Amber Heard sues Johnny Depp's comedian friend Doug Stanhope for defamation after he wrote article claiming she was blackmailing the 'alcoholic and drug addict' actor 

Amber Heard is suing comedian Doug Stanhope for an article he published on Monday in The Wrap accusing the actress of blackmailing Johnny Depp with false domestic abuse claims.

In the lawsuit Heard alleges Stanhope defamed her when he wrote the article claiming she was lying in order to squeeze money out of Depp, TMZ reported.

The Wrap has published a disclaimer above Stanhope's piece, which says: 'Amber Heard’s attorney says the claim that Heard is blackmailing Johnny Depp is “unequivocally false".'

The article reads in part: 'Today, a friend of mine was pilloried in the press for domestic violence. Coupled with a picture of his wife with a bruise, he was murdered on social media.

'I watched it happen and I didn’t say a f****** word.

'Even though I knew it was bulls***.'

Amber Heard (left) is suing comedian Doug Stanhope for an article he published in the Wrap defending Johnny Depp (right)

Heard is suing Stanhope (pictured) for defamation, claiming the article was not only false but caused her tremendous damage

Heard states in the lawsuit that the comedian's statements were both false and caused her immense harm.

'Depp has hit and kicked [me] on numerous occasions, has thrown objects at [me], at one point suffocated [me] to the point where [I] feared for [my] life,' Heard says of her estranged husband in the suit.

Heard also accuses Depp of being an 'alcoholic' and a 'drug addict'. She claims his abuse of the substances has increased, according to TMZ.   

Heard was seen arriving at an office building on Friday, which happens to be the same building that attorney Gloria Allred's office occupies

It is unclear if Heard was paying a visit to the famous lawyer to go over details of her divorce filing from Depp

Charles J. Harder, Heard's attorney says she will donate all the proceeds from the suit to a domestic violence shelter in Arizona

TMZ writes: 'Charles J. Harder, Heard's attorney says she will donate all the proceeds from the suit to a domestic violence shelter in Arizona.' 

Heard hit back immediately on Tuesday, the day after the article was published.

She alleged she 'lived in fear' of her husband of 15 months and that he had been abusive throughout their marriage.

But Stanhope's defense of Depp claimed Heard had told the actor she was going to leave him and threatened to lie about him publicly 'in any and every duplicitous way' if he did not agree to her terms.

Heard hit back at claims by the comedian that she was manipulative and threatened to blackmail Depp with false spousal abuse claims, TMZ reported

Stanhope came to the defense of Depp, claiming Heard told the actor she was going to leave him and threatened to lie about him publicly 'in any and every duplicitous way' if he did not agree to her terms

Heard (picturd with Stanhope, his girlfriend Bingo and Depp) filed for divorce from the Pirates of Carribean actor on May 23, alleging she 'lived in fear' of her husband of 15 months and that he had been abusive throughout their marriage

Stanhope said he was inspired to speak out after watching Depp get 'murdered' on social media after pictures of Heard with a bruise on her face, that she alleged was caused by Depp, appeared online and her allegations became international headlines.

But now Heard has issued a statement through her lawyer Peter Sample, hitting back at Stanhope and accusing him of 'muckracking'.

Mr Sample told The Wrap: 'The allegations against Ms Heard are absolutely and unequivocally false.'

The statement also said that the claim of blackmail 'has no basis in reality and is nothing but the typical celebrity muckracking for profit.'

He also called Stanhope's claims defamatory and outrageous.

The statement was issued after the comedian said the minute he heard the actress' allegations against Deep he 'knew it was bulls***t', he wrote in a guest column for The Wrap .

Stanhope said that he and his girlfriend Bingo were at Depp's house just before the alleged assault happened, and immediately noticed his sullen mood.

The couple had assumed it was because the actor's mother had passed away the day before, but said Depp revealed he was also concerned about Heard.

'He opened up in the most vulnerable of ways,' wrote Stanhope. 'That Amber was now going to leave him, threatening to lie about him publicly in any and every duplicitous way if he didn't agree to her terms.'

'Blackmail is what I would imagine other people might put it, including the manner in which he is now being vilified.'

