Is johnny depp abusive
Inside the key allegations in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial
The allegations at the center of the Depp v. Heard defamation trial are stark.
Amber Heard alleged that her ex-husband Johnny Depp subjected her to years of abuse, testifying in graphic terms about the tumult of their marriage and the toll of his “pattern” of violence. Depp, for his part, says Heard was the aggressor.
But over the last six weeks, the reality of those allegations was often obscured by a torrent of memes, mockery and misinformation on social platforms, where the first high-profile celebrity trial of the 2020s turned into a TikTok-era media circus.
“The way this trial has been framed in the public consciousness is deeply problematic,” said Jamie R. Abrams, a law professor at the University of Louisville. “It reveals so much about our society’s relationship to violence and to gendered violence particularly.”
The trial is a civil matter that largely revolves around an op-ed Heard published in The Washington Post in 2018. Depp is seeking $50 million in damages from Heard, alleging she defamed him when she wrote that she was a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” (She did not identify him by name.) Heard countersued for $100 million, alleging Depp defamed her when one of his lawyers called her abuse allegations a “hoax.”
The seven-person jury in Virginia’s Fairfax County Circuit Court, which began deliberating on Friday afternoon, must ultimately decide whether the words Heard published in The Washington Post were true. But making that ruling requires them to weigh the allegations of abuse that were entered into the record in Virginia.
“If I were giving closing arguments as one of Heard’s lawyers, I would tell the jury, ‘You don’t have to believe everything that Amber Heard has said. You don’t even have to believe every allegation of violence. You just need to believe one,’” said Danny Cevallos, an NBC News legal analyst. “If you conclude that Johnny Depp was violent to her once, then she wins, because it means she can say, truthfully, she is a survivor of abuse.
”
Here’s a look at some of the major allegations and key evidence, evaluated by some legal experts.
Heard alleges Depp physically abused herHeard, who met Depp on the set of the film “The Rum Diary” in 2011 and married him in 2015, testified about several incidents of alleged physical abuse before and during their marriage, saying his violent episodes were usually caused by some combination of alcohol, drugs or jealousy. Depp denies ever being violent with Heard or any other woman.
She said the first act of physical violence occurred in 2013, recalling that he slapped her three times one day after she laughed at one of his tattoos. “I will never forget it,” Heard said. “It changed my life.”
Heard testified about various other incidents of physical violence, describing occasions in which Depp allegedly slapped her, threw her to the ground, grabbed her by the hair, pushed her against a wall, head-butted her and threw objects at her, including drinking glasses and a cellphone.
The lawyers for Heard introduced evidence they said backed up her claims, including cellphone photos of Heard with bruises on her face, texts Depp sent using violent language and an audio recording of Heard apparently pleading with him to put down a knife. Depp’s lawyers, without providing evidence, said the images were doctored.
Bryan Neumeister, an expert witness called by Depp’s legal team, testified that embedded data showed some photos went through an Apple photo-editing and -sorting application. He noted that three photos that appeared to be the same were in fact different sizes. He did not offer an opinion as to whether they were intentionally altered.
Heard’s attorneys noted that Neumeister had no degree or certifications in computer science and that the application is also used to save photos.
Depp disputed parts of Heard’s testimony, saying he has never struck a woman. In response to the head-butting claim, Depp alleged that Heard attacked him and they might have accidentally knocked heads while he attempted to restrain her.
Truth is an absolute defense to defamation.
-Limor Mojdehiazad, a family law litigator
The trial also featured testimony from witnesses who said they saw Heard with injuries on her body, although they said they were not present when the injuries were allegedly inflicted. Heard’s former makeup artist, for example, testified that she concealed the actor’s bruises and split lip before a talk show appearance in 2015.
Limor Mojdehiazad, a family law litigator in Los Angeles who updates her more than 447,000 TikTok followers on the trial, said she found the broad sweep of Heard’s team’s evidence “persuasive.” Cevallos, the NBC News analyst, agreed.
“I think, given the evidence, I would expect a verdict for Amber Heard,” Cevallos said. “The jury can disbelieve most of what Amber Heard said, but Amber has come forward with not just testimonial evidence but also documentary evidence — videos, photographs — of injuries. If the jury connects those to one event, in theory, they should find for Amber Heard.
