Paul Bettany makes rare comment on Johnny Depp's disturbing texts about Amber Heard
Paul Bettany has cleared up some misconceptions after controversial texts were read out which involved a disturbing conversation about Amber Heard amid her and Johnny Depp’s whirlwind lawsuit.
The texts, which included talk of killing the actress, who Depp had been in a relationship with for five years – two of which saw the pair married until 2016.
However, things came to a head when Heard dropped a major bombshell in which she alleged physical and verbal abuse by the Sweeney Todd actor.
Depp went on to file a libel lawsuit against The Sun for its reporting on Depp during this time, and as part of the 2020 case, Depp’s texts between him and Bettany were revealed.
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Depp initially sued News Group Newspapers (NGN) for libel after an article was published by The Sun which was titled, Gone Potty – How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new ‘Fantastic Beasts’ film?
Depp claimed the article in question had ‘caused serious harm to (his) personal and professional reputation’ and ‘significant distress and embarrassment.’
Ultimately, in 2020, it was ruled against Depp’s favor.
But during the trial in February 2020, a text exchange between the pair became public from a 2013 conversation.
Now, Bettany has opened up about the texts and what he believes was an incorrect way he was represented during the high-profile case.
“I hadn’t spoken to Johnny in years when that happened and I haven’t spoken to him since. I was being painted as this close friend of a guy I hadn’t spoken to in years and, honestly, amid all the s*** two celebrities threw at each other, that bit was the most odd,” Paul told The Times on October 15.
“So I decided to say nothing because, I think, people know me,” he continued. “I’ve been married 23 years and, for what I do, I live an incredibly quiet life. Everybody kind of thought this is probably a nothing burger – and left it alone.”
Bettany worked alongside Depp on a series of films, including The Tourist, Transcendence and Mortdecai.
“Let’s burn Amber!!!” wrote Depp in the messages.
Bettany responded: “Having thought it through I don’t think we should burn Amber – she’s delightful company and easy on the eye, plus I’m not sure she’s a witch. We could of course try the English course of action in these predicaments – we do a drowning test. Thoughts?”
Depp then suggested they could ‘drown her before we burn her!!! I will f*** her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she’s dead.’
"My thoughts entirely," Bettany then wrote. "Let’s be certain before we pronounce her a witch."
The Marvel star previously addressed the 'unpleasant feeling' of having his messages read out in court in an interview with the Independent in 2021.
He said he was worried by talking about it at the time, it would 'just pour fuel on the fire', Bettany added: "Can you imagine what it would be like, honestly, to have a bunch of lawyers go through every one of your emails and texts for 10 years? All I can tell you is that it was an unpleasant feeling."
Topics: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, Celebrity
Britt Jones