Amber Heard had a “short stint as an exotic dancer,” according to recently revealed court documents, and her ex-husband Johnny Depp didn’t want his association with disgraced singer Marilyn Manson exposed in court.
Judge Penny Azcarate ordered the release of the classified records on July 13 after Johnny Depp prevailed in his libel case against Amber Heard and received a $10.35 million jury verdict.
Legal pundit Andrea Burkhart revealed the data online over the weekend after raising more than $3,300 to buy them.
The arguments made behind the scenes by both sides to attempt and keep evidence in and out of the Fairfax County Circuit trial in Virginia are described in the court files.On May 27, 2022, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard appeared in Virginia’s Fairfax County Circuit Court. (Reuters, Steve Helber/Pool)
Heard’s opposition to Depp’s team’s attempt to give the jury incriminating facts about her past was described in a March 22 document.
Elaine Bredehoft, Heard’s lawyer, claimed that Depp was attempting to include “irrelevant personal concerns,” such as “Amber’s brief time as an exotic dancer years before she met Mr. Depp,” “naked images” of her, and “unsubstantiated assertions” that she was a sex worker.Bredehoft stated: “Nude images of Amber Heard or remarks about stripping or escort services would be very distracting and unjustifiably discriminatory in that they represent Amber Heard as a sex symbol rather than a women’s rights fighter against domestic abuse.
The “reality show video” of Heard’s sister Whitney Henriquez presented a challenge for Heard’s team as well. These “personal matters” were not presented to the court.
Amber Heard leaves Virginia’s Fairfax County Circuit Court after the libel trial for Johnny Depp (Win McNamee).Crude text exchanges between Depp and Marilyn Manson were also discovered in a 965-page document filed on March 28 but were never shown to the jury.
Ben Chew, Depp’s lawyer, fought hard to prevent any mentions of the actor’s acquaintance with Manson, whose actual name is Brian Warner, out of fear that doing so might “mist,” rendering Depp guilty under an association argument.Manson texted Depp in 2016 to say that Lindsay Usich “pulled an amber,” in reference to Manson’s now-wife Usich, who called the police about him and claimed he beat her. He described them as “Amber 2.0”.
Depp replied: “I’ve read LOTS of material on this and sociopathic behavior… it’s my f***ing brother!! My ex-c—-t is a goddamn TEXTBOOK!!!”
Marilyn Manson and Lindsay Usich attend the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party (Toni Anne Barson/WireImage)
Manson was blacklisted in the music industry after he was accused of physical, mental and sexual abuse by a string of women — including his former fiancé “Westward” actress Evan Rachel Wood. He sued her for defamation in March.
