From L to R: Amber Heard; Paul Bettany; Johnny Depp.Photo: Karwai Tang/WireImage; Arthur Mola/Invision/AP/Shutterstock; Daniele Venturelli / Getty

Amber Heard

TheWandaVisionactor, 50, spoke with U.K. outletThe Timesabout the “embarrassing” incident for an interview published Thursday, saying the court case “was a very surreal moment” and that he “didn’t know Johnny when he was married to"Amber Heard, from whom Depp, 58, had a contentious divorce.

“I knew him before. But we hadn’t spoken for years. During the marriage I didn’t know them. So I wasn’t around for any of that,” Bettany added, after saying, “We live in a world without context.”

The texts came about in 2013, and included one from Depp that read, according to multiple outletsincludingThe Times, “Let’s burn Amber.”

“I’m not sure we should burn Amber. She is delightful company and pleasing on the eye. We could of course do the English course of action and perform a drowning test. Thoughts? You have a swimming pool,” Bettany replied,The Timesreports.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

Johnny Depp.SC Pool - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

Johnny Depp

“Let’s drown her before we burn her!!!” Depp allegedly replied. (In court, Depp said he and Bettany had done drugs and drank alcohol, according toThe Times.)

Depplost his libel caseagainstThe Sunnewspaper over the outlet’s 2018 story describing him as a “wife-beater” during his marriage to Heard, 35.

In 2016, Bettanytweeted support forthePirates of the Caribbeanactor, writing, “Known Johnny Depp for years and through several relationships. He’s the sweetest, kindest, gentlest man that I’ve ever known. Just saying.”

RELATED VIDEO: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Reach Settlement in Divorce

Bettany — who costarred with Depp inTranscendence,The TouristandMortdecai— toldThe Timesin his recently published interview, “I know how this works. Anything that you say is oxygen for a fire. And there’s just no f—ing fire.”

“The only real way to deal with this elegantly is to say: I’m not sure there’s anybody who has [a smartphone] that would feel comfortable having a team of lawyers scour their private text messages,” he added.

“Can you imagine what it would be like, honestly, to have a bunch of lawyers go through every one of your emails and texts for 10 years? All I can tell you is that it was an unpleasant feeling,” he added.

source: people.com