Johnny Depp is claiming that he punched a film crew member on the set of City of Lies in self-defense as well as defense of others. Gregg "Rocky" Brooks was the location manager on the film and says that Depp "smelled of alcohol" when he was punched twice in the ribcage by the actor. Brooks was apparently trying to enforce a permit restriction during a late night of filming. Depp allegedly was directing the late night scene and had a bunch of his friends over for the late night of shooting.

In a new lawsuit, Johnny Depp claims that he hit Gregg "Rocky" Brooks because he "feared for his safety" and observed director Brad Furman of fearing for his safety as well. Brooks was later fired from City of Lies for not signing a release on the incident. Depp allegedly offered Brooks $100,000 to hit him in the face during the heated exchange and had to get pulled away by his bodyguards. Depp is trying to get around paying a hefty fee while also trying to get his legal fees covered.

After the incident became public news, director Brad Furman has come to Johnny Depp's defense. In a statement, Furman said, "Movies can be stressful, and non-events often become exaggerated. We all love stories, there isn't one here." Furman went on to say that Depp is a professional and that he enjoys working with the actor. This could very well be just a "non-event" as Furman claims, but Depp has had quite a bit of legal trouble over the past handful of months, which doesn't bode well for his latest defense.

City of Lies has since been pulled from release as of the beginning of this month. No reasons were given, but it seems easy to believe that the assault on the set may have left the project with a bad reputation for the time being. The movie is about the investigation behind the murders of rappers Tupac and Biggie Smalls. In addition to Johnny Depp, the movie also stars Forest Whitaker. City of Lies was originally set to hit theaters next month, but it has been delayed indefinitely, which means that the studio is probably waiting for the assault story to get taken care of.

Johnny Depp has been going through legal issues with his former bodyguards, business managers, and his ex-wife Amber Heard over the past few years. All of the legal issues have been settled, but Depp seems to keep getting back into trouble. In a recent interview, the actor, who spent most of the day asleep, gave weird answers to questions and often disappeared for minutes at a time, only to come back strangely refreshed. There's a lot going on in Depp's world, hopefully he can steer the ship back to his former blockbuster waters and be in the news for his acting work again. The Blast was the first to report on this news.