Amber Heard is countersuing ex-husband Johnny Depp for $100 million — accusing him of using trolls and fake social media accounts in a “smear campaign” to ruin her life, according to court documents.
Heard, 34, filed documents seeking to get her ex’s “frivolous lawsuit” against her tossed from a court in Virginia — while seeking twice the amount of compensatory damages he had sought from her.
The actress said she was finally “fighting back” with the Aug. 9 filing, made as the couple still await a judge’s decision on Depp’s similar legal battle in the UK.
Heard claimed that Depp’s US lawsuit merely continues his “abuse and harassment” — and again accused him of “rampant physical violence” while having called her “the most horrendous of names,” including “c–t,” “whore,” “disgusting pig” and “inhuman scum filled suckfish.”
“Not content to let the jury decide this lawsuit, Mr. Depp and/or his agents acting on his behalf have orchestrated a false and defamatory smear campaign,” the counterclaim alleged.
To do this, he controlled “dozens if not hundreds” of bots and “social media accounts created specifically for the purpose of targeting” her, the filing said — suggesting some could even be tied to Russia.
“These accounts are designed to damage Ms. Heard and her livelihood without being directly traceable to Mr. Depp,” the court papers said.
Depp has even “initiated, coordinated, overseen and/or supported and amplified” two change.org petitions to get her booted from the “Aquaman” movie as well as being a spokeswoman for L’Oreal, the papers allege.
“This stream of false and defamatory accusations against Ms. Heard is all an attempt to ruin her life and career, simply because she was a victim of domestic abuse and violence at the hands of Mr. Depp, and had the audacity and temerity to finally come forward to end” it, her filing claims.
“Through this Counterclaim, Ms. heard is finally, after all these years, fighting back,” her papers said.
Depp’s lawsuit was sparked by an op-ed Heard wrote in the Washington Post, calling herself a victim of domestic abuse. She argued that it should be dismissed partly because the op-ed did not ID Depp as her abuser.
Heard’s counterclaim accuses her ex of repeatedly suing to “remain relevant as his star otherwise wanes.”
The Virginia case was due to start in January, but Depp recently requested it be pushed back until later in the year so he can film “Fantastic Beasts 3.”
His volatile marriage with Heard was spelled out in great detail during a three-week libel trial in London’s High Court in July as he sued the Sun newspaper over a 2018 article calling him a “wife beater.”
A decision on that case is expected any day.