The curious case of Amber Heard v. Johnny Depp just got even more perplexing.
According to new legal docs obtained by The Blast, the Aquaman actress is asking the court to force her allegedly abusive ex-husband to undergo a mental health examination to evaluate his current mental state — but Depp now, of all things, claims she’s victim-blaming him.
The outlet reports Heard is requesting a mental health professional conduct an Independent Mental Evaluation (IME) on the Oscar nominee because she thinks his substance abuse and various medications contributed to the alleged abuse.
In a legal filing, her team claimed that “mental conditions in combination with his rampant use of alcohol and drugs were inextricably intertwined with the abuse suffered at his hands.”
The 33-year-old actress added:
“Johnny’s relationship with reality oscillates, depending upon his interaction with alcohol and drugs. As Johnny’s paranoia, delusions and aggression increased throughout our relationship so has my awareness of his continued substance abuse.”
In response, his lawyers have filed documents in the case arguing Heard’s demands are an invasion of privacy. They also claim his current mental state has little to do with what may or may not have happened years ago between the former couple.
The actor’s attorneys said:
“This is a defamation case in which Mr. Depp does not allege that he suffers from any mental disorder or condition. Thus, Mr. Depp’s mental condition is not ‘in controversy’ nor does good cause exist under the rule for an IME of Mr. Depp.”
Well, Depp did say his brain may have literally been boiled from spending too much time in the sauna — but that’s neither here nor there, we guess.
His lawyers went on to accuse Heard of treading “a well-worn path of victim blaming” by calling her ex’s mental health into question, explaining:
“It is preposterous notion that an IME now would shed light on Mr. Depp’s mental state at the time of Ms. Heard’s abuse hoax back in 2016. Ms. Heard’s effort treads a well-worn path of victim blaming using the pretext of mental health… By Ms. Heard’s tortured credibility logic, current IME’s would also be warranted for all the dozens of eyewitnesses who have attested to the various facets of the hoaxes they witnessed years ago.”
Needless to say, Depp’s team is sticking with their story that the 56-year-old was the victim in the relationship, not the abuser.
His lawyer Adam Waldman told The Blast:
“Why does Amber Heard seek a mental health evaluation from a victim who has 32 eyewitness statements, 87 surveillance videos and a multitude of photographs showing beyond any doubt that Ms. Heard is a serially violent abuser who sought to cover and compound her crimes against Mr. Depp with a fraudulent hoax? …Mr. Depp’s current mental state has no bearing on the truth or falsity of the alleged incidents allegedly occurring years ago.”
Depp’s team argues a mental evaluation now wouldn’t necessarily lead to information important to when the alleged events went down, claiming:
“A present-day mental evaluation to prove the truth of incidents that allegedly occurred over three and a half years ago would be unavailing because the results of such an IME conducted now would not constitute reliable evidence of Mr. Depp’s mental state then.”
But Heard’s team thinks otherwise. Attorney Roberta Kaplan said she believes Depp’s mental state then and now is highly relevant, saying in a statement:
“Mr. Depp’s well-documented history of drug and alcohol abuse, as well as his serious issues with anger and violence, raise legitimate questions about his mental state during the course of his relationship with our client, not to mention his ability to remember and truthfully recount what happened. We hope that Mr. Depp will agree to be examined so that we can get to the truth and our client can put the abuse she experienced and continues to experience as a result of this lawsuit to an end.”
Hmmm…
The jury’s still out on whether Johnny’s current mental health is pertinent to the case against Heard — but asking for that information, relevant or not, doesn’t really sound like victim-blaming to us.
What do U think?
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