Truth is an absolute defense to defamation.”
Heard’s graphic account of an incident in March 2015, roughly a month after she married Depp, became a focal point during the trial. She testified that the couple were in Australia during production of the fifth “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie. Depp was angry and accused her of having sex with actors in her movies, which she denied.
Heard said she confronted Depp about his drug use after he took the drug MDMA. The two argued and he became “belligerent,” she said, hitting her face, shoving her to the ground, choking her, throwing her into a pingpong table and ripping off her nightgown.
Depp then sexually assaulted her with a glass liquor bottle, Heard testified. “I couldn’t get up. I thought he was punching me,” she said. “I could just feel this pressure on my pubic bone.”
Depp has denied using MDMA in the instance Heard alleged, stating that he has used the drug maybe six or seven times in his life.
He denied Heard’s allegation that he took eight to 10 MDMA pills that night in Australia, adding that he was sure he’d “be dead” if he did so.
The altercation ended with Depp writing profane messages in blood on the walls and the tip of his middle finger severed. Depp, who denied sexually assaulting Heard, says his finger was cut when she hurled a vodka bottle at him. Heard, who said she took sleeping pills after the assault, says she was not awake when Depp’s finger was cut.
In cross-examination, Depp’s lawyers pressed Heard on why she did not have medical records to substantiate the allegation of assault. In the minds of the legal experts who spoke to NBC News, though, Heard’s lack of documentation backing up the alleged assault can be interpreted in at least two ways.
“If the jury puts themselves in Heard’s shoes and hears this testimony, they might think, ‘If that happened to me, I would go to the hospital. I would at least call someone,’” Mojdehiazad said.
“If the jurors think that they would have sought medical attention but she didn’t, they may not believe that testimony.”
“But if they understand that this is a Hollywood couple and maybe they don’t want the world to know anything that was happening behind closed doors, and Amber may have been full of shame, then the medical records won’t be as important to them,’” Mojdehiazad said. “You don’t have to seek medical attention when there is domestic violence. You don’t always run to a doctor when it happens.”
Cevallos echoed that point, saying: “You could draw two inferences. Maybe she didn’t seek attention because it wasn’t true. But women who are abused often internalize it and do not seek attention. I think it could cut both ways, and I think both sides know that.”
Depp alleges Heard was the aggressorIn his testimony, Depp portrayed Heard as the aggressor in their relationship and the person who instigated conflicts that sometimes led to physical altercations.
He said she subjected him to “demeaning name-calling” and acting out of a “need for conflict.”
“It could begin with a slap. It could begin with a shove. It could begin with throwing a TV remote at my head, throwing a glass of wine in my face,” Depp said.
“It’s hard to explain, but the argument would start here, but it would roll around and become this circular thing of its own,” he said. “You’d get back to the beginning. … Now it’s heightened even more and it’s still circular. There’s no way in or out.”
Depp said he used drugs and alcohol as a way to psychologically cope with Heard’s alleged abuse, testifying that she also drank heavily. Depp also testified that he began taking his mother’s “nerve pills” at age 11 to “escape the chaotic nature” of the abuse he says he endured as a child.
In terms of evidence, Depp’s legal team presented audio recorded during the couple’s arguments, among other materials.
In one audio recording, Heard seemingly admits to having “hit” Depp while also denying that she punched him.
In another recording, Heard says: “Tell people it was a fair fight and see what the jury and judge think. Tell the world, Johnny. Tell them, ‘I, Johnny Depp, I’m a victim too of domestic violence, and it was a fair fight,’ and see if people believe or side with you.”
Heard has testified she struck Depp only in self-defense and to protect her sister, Whitney Henriquez.
Depp’s attorneys called several witnesses, including the actor’s security team, his sister, a forensic psychologist they hired and a marriage counselor who conducted their sessions while they were still a couple. Laurel Anderson, the marriage counselor, said she observed “mutual abuse” in the relationship. Depp’s security team testified that they never witnessed Depp assault Heard but said their relationship was volatile.
Mojdehiazad said she believes the invocation of “mutual abuse,” a divisive concept among domestic violence experts, was “not helpful for Depp’s case, because if that’s true, then Amber Heard was in an abusive relationship.
She was one part of it and she may have been the aggressor, but she’s still one of two — so she can still make the statement that she made in The Washington Post.”