Heard was seen laughing and hugging a female friend last week as she left the office of her divorce attorney

The actress and her lawyer Samantha Spector appeared at the Superior Court of California County of Los Angeles on Friday, where she filed for a domestic violence restraining order 

 Stanhope said Depp's 'closest circle' of friends all shared similar views about Heard, but had been too scared to tell him out of fear that he would subsequently push them away

A long term friend and neighbor of Heard has given evidence to support the young actress's claims that estranged husband Johnny Depp physically and emotionally abused her

Stanhope said it was at that moment that the couple decided to come clean to their friend about the suspicions they had long held about his wife, who the comedian dubbed a 'manipulative a*****e'.

'We'd watched it build like this before they were married,' Stanhope wrote. 'We'd watched her manipulate and f**k with him for years.'

'We have watched Amber Heard f*** with him at his weakest,' Stanhope wrote. 'Or watched him at his weakest from being f****d with for the entire time we've known him.'

Stanhope said Depp's 'closest circle' of friends all shared similar views, but had been too scared to tell him out of fear that he would subsequently push them away.

'We didn't want to be thrown out of the circle for saying The Emperor was being Stripped of His Clothes,' Stanhope said.

The comedian said he almost expected Depp to ask him to leave his home on Saturday after he finally shared his true thoughts.

'But I wasn't seeing Johnny Depp,' Stanhope wrote. 'I saw a naked Emperor. And we told him to get dressed.'

Other friends of Depp's also came clean that day, Stanhope said, and the actor was 'dumbstruck' but thanked them for their honesty.

'He still pronounced his love for Amber,' Stanhope wrote. 'But was presciently aware that she was going to pull off some kind of ruse to f*** him over.'

That night the police would arrive at Depp's home for a domestic dispute. The next day it was all over the news.

'Everything Johnny had told us that she'd been threatening had actually come to be,' Stanhope wrote. 'It blew up in the news, raced through the internet like a plague and blew up on Twitter. People are swarming with torches on social media.'

Stanhope said he had initially been weary of publicly defending his friend, scared people would accuse him of trying to gain more fame by attaching his name to the scandal of the day.

'[But] I realized not saying s**t to defend him is a far worse crime of ego,' Stanhope said. 'To leave a friend hanging so you don't look like a suck-up.'

Stanhope said he is not an apologist but a witness to the fact that Depp 'got used, manipulated, set up and made to look like an a*****e'.

In court documents, where she details the alleged violence during their 15-month marriage, Heard said she 'lived in fear' of the Pirates of the Caribbean star and the idea he could return to the LA condominium they shared to 'terrorize me physically and emotionally'

Photographs of the bruising on Heard's face, which she claims was inflicted by Depp, were presented to Los Angeles Superior Court

Heard was crying as she left a courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on Friday following a morning hearing for a restraining order petition against estranged husband Johnny Depp

Heard's face was bruised during her entry into a divorce court Friday. She says Depp caused the injury when he threw an iPhone into her face during the May 21 incident

'And he saw it coming,' Stanhope wrote. 'And didn't or couldn't do anything to stop it.'

'Abusing women is b******t. Johnny doesn't abuse anyone. And he told that day ahead of time that she'd pull some kind of s*** like this.'

Heard was seen on Saturday emerging for her legal team's office after a four-hour meeting in Los Angeles.

In court documents, Heard details Depp's alleged violence during their 15-month marriage, saying she worried that he could return to the LA condominium they shared to 'terrorize me physically and emotionally.'

The actress and her lawyer, Samantha Spector, appeared at the Superior Court of California County of Los Angeles on Friday, where she filed for a domestic violence restraining order.

Depp was not in court for the filing. Instead, the star was playing with his band, the Hollywood Vampires, at the Rock in Rio Lisboa festival.

The first incident she documents in the court files is said to have occurred on her 30th birthday, on April 21 this year, after Depp turned up late to the gathering at their Broadway home 'inebriated and high'.

A representative for Depp said in a statement on Thursday; 'Given the brevity of this marriage and the most recent and tragic loss of his mother, Johnny will not respond to any of the salacious false stories, gossip, misinformation and lies about his personal life.

'Hopefully the dissolution of this short marriage will be resolved quickly.'

