Amber Heard’s defense team sought to discuss Johnny Depp’s alleged erectile dysfunction in order to provide background information to the actress’ allegations of sexual assault.
The 36-year-old actress’ lawyers argued in a March filing that Depp, 59, should disclose that he supposedly suffers from erectile dysfunction by providing a fictitious list of prescriptions as evidence, according to newly unsealed pre-trial documents seen by Newsweek and Page Six. They claimed the illness is “important” because it would help to explain why he would use a bottle to sexually assault Heard, something he vehemently denied ever doing.
“Despite Mr. Depp’s preference to keep his erectile dysfunction a secret, this condition is unquestionably connected to sexual aggression, including Mr. Depp’s rage and use of a bottle to rape Amber Heard. Due to his erectile dysfunction, Mr. Depp is more likely to become enraged or agitated when he is around Amber Heard and to go for a bottle “Newsweek quotes her legal team as saying.
According to the publication, Depp’s attorneys objected to it and stated in a filing that his ex-wife “wants a circus” and “obviously plans to lead this trial down a variety of unnecessarily lurid rabbit holes, including and especially with respect to Mr. Depp’s medical history.”
Heard testified under oath about a 2015 incident in Australia where she said Depp repeatedly poked her with a bottle during the tense trial, which was broadcast live and seen by millions.
Depp described Heard’s evidence as “heinous,” “ridiculous,” and “humiliating” during his final time testifying. He said to the court, “Absolutely not one human being is perfect. All of us. However, I have never in my life engaged in sexual battery, physical assault, or any of the other absurd, crazy claims about me committing these crimes, concealing them for six years, and then waiting to be able to come clean.”
Depp was awarded more than $10 million in damages after the Virginia case, in which a jury of seven made up of five men and two women, found Heard to have defamed him in her 2018 op-ed. She was granted $2 million in one of her three countersuit claims that she had won. Both of them are currently challenging the decisions.
Heard stated that she still stands by her testimony in a sit-down interview with NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie following the conviction. She also discussed how stressful it was for her to be cross-examined regarding the alleged sexual assault. “Not being believed, being labeled a liar, or being humiliated is the scariest, most scary thing for anybody talking about sexual violence,” said Heard.
In a June interview with Good Morning America, one of the male jurors claimed that “some of us used the word ‘crocodile tears’” in reference to Heard’s emotional outbursts when discussing abuse and assault in front of the courtroom and millions of viewers at home. Depp “seemed a little more real,” the juror continued, and was “more believable.”
Heard’s team resisted Depp’s attempts to mention her “short career as an exotic dancer” and nude images of her in court, it was also disclosed in the pre-trial filings. Prior to seeing the actor, they asserted that Depp’s crew was attempting to “frivolously and deliberately insinuate or infer that Ms. Heard was at one point an escort.”