The legal team for Amber Heard wanted to discuss Johnny Depp’s purported erectile dysfunction in order to provide background information for the actress’ allegations of sexual assault.
The 36-year-old actress’ lawyers argued in a March filing that Depp, 59, should disclose that he supposedly suffers from erectile dysfunction by providing a fictitious list of prescriptions as evidence, according to newly unsealed pre-trial documents seen by Newsweek and Page Six. They suggested the medical condition is “relevant” because it would help to explain why he would use a bottle to sexually assault Heard, something he categorically denied ever happening.
“Though Mr. Depp would rather not disclose his erectile dysfunction condition, such condition is absolutely relevant to sexual violence, including Mr. Depp’s anger and use of a bottle to rape Amber Heard. Mr. Depp’s erectile dysfunction makes it more probable that Mr. Depp would be angry or agitated in encounters with Amber Heard, and that he would resort to a bottle,” her legal team wrote, per Newsweek.
The outlet reported that Depp’s lawyers responded in a filing, taking issue with it and claiming his ex-wife “wants a circus, and clearly intends to take this trial down a number of unnecessarily salacious rabbit holes, including and especially with respect to Mr. Depp’s medical history.”
Heard testified under oath about a 2015 incident in Australia where she said Depp repeatedly poked her with a bottle during the contentious trial, which was broadcast live and seen by millions.
Speaking during his last time on the stand, Depp called Heard’s testimony “heinous,” “ridiculous” and “humiliating.” He told the courtroom, “No human being is perfect, certainly not. None of us. But I have never in my life committed sexual battery, physical abuse, all these outlandish, outrageous stories of me committing these things and living with it for six years and waiting to be able to bring the truth out.”
Depp was awarded more than $10 million in damages after the Virginia case, in which a jury of seven made up of five men and two women, found Heard to have defamed him in her 2018 op-ed. She was granted $2 million in one of her three countersuits claims that she had won. Both of them are currently challenging the decisions.
Heard stated that she still stands by her testimony in a sit-down interview with NBC News‘ Savannah Guthrie following the conviction. She also discussed how stressful it was for her to be cross-examined regarding the alleged sexual assault.
” The scariest, most intimidating thing for anybody talking about sexual violence is not being believed, being called a liar, or being humiliated,” said Heard.
One of the male jurors spoke anonymously to Good Morning America in June, saying that “some of us used the expression ‘crocodile tears’ ” in reference to Heard getting emotional while speaking about abuse and assault in front of the courtroom and millions watching from home. The juror added that they felt Depp was “more believable” and “seemed a little more real.”
As per Yahoo, Heard’s team pushed back on Depp’s side trying to bring up her “brief stint as an exotic dancer” and nude images of her in court, it was also disclosed in the pre-trial filings. Prior to seeing the actor, they asserted that Depp’s crew was attempting to “frivolously and maliciously suggest or imply that Ms. Heard was at one time an escort.”