During Johnny Depp’s defamation case he’s brought against ex-wife Amber Heard, he admitted to using recreational drugs with some famous friends including Marilyn Manson and Paul Bettany while being cross-examined by Heard’s legal team.

Depp’s drug use has been a point of contention on both sides of the case, as the Pirates Of The Caribbean star’s team has attempted to categorize it as a more casual habit that Depp said on the stand he always had under “control,” and also said that Heard drank to a similar degree. Even though the star also admitted that he began using drugs at the age of 11.

Heard and her lawyers are countering this characterization with their own arguments that Depp’s worst cases of physical abuse against Heard were when he was drunk or high, and that the actor had a much worse substance abuse problem than he let on.

Depp also had some oddly flippant responses to some of the questions brought up in his Thursday cross-examination. When asked if he drank in the morning while working on a film set, Depp responded with “Isn’t happy hour anytime?” He also mocked the idea that a box reading “Property of JD,” pictured next to cocaine could possibly be used to hold cocaine

These odd jokes continued as he admitted to using drugs with fellow celebrities including Manson, who is in the middle of his own lawsuit against ex-girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood who has accused him of sexual abuse. Depp admitted that he and Manson have “have cocaine together maybe a couple of times,” and also said, “I once gave Marilyn Manson a pill so that he would stop talking so much.”

He also admitted to doing drugs with MCU star Bettany and was shown texts exchanged between the two of them where they joked about killing Heard. “Let’s drown her before we burn her!!!” Depp wrote along with more disturbing bits, with Bettany replying “My thoughts entirely! Let’s be CERTAIN before we pronounce her a witch.”

Bettany called the revelation of the texts “embarrassing” when they first came to light earlier this year but also insisted that “we haven’t spoken for years,” in regard to Depp and “During the marriage I didn’t know them. So I wasn’t around for any of that.” Depp still maintains that his drug use never became excessive despite these admissions.

His lawsuit was first filed in response to a 2018 op-ed Heard penned where she said she was a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” He was not named in the article but is seeking damages in connection with his tainted reputation.  Heard has not backed off from her accusations, and also filed a counterclaim where she accused Depp of defaming her in various interviews, and also assisting in an online harassment campaign against her.

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