After reading Amber Heard’s full court filing against Johnny Depp I’m not surprised by the way Johnny’s team has tried to smear her. Amber tried to keep this out of the press by not issuing a statement to police on May 21, the day Johnny attacked her. She has visible bruising on her face and multiple eyewitnesses. Her lawyer tried to work with Johnny’s business attorney to settle this out of court. She’s asking for $50,000 a month spousal support because that’s right around her monthly expenses. Plus, from what I read on TMZ she’s required to ask for spousal support at this point legally. Johnny is worth $400 million and she surely adopted a different lifestyle when she married him. Asking for 1/2 a million a year in LA when you’re a celebrity married to an A-lister sounds perfectly reasonable to me, but of course people are using it to portray her as a golddigger after his money.

Johnny and his people are trying to paint her as the villain and act like she attacked Johnny, not the other way around. In fact TMZ is reporting that Johnny’s bodyguards are going to claim that Amber was regularly abusive to Johnny. This is a very classic abuser tactic and the way Johnny’s side is responding really brings it home to me that Amber is telling the truth. In fact the book Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men by Lundy Bancroft pretty much lays out Johnny Depp’s entire strategy so far in attempting to discredit Amber. Now Amber’s lawyer has issued a long statement about the way this has played out in the press. She says that Amber is going to go to the LAPD to give a statement on the criminal case. She also states that they’ve tried to stay quiet so far but that Johnny’s team has forced their hand and that Amber is the victim, not Johnny. Good for them.

As the result of Amber’s decision to decline giving an initial statement to the LAPD, her silence has been used against her by Johnny’s team. Amber did not provide a statement to the LAPD in an attempt to protect her privacy and Johnny’s career. Johnny’s team has forced Amber to give a statement to the LAPD to set the record straight as to the true facts, as she cannot continue to leave herself open to the vicious false and malicious allegations that have infected the media. Amber has suffered through years of physical and psychological abuse at the hands of Johnny.

In domestic violence cases, it is not unusual for the perpetrator’s playbook to include miscasting the victim as the villain. In reality, Amber acted no differently than many victims of domestic violence, who think first of the harm that might come to the abuser, rather than the abuse they have already suffered. Amber can no longer endure the relentless attacks and outright lies launched against her character in the Court of Public Opinion since the tragic events of May 21st. With her statement Amber hopes to give the LAPD the opportunity to conduct an accurate and complete investigation into the events of that evening and before. If that occurs, and the truth is revealed, there is no doubt that Amber’s claims will be substantiated beyond any doubt, and hopefully Johnny will get the help that he so desperately needs.

From the beginning it has been Amber’s desire to keep this matter as private as possible, even though LAPD officers responded to a 911 call made by a third-party. The LAPD officers viewed not only the disarray that Johnny had caused in the apartment but also the physical injuries to Amber’s face. We filed the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage at the very end of the day on Monday May 23rd and we did not serve Johnny with the Petition at the premiere of Alice Through the Looking Glass that evening. We sent a letter to Johnny’s counsel team the next morning making it clear we wanted to keep this matter out of the media. We then held off requesting a domestic violence restraining order as we knew that Johnny was out of the country.

We took the high road. Unfortunately, Johnny’s team immediately went to the press and began viciously attacking Amber’s character. Amber is simply a victim of domestic violence, and none of her actions are motivated by money. Amber is a brave and financially independent woman who is showing the courage of her convictions by doing the right thing against Johnny’s relentless army of lawyers and surrogates.

The Family Law Court is not going to be influenced by misinformation placed in the social media based on anonymous sources. Amber is the victim. Amber is a hero.

[From Just Jared]

This was very well put and I wish more outlets would put the entire analysis of Amber’s court filing online instead of parceling it out, letting Johnny’s side spin this and casting doubt on her story. Johnny is still trying to control Amber through the press only she’s not taking it anymore. He’s going to continue to try to destroy her and it just makes him look more desperate and guilty. I do feel sorry for her. Whether Amber married Johnny for opportunistic purposes or not, whether she’s seeking spousal support or not, whether she was too happy, too sad, not wearing enough makeup or mugging it up at an event, she’s still a victim of domestic abuse. How is that so hard to grasp?

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