Johnny Depp issues subpoena to Amber Heard and her former partner Elon Musk

Amber Heard's former boyfriend Elon Musk has been subpoenaed in Johnny Depp's defamation lawsuit against her.

The 55-year-old actor is currently pursuing legal action against his ex-wife - whom he was married to for just over a year before filing for divorce in May 2016 - in a $50 million defamation lawsuit after she previously accused him of domestic abuse.

And following Amber's response to the lawsuit this week in which she spoke of the alleged abuse she suffered in detail - including incidents in which she claims Johnny "strangled" her, "punched" her, and "threw cans and unopened glass bottles" at her - Johnny's legal team have issued subpoenas to Amber, her "hoax assisting friends", and Tesla founder Elon Musk, whom she dated following her split with Johnny.

In a statement, Johnny's representative said: "We have now issued subpoenas to Amber Heard, her hoax assisting friends, Elon Musk and other witnesses to explain the avalanche of video, audio, photographic and testimonial evidence with which we intend to confront them."

A subpoena is a writ ordering a person to attend court, meaning Elon - who was in a relationship with Amber for a few months in 2017, before they briefly rekindled in 2018 - will have to appear in court as part of the ongoing lawsuit.

The court documents come after the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star branded Amber's allegations as "new lies", and slammed her for having a "prior arrest and incarceration" for domestic abuse, after she was arrested in 2009 for an incident with her then-girlfriend Tasya van Ree, though all charges against her were dropped when Taysa said the situation was "misinterpreted".

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In court documents, Johnny's attorney said: "A hoax confronted with the reality of evidence requires new lies to sustain itself. Yesterday's filing, made by a woman with a prior arrest and incarceration for domestic abuse, presented Amber Heard's new lies."

The 'Aquaman' actress, 32, detailed a number of alleged incidents in her filing, and claimed Johnny was often too "drunk" to remember what had happened.