Cevallos said Depp’s team did not introduce any material evidence that struck him as especially persuasive, but he said he believes there is an “X factor” that means a Heard victory is not a foregone conclusion.
“The piece of evidence is the ‘X factor’ that was the hypnotic testimony and general star power of Johnny Depp. If he weren’t Johnny Depp, the first five minutes of his eccentric, bizarre style of testifying would have turned off, I think, every jury and every lawyer and every judge,” Cevallos said.
“But for some reason, Johnny Depp has that je ne sais quoi that studios paid millions of dollars for, and it seems to be working at least on social media. Whether or not it’s working on the jury, we’ll see,” Cevallos said.
Abrams, the law professor, expressed skepticism about the groundswell of support for Depp on social media, where some of his defenders rallied around the hashtag #JusticeForJohnny or mocked Heard.
“There will be questions to unravel later about whether this social media swirl happened organically or whether this was part of a targeted strategy orchestrated by any larger cause,” Abrams said.
She also raised concerns about how what she characterized as the “toxic backlash” to the case could shape the decisions of “everyday victims” of abuse.
“While Heard and Depp have a fleet of lawyers and publicists supporting them through this, ordinary people have none of this. I trust that Depp and Heard will pick up the pieces of their lives — regardless of the case outcome — and return to their circles and careers, respectively,” Abrams said.
“I am gravely worried, though, about how everyday victims of domestic and sexual abuse throughout the country who have not yet come forward will be silenced by this case and the toxic backlash that is far bigger than just Heard,” Abrams said.
If you or someone you know is facing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence hotline for help at (800) 799-SAFE (7233), or go to www.
thehotline.org for more. States often have domestic violence hotlines as well.
The Johnny Depp–Amber Heard Verdict Is Chilling
During closing arguments in the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard, one of Heard’s attorneys, Benjamin Rottenborn, described a series of Catch-22s that often ensnare women who, like Heard, accuse their partners of domestic violence. “If you didn’t take pictures, it didn’t happen; if you did take pictures, they’re fake,” he said. “If you didn’t tell your friends, you’re lying; and if you did tell your friends, they’re part of the hoax. If you didn’t seek medical treatment, you weren’t injured; if you did seek medical treatment, you’re crazy.” Rottenborn did not name a few other damned-if-you-do scenarios that were advanced by Depp’s ferociously adept legal team in the course of the six-week-long trial: if you surreptitiously record abusive behavior, you are conniving and untrustworthy; if you don’t, it didn’t happen.
If you ever try to laugh off your partner’s ghastly behavior—because the “cycle of abuse” is no less terrifying for being so pathetic and predictable—then it’s not abuse. If you talk back or fight back, then you are the real abuser.
The jury was not swayed by Rottenborn’s litany, or perhaps they took it literally. On Wednesday, a panel of five men and two women found that Heard defamed Depp in an op-ed for the Post, in December, 2018, by referring to herself as “representing domestic abuse,” by stating that she witnessed “how institutions protect men accused of abuse,” and by tweeting a link to the online version of the op-ed, which carried the headline “I spoke up against sexual violence—and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.” Depp was awarded fifteen million dollars in damages; Heard reportedly plans to appeal. (The jury also found that Depp was liable for defamatory statements that his former attorney Adam Waldman had made about Heard and her friends staging a scene of alleged abuse; they awarded Heard two million in damages.
) Heard did not write the headline, and, in the article, she specified that she had been “sexually assaulted by the time I was of college age”—long before she met Depp, who has denied ever hitting or assaulting Heard. In fact, Heard does not name Depp at all in the Post piece, which was proposed and initially drafted by the A.C.L.U., and which argued for reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act and for preserving Title IX protections against sexual assault in schools. (Neither the Post nor the A.C.L.U. were defendants in Depp’s lawsuit.) The trial, in short, turned the op-ed into an ouroboros: what was intended as a #MeToo testimonial about women being punished for naming their experiences became a post-#MeToo instrument for punishing a woman who named her experiences.
Heard did accuse Depp of domestic violence when she filed for a temporary restraining order against him, in 2016, and, at that time, she appeared in paparazzi photos and on the cover of People magazine with apparent bruises and lacerations to her face.
