Johnny Depp testifies he was humiliated and verbally abused by ex-wife Amber Heard
Actor Johnny Depp scoffed at the notion that his constant bickering with ex-wife Amber Heard would ever prompt him to hit her during court hearing on Wednesday.
Violence is not necessary,” he said offhand during his defamation lawsuit against Heard. “Why would you hit someone to get them to agree with you?”
Heard has accused Depp of physically and sexually assaulting her on multiple occasions before and during their brief marriage. Depp sued after Heard indirectly referenced those allegations in a 2018 op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post.
Depp began detailing Heard’s allegations on Wednesday. Heard said the first time she was attacked was when Depp hit her in 2013 after she made fun of a tattoo – one that used to say “Winona Forever” when he was dating actress Winona Ryder, which he changed to “Wino Forever” after they broke up.
“It didn’t happen,” he said of the alleged attack. “Why should I offend someone so much who makes fun of a tattoo on my body? That accusation never made any sense to me.”
He later addressed an alleged attack on a private plane flight from Boston to Los Angeles in 2014 while filming the film Black Mass. Heard said Depp was drunk and attacked her while on the plane.
Depp testified he took two oxycodone pills – an opiate he admits was addicted to at the time – and locked himself in the plane’s bathroom and fell asleep to avoid their anger.
He went to great lengths to explain the difference between falling asleep on opiates and becoming conscious from alcohol, and maintained throughout his testimony that he had never been addicted to alcohol.
Depp testified that he may have only had a glass of champagne upon boarding the plane. But according to evidence presented at a similar trial in England, where Depp sued a British tabloid – a lawsuit he lost – Depp texted his friend, actor Paul Bettany, referring to half a bottle of whisky, “a thousand Red Bull vodkas” and two bottles of champagne to drink before the flight.
Depp also spoke about a heated argument in 2015 – shortly after their wedding – in Australia that resulted in the tip of his middle finger being cut off. He said Heard was angry that Depp’s attorneys asked her to sign a post-marital agreement. Depp said he retired to a basement bar and started pouring himself vodka, which enraged her even more.
video of the day
Actor Johnny Depp holds up his bandaged finger, which was injured while he and ex-wife Amber Heard were in Australia in March 2015, in this evidence photo shown as Depp testified against Heard during his defamation trial. Image: Reuters
He said she threw two vodka bottles at him, the second of which exploded where he had placed his hand on the bar, severing the finger to the point exposing bone.
“I don’t know what a nervous breakdown feels like, but I’ve probably never been this close,” he said.
Depp said he began writing on the walls in his own blood to tell lies he caught Heard telling.
Depp told hospital doctors that he injured himself, and text messages introduced as evidence at the same time refer to Depp injuring himself. Depp testified he lied about the cause of the injury to protect her. In opening statements, Heard’s attorneys said the laws of physics do not support Depp’s story and they will present evidence to prove it.
Actress Amber Heard speaks to her attorney during the Johnny Depp defamation trial. Image: Reuters
Most of his Day 1 testimony in Fairfax County Circuit Court focused on his descriptions of a difficult childhood, his rise to fame as an actor after an aborted music career, and his early relationship with Heard after he broke her in the 2011 film The Rum Diary .” The two married in 2015, and she filed for divorce a year later.
Depp commented on a second day, saying things started to change in his marriage when he felt that in Heard’s eyes, he was “suddenly wrong about everything.”
Depp said Heard attacked him a little to humiliate him. The insults escalated into full-blown circular reasoning with “no way in or out,” Depp said.
“MS. Heard couldn’t be wrong,” he said.
He said he’s constantly being told how wrong he is about various aspects of his life, including his 30-year acting career.
Violence often ensues, sometimes with a slap or shove from Heard or his wife throwing a TV remote control or a glass of wine in his face, Depp said.
“There were times I would just lock myself in the bathroom or somewhere that she couldn’t get to,” Depp said.
“Why did I stay? I stayed, I suppose, because my dad stayed[with my mom]…I didn’t want to fail,” Depp said. “I wanted to try to make it work. I thought maybe I could help her. I thought maybe I could bring her over here.”
Depp said he used drugs and drank alcohol to cope with Heard’s abuse and said she is also a heavy drinker.
Depp said he eventually quit drinking to try to salvage the relationship. But Depp said Heard refused to abstain, even when he asked her to help him with his sobriety.
Depp sued Heard after she wrote a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post in which she described herself as a “public figure who depicts domestic violence.”
She never mentioned Depp by name, but Depp and his attorneys said it was a clear reference to allegations Heard made in 2016, when the couple was getting divorced and she was seeking a restraining order against him.
Depp said the allegations and the article contributed to an unjustly ruined reputation that made him a Hollywood outcast and cost him his role in the lucrative Pirates of the Caribbean film series.
Heard’s attorneys say the article is accurate and does not defame him. They say Depp’s ruined reputation is the result of his own bad behavior, including drug and alcohol abuse.
https://www.independent.ie/style/celebrity/johnny-depp-testifies-he-was-demeaned-and-berated-by-ex-wife-amber-heard-41571603.html Johnny Depp testifies he was humiliated and verbally abused by ex-wife Amber Heard