Johnny Depp Headed Back To Court To Face Assault Allegations From Crew Member Who Claims He Hit Him
Here we go again.
Lorena Sopena | Shutterstock | Twitter With Johnny Depp's defamation trial against Amber Heard having come to a close, Depp's legal battles are far from over.
The actor is scheduled to be back in court next month as part of a lawsuit stemming from a 2017 assault allegation.
Johnny Depp was accused of assaulting a crew member on set of 'City Of Lies.'
Gregg "Rocky" Brooks, 58, who worked as a location manager on Depp's film "City Of Lies" about the murder of rapper The Notorious B.I.G, alleges that Depp punched him in the chest during a dispute while the two were on set in April 2017.
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Brooks claims Depp hit him twice in the side after Brooks advised him that the production would have to stop filming for the day.
The lawsuit Brooks filed against Depp stated that the actor had responded, "Who the f— are you? You have no right to tell me what to do!"
Brooks also said that Depp screamed at him, used obscenities, and even offered to pay Brooks $100,000 to punch him back. When Brooks didn't react, Depp allegedly "continued to scream and berate him in front of a set full of people until Depp's own bodyguards physically removed Depp from the scene."
In the suit, Brooks also claimed that Depp's breath "reeked of alcohol."
After the alleged incident, Brooks said he was fired after he refused to sign an agreement with the producer, Miriam Segal, that stated he wouldn't sue the production team.
“We obviously recognize that in the hierarchy of Hollywood, Johnny Depp is on top and the location managers are somewhere mid-level or toward the bottom,” Brooks' attorney, Pat Harris told Variety.
“In any confrontation between the two of them, no matter who started it, no matter who’s responsible, Johnny Depp is going to come out on top and our guy is going to come out damaged.”
Depp responded to the suit, saying Brooks' injuries were sustained because of "self-defense/defense of others." He also accused Brooks of having "provoked" the behavior that led to his injuries.
Brooks is suing Depp, Segal, director Brad Furman, Good Film Productions, and Infinitum Nihil, the production company that Depp founded, for assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence, among other damages.
Johnny Depp is expected to deny the assault allegations in the 'City Of Lies' court case.
Depp is expected to testify that he did not hit Brooks, but instead confronted him verbally after he saw Brooks acting belligerently toward a woman on set.
Depp’s attorneys have also argued during pre-trial that there is no evidence suggesting that the actor had any hand in preventing Brooks from getting work.
After Depp won the majority following his defamation trial against Heard, Brooks' attorney told The Sun, "Brooks' case is not about two Hollywood celebrities involved in a toxic relationship."
He continued, “It is about the assault of a hard-working film crew member by the star of the production. Mr. Brooks looks forward to his day in court.”
Back in 2018, after the lawsuit had been filed, several crew members who worked on the set alongside Depp and Brooks claimed that the incident between them never escalated beyond a verbal confrontation.
They had a little moment, there weren't punches, there wasn't anything, just were in each others' face for a second," script supervisor Emma Danoff told The Daily Beast.
"We shot for maybe another hour-and-a-half after that, we went inside."
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.