In bringing the suit against Heard, Depp mounted a case for defamation by implication. The pivotal twelve words in the 2018 op-ed were “Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse.” This is an accurate statement, but Depp argued that Heard was able to make that statement only because she had lied and faked her injuries when she sought the restraining order. The burden of proof rested with Depp’s side to demonstrate that Heard had engineered an abuse hoax across several years, that the “defamatory implication” of her op-ed “was designed and intended by Ms. Heard,” and that she had acted “with actual malice,” which the Supreme Court, in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, in 1964, defined as making a statement “with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.”
It would have seemed to be Heard’s case to lose. “One time, ladies and gentlemen, one time—if he abused her one time, Amber wins,” Rottenborn told the jury. “Actually, if he fails to prove that he never abused her one time, Amber wins.
”
And yet she lost. She lost despite vile text messages from Depp, spinning out violent fantasies of rape and murder. She lost despite photograph after photograph of cuts, bruises, and swelling. She lost despite audio recordings of Depp verbally abusing her. She lost despite her sister, multiple friends, a makeup artist, and a couples counsellor attesting to seeing her injuries. And she lost despite facing the jury and recounting graphic, painful episodes of alleged physical and sexual violence. Heard, admittedly, was not good on the stand during direct examination—she did a lot of tearless crying, and she often appeared to be performing her sorrow rather than reliving it. (She was much better squaring off with the unconquerable Camille Vasquez, another of Depp’s lawyers. If you didn’t watch the trial, picture Regina George from “Mean Girls” as the defense attorney in “The Accused.”) Then again, if Heard had testified with perfect composure, she might have been pilloried as calculated and unfeeling; if she had cried an ocean, as Patricia Bowman did when she testified against William Kennedy Smith, in his 1991 rape trial, she might have been ridiculed as messy and hysterical, just as Bowman was.
But that returns us to Rottenborn’s list of all the pincer movements that close in on abuse victims. The accuser’s affect and presentation are somehow a more damning incrimination than, say, a video of her alleged abuser trashing a kitchen.
Heard also lost because her legal team could not catch a break. They did not succeed in moving the case from Virginia, where Depp filed suit and where the Post’s servers are situated, to California, where Depp and Heard reside, where much of their relationship unfolded, and where legal protections (known as anti-SLAPP laws) for people who speak up on matters of public interest—such as preventing domestic violence—are significantly stronger than in Virginia. They could not get the case dismissed after the High Court in London, in 2020, ruled against Depp in his libel claim against the tabloid the Sun, which called him a “wife beater”; the judge in that case found that twelve of Heard’s fourteen abuse accusations as presented in court were proven to be “substantially true.
” They could not exclude from the jury pool a man who read out the following text from his wife: “Amber is psychotic. If a man says a woman beat him, they never believe him.” They could not present evidence in Heard’s favor that the judge, Penney Azcarate, ruled out as hearsay, including testimony from seven medical professionals that Heard had reported contemporaneous episodes of abuse to them and a series of text messages from one of Depp’s employees, Stephen Deuters, in which Deuters appears to acknowledge that Depp physically harmed Heard on an airplane. (“When I told him he kicked you, he cried.”)
But the two most crucial strikes against Heard may have been that Azcarate permitted cameras in the courtroom and did not sequester the jury—a perfect one-two for Depp’s online brand of asymmetrical warfare. Trials are not often live-streamed in Virginia; that one centered on allegations of domestic abuse, including sexual assault, was televised is downright shocking. (Certain passages of Heard’s testimony in the U.
K. case were kept confidential even in the final ruling; in the U.S., those details, as recounted by Heard in Virginia, were made available on YouTube in perpetuity.) The trial’s live stream provided hours of raw material for the fancams, TikTok lip-synchs, and cheapo animations that the pro-Depp legions used to saturate every corner of digital space. “Remember tonight do not do any outside research,” Azcarate would often admonish the jury when they took a break, revealing a naïveté about the inexorable seepage of the #JusticeForJohnny movement into every social-media feed. To “research” the case only required glancing at TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, or Instagram, where Heard was cast as the delusional harpy and Depp as the lovable rogue. (As Amanda Hess wrote, in the Times, “I did not follow the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard—it followed me.”)
In a previous piece, I wrote about how this trial evoked revenge porn in forcing the defendant to document and participate in her own spectacular humiliation in front of a judge, a jury, and the viewers at home.
