After months of bitter wrangling, lawyers on both sides of Jim Carrey's wrongful death battle agreed the actor will sit for a sworn deposition next month and answer questions about his late girlfriend Cathriona White's suicide.
The parties also agreed to meet for mediation, but Carrey's new lawyer said there was no hope for settlement of the lawsuits brought by White's estranged husband and mother — claims that were consolidated into a single case Thursday.
"I don't see any possibility of this case settling before trial," Carrey's lawyer Raymond Boucher told the Daily News.
Jim Carrey will speak about his late girlfriend Cathriona White in a sworn deposition.
(Niall Carson/AP )During a hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the lawyer for White's mom and husband said Carrey's deposition was his top priority and that the actor's prior lawyer had stonewalled him for months.
Jim Carrey drops demand that Cathriona White's mom pays for suit
"We want his deposition. We want it yesterday. We have asked repeatedly for dates, no less than five or six times," lawyer Michael Avenatti said in court.
Boucher assured the judge they agreed to a late August deposition for Carrey.
Judge Deirdra Hall set a status conference for Aug. 8 and encouraged the parties to continue working together.
Carrey is set to answer questions about White next month.
(NIGNY / Splash News/NIGNY / Splash News)"There are costs involved that have nothing to do with money, in terms of anguish for people, and one way or another, the case needs to come to some resolution," the judge said.
Jim Carrey trial over girlfriend's death set for next year
The case has been an ugly clash from the start, with White's estranged husband Mark Burton accusing Carrey of giving White multiple sexually transmitted diseases, and Carrey calling Burton a "green card husband" looking to capitalize on White's passing.
Burton filed his wrongful death lawsuit last September, then White's mother Brigid Sweetman filed a similar action in October.
Both complaints said Carrey obtained potentially lethal prescription drugs under a false name then made the pills available to White knowing she was prone to depression and previously attempted suicide.
Sweetman included the STD claims in her complaint as well.
Jim Carrey posts cryptic tweet following wrongful death lawsuits
Cathriona White died in a suicide in 2015.
(instagram)"Carey's abuse included, but was not limited to, Carrey giving Ms. White three STDs without warning her (herpes and chlamydia), lying to her about it, 'dumping' her out of concern for saving his own carefully crafted public image, calling her a 'whore' and shaming her," Sweetman's original complaint stated.
A new consolidated complaint is due to be filed next week, both sides agreed in court, with some of the adjectives Carrey's camp called "inflammatory" taken out.
In a statement from his representatives last year, Carrey blasted the STD allegations as "desperate" and "bogus."
White, a makeup artist, dated Carrey on and off from 2012 until her suicide at his house in September 2015.
Jim Carrey calls wrongful death suit a 'shakedown': report
"We've always taken the position this is an unfortunate and frivolous lawsuit," Boucher told The News on Thursday. "She ought to rest in peace. It's unfortunate that two family members that had no relationship with her whatsoever are taking this opportunity to try to profit from it."
Avenatti, meanwhile, said he was happy Carrey's deposition seemed to be on track.
"I think in short order we're going to finally get Mr. Carrey's sworn deposition testimony. We do not believe he will be able to testify consistently with his bogus (claims), half-truths and falsehoods," Avenatti said. "We're very much looking forward to the trial in April so the truth can be known and justice can be served."
- Tags:
- daily news exclusives
- jim carrey
- suicides
- lawsuits
- los angeles
- california
- prescription drug abuse
- cathriona white