LOS ANGELES • Johnny Depp wants to clear his name that he is a wife-beater and he is also accusing his former wife Amber Heard of having a tryst with Tesla founder Elon Musk.

Over the weekend, the actor's lawyers filed a defamation suit against the actress over an article she wrote about domestic violence, seeking US$50 million (S$68 million) in damages.

Though Heard, 32, did not mention Depp's name, his lawsuit stated that it was clear who she was referring to in the December article for The Washington Post.

Heard first accused Depp, 55, of domestic violence in May 2016, a year after they were married.

They divorced in 2017.

The suit contends that Depp "never abused Heard" and that the allegations are "part of an elaborate hoax" to advance her career, reported the BBC.

Depp said he was dropped from a Pirates Of The Caribbean film after the article was published, causing him financial losses.

The lawsuit also said that Heard had a dalliance with Mr Musk, 47, a month after she married Depp.

"Unbeknown to Mr Depp... she was spending time in a new relationship with Tesla and Space X founder Elon Musk," People cited the suit as stating.

While Depp was out of the country filming in March 2015, the suit said Heard asked the staff at a building, where Depp had a penthouse, to allow the entrepreneur to have access to the garage and penthouse lift late at night, and that he left the next morning.

The lawsuit added that "Musk's first appearance in Depp's penthouse occurred shortly after Heard threw a vodka bottle at Depp in Australia", when she learnt that he wanted the couple to have a post-nuptial agreement concerning assets in their marriage.

Depp is also going after The Sun over reports that he beat Heard.

Last week, a judge rejected the British tabloid's bid to temporarily halt his libel action.