp responds, “I been reading A LOT of material on that and sociopathic behavior…it is f–king real my brother!! My ex-c—t is goddamn TEXTBOOK!!!,” according to the document.
Then Manson, in an apparent reference to an incident where the police were called to Depp and Heard’s shared Los Angeles apartment in 2016, wrote, “I got a serious police amber type scenarios with L’s family. I’m f–king stressing. I don’t know if you are back but I need asylum somewhere because I think the cops might be headed my way,” the filing states.
Heard’s lawyers alleged that Depp and Manson went on “drug binges” together, including in the days before the actress arrived in Australia and the two got into a now-infamous fight that ended with the actor losing the tip of his right middle finger.
The filings also include a lengthy passage of allegations that Heard’s attorney Elaine Bredehoft claims she was unable to ask Depp’s former agent Tracey Jacobs about, including that the actor “lied to the LAPD.”
Included in the list of “relevant and damaging information” excluded at trial was that “Mr. Depp appeared on TV drunk and stoned, to the point that Disney studio executives called Ms. Jacobs asking ‘What the hell was wrong with your client,'” the documents states. It is not clear what alleged appearance the attorney was referencing in the filing.
Heard’s team also claimed that “these same issues appeared during the filming of Pirates 5 and Disney told Ms. Jacobs the conduct was not ‘going to be tolerated,’ Disney was ‘not going to put up with this’ and that ‘there was no love between Johnny and Disney, given the Pirates five situation.’”
Depp’s relationship with Disney played a major role in the trial, as his lawyers argued that Heard’s defamatory allegations cost him tens of millions in future “Pirates” revenue, while Heard’s team argued Disney dropped the actor due to his own behavior.
Lawyers for the actor said Heard’s team was offering misleading evidence, stating that Bredehoft “could have kept questioning Ms. Jacobs for a further three hours, but chose not to do so.”
Documents also show how Depp’s attorneys worked to exclude testimony regarding the actor’s arrest record and ongoing litigation for other cases, included a lawsuit accusing him of assault that was settled in July.
His lawyers, who were successful in their argument, said “it will serve no purpose other than to prejudice him in front of the jury” and that Heard would use it to “proffer evidence that portrays Mr. Depp as a violent man.”
The jury awarded Depp $10.35 million over claims he was defamed by an op-ed article in which Heard made allegations of domestic abuse. She was awarded $2 million over her claims that Depp’s lawyer made false and damaging comments about her.
In an interview with NBC News following the jury’s verdict, Heard lamented evidence excluded from the trial, including “a binder worth of years of notes dating back to 2011 from the very beginning of my relationship that were taken by my doctor, who I was reporting the abuse to.”
“How could they make a judgment, how could they not come to that conclusion,” Heard said, referencing the evidence from which the jury was shielded.
Reps for Heard did not return a request for comment. Depp’s reps did not comment.
