Johnny Depp and ex-wife Amber Heard arrive at London's High Court for legal showdown. Video / AP
The actor accused Amber Heard of "extramarital affairs" and pulling a sick defecation "prank" in an explosive start to his defamation case.
Johnny Depp's libel lawsuit against a British tabloid has got off to an explosive start in London, with his lawyer repeating accusations that his ex-wife Amber Heard cheated on him with two high-profile figures.
On the opening day of the actor's case against the UK's The Sun – which is owned by News Corporation, the publisher of news.com.au – Depp's team claimed that Heard had "extramarital affairs" with Tesla boss Elon Musk and actor James Franco.
Depp is fighting back against the newspaper's description of him as a "wife-beater" in a 2018 article.
Actress Amber Heard, center, arrives at the High Court in London, Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Photo / AP
Both Musk and Franco have already been dragged into the Pirates Of The Caribbean star's separate US$50 million ($76m) lawsuit against his ex, which was launched after Heard wrote a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she claimed to have been a victim of domestic violence.
Franco has been subpoenaed after appearing in a May 2016 surveillance video that showed him getting into a lift with Heard the day after she alleges Depp gave her a black eye.
Meanwhile, Depp has also claimed Heard had a secret fling with Musk which began the month after they got married in 2015, and included a threesome with model Cara Delevingne.
Johnny Depp, second left, wearing a protective mask arrives at the Royal Court of Justice, in London, Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Photo / AP
Both men have denied having any romantic involvement with Heard during her relationship with Depp.
During his testimony on Tuesday, Depp also denied he ever physically abused Heard or any other women, describing the accusation as "inconceivable" to him as a result of his Southern upbringing, and describing his ex-wife as a "sociopathic" abuser herself.
He testified that he decided to divorce Heard after she or "possibly one of her friends" defecated in their bed as a "prank" at her 30th birthday party at their LA penthouse following a blow-up between the couple.
"I understand that the following morning [after the party], Ms Heard [or possibly one of her friends] defecated in our shared bed," Depp said, according to the statement.
"On 12 May 2016, Ms Heard confessed to our estate manager, Kevin Murphy, that leaving the faeces in the bed had been 'just a harmless prank', thereby effectively acknowledging that she had been responsible, whereas she had previously sought to blame our dogs," the Fantastic Beasts star said.
Actor Johnny Depp, right, departs the High Court in London, Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Photo / AP
But Depp argued that the couple's tiny Yorkshire teacup terriers couldn't have been responsible as they were too small to jump on the bed and their faeces were a lot smaller.
When the defecation claim first surfaced in the UK's Mirror in 2018, a representative for Heard denied the notion, blaming the incident on her dog, Boo.
The dog has "serious bowel-control issues", her representative said. "There was never a joke, it wasn't something done to be disrespectful.
"It was an innocent thing. It's what pets will do."
