Johnny Depp has filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard after she accused him of domestic violence.

The 55-year-old actor described Heard's 2016 abuse allegations as 'an elaborate hoax', according to the lawsuit obtained by The Blast.

The lawsuit references an article Heard, 32, wrote for the Washington Post in December last year in which she said she had received death threats and lost out on work after accusing Depp of domestic abuse.

'The op-ed's clear implication that Mr Depp is a domestic abuser is categorically and demonstrably false,' Depp's lawsuit states.

Johnny Depp has filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard after she accused him of domestic violence

American actress Amber Heard (pictured) looks casually fashionable while pictured arriving in London

Stepping out: Amber Heard was spotted in London after her ex-husband Johnny Depp filed a defamation lawsuit

Shocking claims: The 55-year-old actor described Heard's 2016 abuse allegations as 'an elaborate hoax' (Heard in London on Friday)

'Mr Depp never abused Ms Heard. Her allegations against him were false when they were made in 2016.

'They were part of an elaborate hoax to generate positive publicity for Ms Heard and advance her career.'

The lawsuit goes on to say that the allegations made by Heard against Depp were refuted by 'two separate responding police officers, a litany of neutral third-party witnesses, and 87 newly obtained surveillance camera videos'.

'Ms Heard is not a victim of domestic abuse, she is a perpetrator,' the lawsuit states.

Heard was pictured in London on Friday as news of the lawsuit broke.

The Aquaman actress filed for divorce from the Pirates of the Caribbean star in May 2016 stating that he had been 'verbally and physically' abusive towards her.

Their divorce was finalized in January 2017, with Heard later donating a portion of her $7 million divorce settlement to the Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

They were married for 15 months before she filed for divorce.

The Aquaman actress filed for divorce from Depp in May 2016 stating that he had been 'verbally and physically' abusive towards her. Images emerged at the time (above) showing Heard with a bruised eye and face

Heard was spotted leaving a California court in 2016 with facial bruising (above) after she was granted a temporary restraining order against Depp just days after claiming he attacked her

Images emerged at the time showing Heard with a bruised eye and face. She claimed Depp threw a phone at her face and struck her in their home.

Depp has long denied the allegations and has instead claimed that his ex-wife repeatedly violently attacked and severely injured him.

In the defamation lawsuit, Depp claims Heard threw a glass vodka bottle at him and caused the bones in the tip of his right middle finger to shatter.

He claims the incident occurred one month into their marriage and resulted in him having to have his finger 'surgically reattached'.

'Ms Heard then disseminated false accounts of this incident, casting Mr Depp as the perpetrator of his own injury'.

Depp claims in the lawsuit that he was dropped from Pirates of the Caribbean just four days after Heard's op-ed was published in the Wasington Post.

'Ms Heard also knew that her elaborate hoax worked: as a result of her false allegations against Mr Depp, Ms Heard became a darling of the #MeToo movement, was the first actress named a Human Rights Champion of the United Nations Human Rights Office, was appointed ambassador on women’s rights at the American Civil Liberties Union, and was hired by L’Oreal Paris as its global spokesperson.'