If Depp’s prime motivation in bringing the suit against Heard was to embarrass and stigmatize her, then he would have won, regardless of the verdict; that he became a men’s-rights folk hero in the process may have come as a surprise even to him. Others have already taken cues from his success. In March, Depp’s longtime buddy Marilyn Manson, who is godfather to Depp’s daughter, filed a defamation lawsuit against the actress Evan Rachel Wood, who has publicly accused Manson of emotional abuse and rape. Meanwhile, domestic-violence advocates have spoken widely of the chilling effects of the case—that victims may conclude from these proceedings that they will be disbelieved, harassed, shamed, and ostracized if they press charges or share their experiences. The real legacy of this entire ugly debacle, then, may never be fully known: a palimpsest of stories not told, of justice not sought.
Actor Amber Heard sits with her legal team during Johnny Depp's defamation case against her at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Virginia, U.
S., April 14, 2022. Shawn Thew/Pool via REUTERS Amber Heard's close friend, British music journalist Eve Barlow , has been abruptly excluded from Johnny Depp's trial. Ex-couple accuse each other of libel at a lawsuit in Fairfax, Virginia, USA over a column published in Washington Post in 2018, in which Hurd described herself as a " victim of domestic abuse" , persecuted by society after Depp's conviction.
People in court last Thursday told Page Six that Barlow, a former NME associate editor and contributor to New York Magazine, got into trouble with the judge by texting and tweeting in the front row of the normally reserved courtroom. for legal advice.
It is alleged that Barlow acted on the actress's legal team and even tried to intervene in the trial of Depp's friendly witness Gina Deuters , informants told the publication.
According to sources, Barlow tried to defend Hurd by asking his legal team to show Judge Penny S.
Ascarata that Deuters was allegedly engaged as witness . Barlow referred to a Deuters social media post claiming it was a recent post from an ongoing lawsuit.
However, it turns out that this publication was published in 2021 during Depp's lawsuit against The Sun newspaper in London.
However, Deuters admitted on Thursday that she had watched video footage of the trial on the Internet before she testified, so she was fired from the courtroom and her testimony was erased from the record.
In response to what happened, Depp's lawyers responded by filing a motion that that Barlow be permanently removed from the courtroom, which the judge approved.
« Amber made her closest journalist friend sit front and center, with her legal team, in court, tweeting live, texting and posting. Looks like Eve Barlow thinks she's on Amber's legal team. Depp's lawyers finally had enough and banned him from entering the courtroom," a source told Page Six.
Judge Askarat also spoke out against Barlow's text messages and tweets.
“She was tweeting live from my courtroom...and I know the officers took her away because she was tweeting. This is against the court order. Ms Barlow will not return to the courtroom during this trial ,” she said according to court transcripts.
Heard struggled with blind rage, sent incoherent text messages at 4 am and was often drunk or intoxicated with illegal drugs Kate James testified in a video statement that was played during Depp's defamation lawsuit against Heard .
Depp, for his part, was very quiet, almost shy, "like a total southern gentleman," James said.
La actriz Amber Heard escucha a su ex asistente personal Kate James que testifica a través de un video durante el caso de difamación de Johnny Depp contra ella (Reuters) REUTERS Depp denies abusing Hurd , but lawyers say evidence will prove he did..jpeg)
That the actor denies Depp's accusations, they say, is not credible because he used to drink and use drugs to the point where he can't remember what he was doing.
James' video testimony provided another point of view: Depp was peaceful, she said, while Heard was often intoxicated and verbally abusive, including abusing her own mother and sister.
" his poor sister was treated like a dog you kick," said James.
James, who worked at Heard from 2012 to 2015, said he was paid "very poorly". She noted that she was hired with a starting salary of $25 an hour and that her duties ranged from collecting Heard's clothes from dry cleaners to talking to Hollywood actresses' agents.
James also revealed that he had to buy two copies of any magazine Heard was in and keep them in the garage so Depp wouldn't see them. Heard unleashed his "blind rage" when James didn't put the magazines in the garage, a witness said.
About Heard and Depp's time together, James said that Heard was "a very dramatic person" who had a lot of insecurities in relationships.
Heard used to call James to cry and complain about Depp, he said.
