Johnny Depp's Friend Claims Amber Heard Is Blackmailing Him (UPDATE)

Comedian Doug Stanhope says his friend Johnny Depp is "being blackmailed" by Amber Heard.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

UPDATE 06/03/16:

Amber Heard is suing comedian Doug Stanhope for defamation after he accused her of blackmailing his friend Johnny Depp Peoplereports.

According to People in the court filing Heard claims that Stanhope: "orchestrated a plot to write an article, which was published at TheWrap.com, which falsely accuses plaintiff Amber Heard of 'blackmail' and other criminal behavior towards Johnny Depp, from whom she is seeking a divorce."

Heard's lawyer Charles J. Harder told People in a statement:

"The Complaint alleges that Stanhope is a close friend of Johnny Depp and, as part of a coordinated effort, wrote a highly defamatory article about Ms. Heard, filled with completely false, highly defamatory and very hurtful statements. Ms. Heard seeks the maximum possible jury award."

The money will reportedly be donated to a domestic violence charity in Arizona, where Stanhope lives.

See original story below.

In the days since Amber Heard filed for divorce from Johnny Depp, the controversy surrounding the split has only escalated. After alleging domestic violence, Heard requested (and received) a temporary restraining order against Depp. Though Depp hasn't addressed the allegations publicly, those close to the former couple have started speaking on their behalf.

One such voice is that of comedian Doug Stanhope, who penned a guest column for the Wrap Sunday asserting that Depp is being "blackmailed" by Heard. "Today, a friend of mine was pilloried in the press for domestic violence," Stanhope wrote. "Coupled with a picture of his wife with a bruise, he was murdered on social media. I watched it happen, and I didn't say a f—ing word. Even though I knew it was bulls—."

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

Stanhope says he and his girlfriend, Bingo, were at Depp's house the night of the alleged incident and "assumed" that Depp's "dour mood" was due to the recent passing of his mother. However, according to Stanhope, Depp was also worried about Heard. "[Depp] opened up in the most vulnerable of ways that it was not only his mother, but that Amber was now going to leave him, threatening to lie about him publicly in any and every possible duplicitous way if he didn’t agree to her terms," Stanhope wrote. "Blackmail is what I would imagine other people might put it, including the manner in which he is now being vilified."

According to Stanhope, his friend has been set up. "Abusing women is bulls—," Stanhope wrote. "Johnny doesn't abuse anyone. And he told me that day ahead of time that she'd pull some kind of s— like this." Read Stanhope's full column here.

Reps for Heard, Depp, and Stanhope did not immediately respond to Complex's request for comment.

UPDATED, 5/31/16: Amber Heard slammed down allegations that she is blackmailing Johnny Depp for money in a written statement from her lawyer. "Allegations against Ms. Heard are absolutely and unequivocally false,” Heard's lawyer, Peter Sample, wrote in a letter to The Wrap. Sample continued by asserting the claim "has no basis in reality and is nothing but the typical celebrity muckraking for profit" and demanded a retraction of the article.

Latest in Pop Culture