Johnny Depp slams Amber Heard's abuse claims as "new lies"

Johnny Depp called Amber Heard's new court filing as a "hoax" on Friday. Photo / Getty Images.

Johnny Depp has branded Amber Heard's new court filing as "new lies".

The 55-year-old actor is currently pursuing legal action against his ex-wife - whom he was married to for just over a year before filing for divorce in May 2016 - in a $50 million defamation lawsuit after she previously accused him of domestic abuse.

In a response to the lawsuit earlier this week, Amber spoke of the alleged abuse she suffered in detail, including incidents in which she claims Johnny "strangled" her, "punched" her, and "threw cans and unopened glass bottles" at her, often whilst being under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

But on Friday, the Pirates of the Caribbean star called her new claims a "hoax", and slammed her for having a "prior arrest and incarceration" for domestic abuse, after she was arrested in 2009 for an incident with her then-girlfriend Tasya van Ree, though all charges against her were dropped when Taysa said the situation was "misinterpreted".

In court documents obtained by People magazine, Johnny's attorney said: "A hoax confronted with the reality of evidence requires new lies to sustain itself. Yesterday's filing, made by a woman with a prior arrest and incarceration for domestic abuse, presented Amber Heard's new lies."

Amber, 32, detailed a number of alleged incidents in her filing, and claimed Johnny was often too "drunk" to remember what had happened.

She said: "About a year into our relationship, I began to witness Johnny abusing drugs and alcohol ... On some occasions, when Johnny simultaneously used both illegal narcotics and prescription medications I have had to get him medical attention. Whenever he was using, I worried for both of us. He would become a totally different person, often delusional and violent. We called that version of Johnny, 'the Monster'.

"Johnny often would not remember his delusional and violent conduct after he came out of his drunk or medicated states. ... Because I loved Johnny, I had believed his multiple promises that he could and would get better. I was wrong."