Lawyers for the actor Jim Carrey have criticised new allegations in a wrongful death lawsuit which claim he gave sexually transmitted diseases to his ex-girlfriend Cathriona White.

The Hollywood star is being sued by Ms White’s estranged husband Mark Burton over claims he illegally provided the Irish make-up artist with prescription drugs involved in her suicide.

An amended lawsuit filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court alleges Ms White learnt that Carrey had given her herpes type 1, herpes type 2 (genital herpes) and gonorrhoea in 2013, and that he pressured her to keep quiet.

Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey at Cathriona White’s funeral (Niall Carson / PA Archive/PA Images)

In response to the latest claims, Carrey’s lawyer Martin Singer said the accusation that his client gave Ms White an STD was “bogus” and “categorically disputed”.

“My client will not pay money to end this opportunist’s transparent shakedown lawsuit, and this malicious case will be dismissed,” Mr Singer said.

“Mr Carrey has suffered a great deal in the last year with the suicide of the woman he dearly loved, and it is outrageous that he should be subjected to this predatory lawsuit.”

Ms White, from Cappawhite, Co Tipperary, was found dead at her Los Angeles home in September 2015 after overdosing on prescription drugs.

Cathriona White
Cathriona White (@littleirishcat / PA Images)

In the lawsuit, Mr Burton claims Carrey used his “immense wealth and celebrity status” to illegally obtain Ambien, Propranolol and Percocet that caused Ms White’s death.

The complaint alleges that the star of The Mask provided drugs to Ms White despite knowing she was “ill-equipped” to take them, prone to depression and she had previously tried to take her own life.

According to the amended lawsuit, filed by Mr Burton’s lawyer Michael Avenatti, Ms White sent text messages to Carrey in 2013 saying that she suspected she had contracted an STD.

Carrey, 54, attempted to downplay her symptoms and later suggested she could have contracted them from someone else, the complaint states.

“Ms White ultimately acquiesced to Carrey’s demands and agreed to keep quiet about what he had done to her and the STDs he had given her,” the lawsuit claims.

Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey (Niall Carson / PA Archive/PA Images)

“However Ms White continued to struggle emotionally with what Carrey had done and how he manipulated and pressured her, even in the months and days leading to her death.

“This ultimately was a significant cause of Ms White ending her life.”

In a statement released earlier this week, Carrey described the lawsuit as a “heartless attempt” to exploit him and “the woman I loved”.

In response to the amended lawsuit, Carrey said: “Is this the way a ‘husband’ honours the memory of his ‘wife?’ The real disease here is greed, shameful greed!”