Lawyers: Depp’s Agent Detailed the Actor’s Troubled Record

A Virginia judge declined to sanction Depp’s attorney over the disclosure of a deposition from the actor’s former agent that purportedly detailed his substance abuse and anger during the time he was married to actress Amber Heard.

FAIRFAX, Va. (CN) — Two years ago, Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife Amber Heard, contending she falsely claimed he abused her and that he lost his role as Jack Sparrow in the sequel to “Pirates of the Caribbean” as a result.

But court documents point to a perfect storm of issues involving the actor, ranging from substance abuse to not showing up on time and forgetting his lines.

Depp’s troubled past was at the center of a hearing Friday, with Heard’s attorney charging that Depp’s legal team withheld deposition records.

The record at issue involved Depp’s former agent, Tracey Jacobs, who gave a deposition in a previous lawsuit.

According to a brief filed by Heard’s attorneys, the deposition is relevant because it reflects “Mr. Depp’s history of extensive and worsening drug and alcohol abuse, leading to increased anger, hostility and violent behavior, inability to remember his lines, and tardiness or absence from filming."

The deposition also shows, the brief states, that Disney executives “expressed concern over Mr. Depp’s behavior, including his actions toward Ms. Heard, and Ms. Jacobs’ belief that in light of Depp’s behavior in the 2015-16 timeframe, Mr. Depp was quite capable of violence, and had even displayed that increasing volatility toward Ms. Jacobs.”

Depp’s lawyers sent the record of Jacobs’ previous deposition via email just as Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, Heard’s attorney, was deposing Jacobs. That meant that Bredehoft was unaware of the testimony when grilling the agent.

“I’m not in my email at all (during a deposition),” said Bredehoft, of the law firm Charlson Bredehoft Cohen and Brown, during Friday’s hearing. “I focus.”

But Depp’s legal team didn’t conceal anything, said the actor’s lawyer, Ben Chew of Brown Rudnick. “We don’t hide the ball.”

Jacobs first was deposed in another, unrelated case involving Depp. Chew said that once Depp’s legal team recognized that Jacobs’ 2018 testimony could be relevant, they sent the deposition to Bredehoft, along with other lawyers involved in the case.

Chief Circuit Court Judge Penney Azcarate denied Bredehoft’s motion to compel as Chew had produced the deposition. Chew told the court that he was also in the process of sending Bredehoft a deposition video in the case. The judge declined to sanction Chew or Bredehoft.

The lawsuit revolves around an op-ed Heard penned for The Washington Post, which publishes in Virginia. In the December 2018 piece, Heard, now 35, described facing backlash after revelations that she had been a victim of domestic abuse. While Depp, 58, was never mentioned by name, the troubled relationship between the actors was publicly known.

Three months after the op-ed ran, Depp filed suit, contending that his former wife had defamed him and asking for $50 million in damages.

The lawsuit charged that Heard’s op-ed “incalculably (and immediately) damaged his reputation as a public figure,” and that he had “lost movie roles and faced public scorn.” His complaint recounts that four days after Heard’s editorial appeared, Disney announced it would drop Depp from his role as Jack Sparrow.

Heard has countersued.

Separately, Depp filed suit against the Sun newspapers in the U.K., contending that the publication defamed him with an article that labeled him as a wife-beater. A British court ruled last year in favor of the newspaper.

Soon after, Depp released a statement saying that Warner Bros. had asked him to resign from his role as Gellert Grindelwald in the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise.