Johnny Depp Claims Ex Amber Heard Tried To 'Blackmail' Him With Alleged Drug Photo

Before their attorneys met for a hearing in a Virginia courtroom this week, The Blast sources said that Heard's new attorney, Roberta Kaplan, and her associates approached Depp's lawyers. Depp's attorneys allege they were shown photographs, including one in which the star appears to be smoking drugs from a glass pipe, and several other photos showing alleged illegal drugs and paraphernalia located inside Depp's home.

The glass pipe photo appears to show Depp holding the paraphernalia and lighting it, The Blast has reported. The two other pictures allegedly show what appear to be drugs on a surface in the actor's home. They allegedly were taken several years ago, when Depp and Heard were still a couple. According to the new report, Kaplan allegedly threatened Depp's attorney that if they did not drop their opposition to a protective order to keep details of the defamation case private, she would show them to the judge in the case. Depp's team said no, and the photos were presented in court. Kaplan said the drug photos are "good" for their side in the case and the judge viewed the sensitive shots, a court transcript revealed.

Depp's legal eagle told the judge, "The photographs that were shown as an inducement to try to get us to drop our motion don’t relate to Ms. Heard. They relate to Mr. Depp. Mr. Depp has nothing to hide. He has testified about his substance abuse. He owns that. And it’s absolutely – I thinks it’s outrageous, Your Honor they tried to do that. They didn’t come here with materials relating to Ms. Heard." Depp's attorney contended that the photos only show "possible embarrassment to Mr. Depp ... they don’t speak for Mr. Depp. We speak for Mr. Depp."

The actor's lawyer Adam Waldman told The Blast, "Amber Heard’s #Timesup lawyer Roberta Kaplan prefaced a court proceeding in which she unsuccessfully sought to hide abuse hoax and violence evidence with a blackmail attempt. Brandishing undated photos in the courthouse, one of which appeared to show Mr. Depp (who has spoken openly in interviews of his past painful struggles and recovery from drug addiction) smoking a pipe years ago. Ms. Kaplan’s threat was simple: drop your opposition to keeping the evidence secret or we will show the judge these pictures. When Kaplan’s threat was rebuffed, she followed through on it, as the transcript shows."

But Kaplan has argued the photos aren't blackmail and show the need for both Depp and Heard to be protected. Kaplan said, "Mr. Depp’s legal team has grossly mischaracterized our discussions. Before the hearing, we showed them certain photographs to express our astonishment that Mr. Depp was opposing entry of a standard protective order that would preserve BOTH parties’ privacy as we engage in discovery prior to trial. We did not threaten to 'release' any photographs, including photographs showing Mr. Depp using illegal drugs. Instead, we presented certain photographs to the Judge during the hearing in order to explain that a protective order would make sense in this case. Indeed, we were very careful with the contents of the photographs in court— we did not display them to anyone other than the Judge or even describe them on the record. And we have not “released” them to anyone."

The case is expected to go to trial in the next few months.