“I remember she called me one day when she was alone in New York and she was crying and walking the streets,” said James. He added that he told Hurd to enter the building: "I was afraid the paparazzi would take pictures of him."
Some of the statements also centered on a text message Depp sent to James after he and Heard broke up. Depp's text reads: " Come get some purple and let's fix her fat ass nice and nice."
The lawyer asked him if they meant wine by "purple" and if "him" meant Heard. When asked if James understood that the text was referring to the actress, James initially said that she should not speculate.
"That's the way he writes," James said of Depp. "It's very rare, and you have no doubt about it ... write very abstractly."
Other messages that the actor sent to a friend about Heard have become known. During the trial, an alleged text message was read between Johnny and his friend and neighbor, Isaac Baruch, who testified in court.
“I hope Amber’s rotten corpse is decomposing in the goddamn trunk of a honda civic ,” Depp would have written to Baruch in 2016.
In addition, messages that Hurd sent to his mother were also circulated. « This is terrible, Mom. I do not know what to do". Another message said: “ Mom, he's crazy. Cruel and crazy. I'm upset with the one I love ."
“ I feel like I'm on a fast train that's about to explode, but I don't want to jump and leave my love behind. Therefore, I stay on the train, although I know that it will soon explode, ”says another message that was read aloud during the trial.
El actor Johnny Depp demandó por difamación a su ex esposa Amber Heard (Reuters)REUTERSLawyers also presented a video statement of by Laurel Anderson, a couples therapist who worked with Heard and Depp in 2015, when she was 29 and he was 52.
Anderson said they both suffered childhood abuse. And as a couple they were involved in "mutual abuse", he testified.
Herd's father beat her, Anderson said, adding, " She was proud to start a fight if she felt they didn't respect her."
Hurd would also rather be in a fight with Depp than watch him walk away and "I could beat him to keep him there ," Anderson said.
The therapist recalled when Hurd told her that Depp was using a lot of drugs.
"And she slapped him because he was talking inconsistencies and talking about being with another woman," Anderson said. He noted that Depp's mother was in the hospital at the time.
Anderson said Depp told him Heard "hit as hard as he could." She also noted that in at least one session where she saw Heard alone, the actress told her that Depp was beating her. He said Heard showed him his bruises, both in photographs and in person.
Anderson said Heard also told him that Depp allegedly told to him at some point, “Nobody likes you. You have a reputation for me. I do not love you anymore. You are a prostitute.
"
Anderson pointed out that Heard's harsh way of talking and his habit of interrupting Depp weighed him down.
Heard "wanted to want a divorce," but at the same time he didn't want it either and was trying to figure out what to do, Anderson said. “She loved him. He loved her. She wasn't stupid, she knew what they were doing wasn't great."
Depp and Heard are expected to testify in Fairfax County Circuit Court, which is expected to last six weeks. Actors Paul Bettany and James Frank or businessman Elon Musk could also testify.
Depp sued Heard for $50 million for libel and she sued him for $100 million . The trial is expected to take several weeks.
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"Quasimodo", "monster", "incorrigible drug addict" - the participants in the hearings on the sensational lawsuit of Johnny Depp in the High Court of London did not skimp on mutual insults.
On Tuesday there were final hearings on the lawsuit filed by Hollywood actor Johnny Depp against News Group Newspapers. The actor accuses her British tabloid Sun of defamation, which in a 2018 publication claimed that Depp systematically beat and humiliated his wife.
The BBC Russian service tells how the last day of the hearings was marked and how this trial may affect the reputation of the famous actor and his slightly less famous ex-wife.
"Unrecognizable Monster"
34-year-old actress Amber Heard is 20 years younger than Johnny Depp. The couple tied the knot in 2015, but their union lasted a little less than a year and a half.
Heard initiated the divorce, although, as Depp claimed during his testimony, he decided to divorce after he found traces of feces in their common bed, which, according to him, testified to adultery.
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption,Johnny Depp and Amber Heard at the 2016 Los Angeles Grammy Awards
In 2018, British tabloid Sun journalist Dan Wootton published an article calling Johnny Depp "a man who beats his wife." Sun's lawyers say they have no doubt that the actor was systematically abusive towards his wife.
But the actor accused the tabloid of slander and called the allegations against him complete fiction. Hurd, who is a witness in court, called Depp an uncontrollable monster who put her life in danger.
