Johnny Depp has accused Amber Heard of "painting on bruises" when she accused him of abusing her.
The ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star is suing his ex-wife in a $50 million defamation lawsuit after she claimed he was physically and emotionally abusing toward her during their two-year marriage.
And in a lengthy declaration submitted to courts, which was obtained by The Blast, Johnny has said he still "vehemently" denies the allegations against him, and hopes to "bring clarity" to the lives of other men and women who have been "harmed by abuse".
Speaking in documents in his own words, the 55-year-old actor said: "I have denied Ms. Heard’s allegations vehemently since she first made them in May 2016, when she walked into court to obtain a temporary restraining order with painted-on bruises that witnesses and surveillance footage show she did not possess each day of the preceding week. I will continue to deny them for the rest of my life. I never abused Ms. Heard or any other woman.
"[I am filing the lawsuit] not only to clear my name and restore my reputation, but to attempt to bring clarity to the women and men whose lives have been harmed by abuse and who have been repeatedly lied to by Ms. Heard purporting to be their spokesperson.
"After years of asserting my innocence, I am finally in a position to prove it by dismantling each element of her hoax."
Johnny says he was led to file the lawsuit after the "appearance of new evidence not previously in [his] possession", and in much of the declaration, he goes through the various instances in which Amber accused him of domestic violence, and refutes them all.
He says Amber’s "lies are internally inconsistent, shifting, and directly contradicted by overwhelming sworn testimonial, photographic, audio, video, and other evidence."
Johnny goes on to accuse Amber of domestic violence against him, and included several photos of injuries he alleges he sustained during their relationship.
He said: "Notwithstanding Ms. Heard’s false domestic abuse allegations about me, there was actual, documented domestic violence in our relationship: she was the perpetrator, and I was the victim. While mixing prescription amphetamines and non-prescription drugs with alcohol, Ms. Heard committed innumerable acts of domestic violence against me, often in the presence of third party witnesses, which in some instances caused me serious bodily injury.
"Throughout our relationship, Ms. Heard also committed domestic violence against me. She hit, punched, and kicked me. She also repeatedly and frequently threw objects into my body and head, including heavy bottles, soda cans, burning candles, television remote controls, and paint thinner cans, which severely injured me."
At the end of his deposition, the ‘Black Mass’ actor accuses Amber of "relying on the concept of #believewomen", which is part of the #MeToo movement.
He said: "Cynically relying on the concept of #believewomen that has been promoted as part of the important #MeToo movement, Ms. Heard’s ‘evidence’ rests primarily on her word and that of her dependent friends. She and they have falsely accused me of violence, although interestingly none of her ‘witnesses’ say they ever witnessed any violence. And they did this despite the inconvenient truth of my possession of eyewitness statements provided under penalty of perjury and photographs of her converse violence committed against me, overwhelming evidence that her various abuse claims and the injuries that she claimed ensued from them are hoaxes, the fact of her own prior arrest and incarceration for domestic violence against her previous wife, and new witnesses who are now coming forward to describe the brutal violence they suffered at her hands."
Johnny Depp: Amber Heard ‘painted on bruises’ for court appearance
