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Johnny Depp’s lawyer has claimed that the video taken by Marilyn Manson “destroyed” Amber Heard’s claims that she was molested by her ex-husband.
Testimony from Adam Waldman, who has worked on and off Mr Depp’s legal team since October 2016, was played in court on Thursday during the former couple’s high-level defamation trial in Fairfax, Virginia.
Mr. Waldman, who is at the center of Ms. Heard’s counterclaim after calling her abuse allegations “fake” and “fraud,” gave video testimony back in February after being subpoenaed by the Aquaman actress’ legal department.
The lawyer, who was banned for violating Twitter’s privacy policy, insisted he “saw things that show [Ms Heard’s] statements to be false”.
Mr. Waldman testified that he believed images and videos that rock star Mr. Manson sent him would help disprove Ms. Heard’s allegations of an alleged violent incident that occurred on Thanksgiving Day 2013.
“As for that incident — Thanksgiving, maybe 2013 — I think those videos and photos have invalidated their claim,” he testified.
Mr Waldman appears to be referring to a Thanksgiving 2015 video played during Mr Depp’s defamation trial in the UK The sun Newspaper – which he lost.
In the UK case, the court was shown footage of Mr Manson, Ms Heard’s father David and Mr Depp’s son Jack joking around at the Los Angeles gathering.
In the video, Mr Manson joked that Ms Heard’s father was “a monster” before David started chasing Jack.
Mr Depp’s legal team in the UK case claimed the video showed “a happy family event” – thus casting doubt on Ms Heard’s version of what happened on that day.
Ms Heard has claimed the couple got into an argument that day, with Mr Depp ripping her shirt, throwing her across the room and hurling glass at her.
Mr. Waldman also cited several witnesses who he said did not see injuries on Ms. Heard’s face between May 21 and May 27, 2016.
Ms Heard claims Mr Depp violently abused her on May 21. The incident happened two days before she filed for divorce and six days before she filed for a domestic violence restraining order.
Mr Waldman has previously accused Ms Heard of faking the scene of the abuse that night, saying in a 2020 media interview it was “an ambush, a hoax”.
Mr. Waldman’s statements accusing Ms. Heard of “staging a hoax” are at the heart of Ms. Heard’s counterclaim in the defamation suit.
Mr Depp is suing his ex-wife for defamation over a 2018 comment she wrote for The Washington Post where she described herself as “a public figure who represents domestic violence”.
That Pirates of the Caribbean The actor is credited in the article, titled “I spoke out against sexual violence — and faced the wrath of our culture. That needs to change.”
However, Mr Depp claims that this falsely implies that he is a domestic abuser – something he strongly denies – and that it has made it difficult for him to land roles in Hollywood. He is suing for $50 million.
Ms Heard is filing a $100million counterclaim, accusing Mr Depp of organizing a “defamation campaign” against her and describing his lawsuit as a continuation of “abuse and harassment”.
Her counterclaim for defamation was originally filed over Mr Waldman’s comments in which he accused Ms Heard of lying about the domestic violence she allegedly suffered at the hands of Mr Depp and calling her allegations “false,” “frauds of sexual violence.” ‘ and ‘ambush’ branded. .
Mr Waldman was reportedly later dropped from Mr Depp’s legal team but is now back working as his lawyer.
Mr Manson was mentioned earlier in the defamation trial when Mr Depp testified that he had done drugs with the rock star.
The Pirate actor told the court he once gave Mr Manson a pill to stop him talking so much.
This comes at a time when Mr Manson is also suing his ex-girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood for defamation after she accused him of raping and abusing her during their relationship.
Ms Wood made the allegations last year. Several other women have also come forward with the allegations.