"From Cinderella to Quasimodo in a split second"
The 57-year-old actor, who has starred in dozens of famous films, including the cult epic "Pirates of the Caribbean", said that he had never resorted to violence against either Amber Heard, not to any other woman.
According to the actor, Amber herself started quarrels that ended in violence.
In support of this, the court was provided with an audio recording in which Johnny Depp tells his ex-wife that she is lying when she claims that she did not try to hit him.
"Oh, don't tell me what it's like to be beaten," Depp says in the audio.
"I pushed you like that, but I didn't hit you," Hurd replies.
According to the film actor's lawyer, Hurd's words testify to the actress's propensity for violence. "Just imagine what would happen if Johnny Depp said that, what horror would it cause?" - John Sheborn commented on the audio recording.
Image copyright, Getty Images
Image caption,Dozens of fans greeted Johnny Depp outside the High Court in London. Amber Heard walked into the building unnoticed
Earlier, Depp told the court that Hurd cheated on him right in their marital bed, and with elements of perversion.
Depp believes that his ex-wife invented stories that discredit him for the sake of her own fame and money.
The actor added that Hurd's testimony turned his ex-wife in his eyes "from Cinderella to Quasimodo in 0.6 seconds."
Previously, Johnny Depp was defended by his ex-common-law wife, French singer Vanessa Paradis and ex-girlfriend, actress Winona Ryder. Paradis and Ryder admitted that they were not aware of the details of the relationship between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, but noted that the actor never used violence against them. "I can sincerely and honestly say that I know him only as a genuinely kind person," said Ryder.
- Winona Ryder: "Johnny Depp never laid a hand on me"
"Incorrigible drug addict"
during which he completely lost control of himself.
Hurd told the court about numerous cases when Depp allegedly tried to use physical violence against her. In particular, she remembered how the actor allegedly threw bottles at her like grenades, and once threw a phone in her face.
Image copyright, Getty Images
Image caption,Speaking to the press outside the courthouse on Tuesday, the actress appeared to be holding back tears
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"Some of the episodes were so horrific that I feared for my life, thought he was going to kill me, either on purpose or just out of control and going too far," Hurd says.
Earlier, the actress told the court about two such episodes - on the day of her 30th birthday in 2016, when the actor, according to her, knocked her to the floor and grabbed her hair; and in May 2018, when Depp returned home high on drugs and allegedly threw a cell phone at her, hitting her in the eye.
The actress's lawyer stressed that the allegations of Depp's beating of his ex-wife are pure truth, and the actor himself is an incorrigible drug addict.
After the hearing, Amber Heard made a surprise statement outside the courthouse. Barely holding back tears, the actress said that she had not filed a lawsuit against Depp and would never want to be in court, despite the importance of the case.
"It was insanely hard for me to talk about the details of our separation when my motives and truthful words were called into question, and the most intimate details of my life with Johnny became known to the court and spread through the media around the world."
"You can go crazy"
The reason for the lawsuit was an article by journalist Dan Wootton, published in Sun in April 2018. It was called "You Can Go Crazy: How can JK Rowling be sincerely glad that the domestic rapist Depp will play in the new Fantastic Beasts movie?"0011
Image copyright Getty Images
The tabloid's lawyers said Depp controlled and physically abused his ex-wife, especially under the influence of drugs.
But Depp's lawyer called these accusations meaningless, because the actor never tried to hide his alcohol and drug addiction.
"All this is happening because the newspaper and its editor-in-chief Dan Wootton decided to publish an article containing extremely serious accusations - accusations that, according to Johnny Depp, have nothing to do with reality," the lawyer said.
Under the British legal system, it is up to the Sun newspaper to prove that its article is true.
"Pyrrhic Victory"
Johnny Depp's libel suit has been one of the most high-profile celebrity cases in Britain in over a century, observers say. On Tuesday, dozens of the actor's fans gathered outside the courthouse, many chanting "We demand justice for Johnny Depp."
Amber Heard sneaked into the building through a side door.
Image copyright, Getty Images
Image caption,Amber Heard claims that during her marriage to Johnny Depp, she had to fear for her life more than once
But no matter which side the court takes, the movie star's reputation will be damaged one way or another colossal damage, according to some commentators.