A long term friend and neighbor of Amber Heard has given evidence to support the young actress's claims that estranged husband Johnny Depp physically and emotionally abused her.

Raquel Rose Pennington, who has known Heard for 13 years, filed court documents Friday that claimed she saw Depp 'screaming loudly at her' and wielding a wine bottle 'like a baseball bat'.

Depp, pictured here in Lisbon, where he was touring with band Hollywood Vampires Friday, lost his mother on May 20. Heard had been comforting him on May 21 when he turned nasty, she said

In her account, Pennington says that she received a text from the star asking her to come over, and upon arrival, found Heard 'by the couch, covering her head with her arms and hands, as Johnny was loudly screaming at her'.

The shocking statement continued: 'I ran over and stood in between Johnny and Amber, begging Johnny to stop yelling at her.

'I put my hands out in a defensive manner motioning him to stop. Johnny slapped my hands away and screamed foul obscenities at me.'

Pennington added that the Pirates of the Caribbean star then 'picked up a large bottle of wine and began swinging it like a baseball bat' in order to smash 'everything he could', according to the document seen by The Daily Mirror.

Following the incident she says she brought Heard back to her own home.

Pennington had been at the couple's home last Saturday May 21, along with friends Elizabeth Marz and Joshua Drew, when Depp came home 'drunk and high' at around 7.15 pm, according to The Daily Beast .

The group then left as Heard tried to comfort Depp over the passing of his mother the day before.

The Friday Night Lights actress then claimed he suddenly began obsessing about 'something that was untrue' and his 'demeanor changed dramatically' and 'became extremely angry'.

Pennington was just next door when Heard texted her for help at around 8pm.

In her declaration of petition for a restraining order, seen by DailyMail.com, Heard said: 'Johnny has a long-held and widely acknowledged public and private history of drug and alcohol abuse. He has a short fuse.

'He is often paranoid and his temper is exceptionally scary for me as it has proven many times to be physically dangerous and/or life threatening to me.'

Close family: Lily-Rose's defense for her father came after her mother Vanessa also defended him. Pictured: A recent Instagram photo of Johnny Depp and Lily-Rose (left). Vanessa and Johnny in 2005, then still married

Defiant: Lily-Rose Depp posted this throwback photo of her father to defend him against abuse claims. She also wrote a touching testimony, calling him a 'wonderful father' and 'the sweetest most loving person I know'

She also said: 'During the entirety of our relationship, Johnny has been verbally and physically abusive to me.

'I endured excessive emotional, verbal and physical abuse from Johnny, which has included angry, hostile, humiliating and threatening assaults to me whenever I questioned his authority or disagreed with him. I live in fear that Johnny will return to (our house) unannounced to terrorize me, physically and emotionally.'

Last Saturday, during the heated row that Pennington claims she bore witness to, Heard said an 'inebriated and high' Depp had grabbed her cellphone, 'wound up his arm like a baseball pitcher and threw the cell phone at me striking my cheek and eye with great force,' the court filing states.

But police officers found 'no evidence of any crime' at their South Broadway home in downtown LA, despite Heard appearing bruised in a picture she claims was taken after the alleged attack.

A photograph of Heard smiling with friends hours after Depp allegedly launched an iPhone at her face has since emerged, but was deleted before she appeared in court filing for a domestic violence restraining order.

Depp has denied the allegations made against him and his lawyer claims Heard is alleging abuse to 'secure a premature financial resolution'.

Lily-Rose Depp has leaped to the defense of her father Johnny amid claims he physically abused his wife Amber Heard.

The Chanel model, who turned 17 on Friday, is the eldest of Depp's two children with French actress and singer Vanessa Paradis, his ex-wife.

'My dad is the sweetest most loving person I know,' Lily-Rose wrote on her Instagram. 'He's been nothing but a wonderful father to my little brother and I, and everyone who knows him would say the same.'

To accompany her defiant message, she posted a touching photograph of herself as a toddler holding hands with a youthful looking Johnny Depp.

Lily-Rose was close to her paternal grandmother, Betty Sue, who died days before the divorce saga erupted.

Depp's daughter's defense came after her mother Vanessa also stood up for Johnny in a note obtained by TMZ.

In the note, she insisted the actor is 'sensitive and loving' and dismissed the domestic violence claims.