Johnny Depp called 'hopeless addict' and 'violent misogynist' in UK court

Johnny Depp was a drug addict prone to violent rages and a misogynist who assaulted his wife and used abusive language about women, a London court was told on Monday as the actor’s libel trial against a British tabloid neared its ending.

The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star is suing News Group Newspapers, publishers of The Sun, and one of its journalists, Dan Wootton, over a 2018 article that called him a “wife beater”.

Depp and Heard both gave evidence at the trial. Depp said he was never violent towards Heard or any other woman and she was the one who had attacked him. Heard described multiple incidents when she said he physically assaulted her.

Summarising the defence case, which is that the allegation of wife beating was true, lawyer Sasha Wass portrayed the actor as “a hopeless addict” whose substance abuse, jealousy and anger made him a danger to his partner.

She said his excessive drug-taking led to uncontrolled outbursts during which he would metamorphose into a violent alter ego he called “The Monster”, and that his own memories of the extent of his behaviour were impaired by drugs and alcohol.

Citing texts and emails in which Depp had used words like “whore”, “slut” or “worthless hooker” about Heard and other women, Wass said he was far from being the “Southern gentleman” on which he had told the court he modelled himself.

She quoted from texts he had sent in 2013 to the actor Paul Bettany, in which he had spoken about drowning and burning Heard.

Wass accused him of “deep misogyny” and said jealousy of Heard’s supposed other partners was the catalyst of many violent episodes.

“BOOZE AND DRUGS”

“Mr Depp has sought to deploy the more old-fashioned methods used to discredit women. She is a gold-digger, a shrew and an adulterer,” the lawyer said.

Describing it as a “critical piece of evidence,” Wass read from an email that Heard had sent to herself in 2013, before the couple were married, in which she recorded her feelings about Depp’s drug-fuelled rages. The email was addressed to Depp but not sent to him.

“You have hit me repeated. something you should Never have done ... And None of this would be possible without the booze and drugs. NONE,” Heard wrote.

Wass was due to continue her closing speech for the whole of Monday’s hearing. Depp’s lawyer, David Sherborne, is due to make his own closing arguments on Tuesday. A ruling is not expected immediately.Reuters