Trigger Warning: this article deals with allegations of assault and may be triggering to some readers.
Amber Heard has recounted harrowing details of Johnny Depp’s alleged abuse.
Earlier in May, the 36-year-old took the stand to testify against Depp, who is suing Heard for USD $50 million (AUD $67 million) over a 2018 op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post. Heard is also countersuing Deep for USD $100 million (AUD $134 million). So far, the trial has largely focussed on Depp’s version of events.
Visibly upset, Heard began her testimony: “I struggle to find the words to describe how painful this is. This is horrible for me to sit here for weeks and relive everything, to hear people that I knew, some well, some not, my ex-husband with whom I shared a life, speak about our lives in the way they have.”
She then went on to detail the alleged origins of her relationship with Depp—they first met when Heard auditioned for The Rum Diary. She told the court that Depp was immediately taken with her, allegedly telling her she was “the dream kid”.
Despite both actors being in separate relationships at the time, Heard alleged that Depp continued to flirt with her, and several months later, Depp called Heard out of the blue and invited her to his home in Beverly Hills with Rum Diary director, Bruce Robinson.
“It was clearly not about the movie, if you know what I mean,” Heard said.
The pair’s relationship allegedly turned romantic while they were on the Rum Diary press tour in London: “It was a beautiful and strange time. We were falling in love. For the rest of the press tour it was on, let’s put it that way.
“I fell head over heels in love with this man. When I was with him, I felt electricity in my body. I had butterflies. I couldn’t see straight. I felt like this man knew me, saw me, in a way so one else had.”
But it wasn’t long before Depp’s behaviour began to change, Heard claimed to the court. She alleged Depp would “just disappear,” and she would be unable to get hold of him.
Heard then detailed the first time Depp was allegedly physically abusive. She said the pair were sitting on the couch near a “jar of cocaine”. Heard noted one of Depp’s tattoo’s said “wino forever”, which she found amusing. Heard claimed Depp was angered by her reaction and hit her.
“You think it’s funny, b**ch?” She claimed he said after hitting her.
“I didn’t move, freak out, because I didn’t know what else to do. Then he slapped me again one more time. Hard. I lose my balance on edge of couch and I wished so much he’d say he was joking.”
After the incident, Heard claimed that Depp dropped to his knees and sobbed.
“I will never do that again, I’m so sorry, baby … I thought I put the monster away,” he allegedly said to her.
Heard added, “I wish I could say I stood up and walked out of the house but I didn’t. I was heartbroken.”
Despite his alleged remorse, Heard told the court that Depp’s verbal and physical abuse didn’t stop.
From criticising the clothes she would wear to “smashing things,” Depp would often “smash up a place,” she claimed.
She also told the court Depp would often accuse of having an affair with her acquaintances.
But after taking time away from each other after these blow ups, Depp would “go back to being this unbelievable, warm, generous, kind man that I loved,” Heard claimed. “What kept me in it was waiting for the other shoe to drop, the sobriety shoe.”
But that didn’t happen, Heard told the court, adding that at one point during a holiday in the Bahamas, Depp, who was drinking at the time, threatened to kill her.
“He slams me up by my neck and holds me there for a second and tells me that he could fucking kill me and that I was an embarrassment.”
Heard also claimed that Depp’s daughter, model and actor Lily-Rose Depp was upset by her father’s behaviour. She alleged Depp had believed Heard had told Lily-Rose about her dad’s addictions. According to Heard, she left the Bahamas with Lily-Rose.
At this point, Depp was seen in court shaking his head and saying, “Wow.”
On May 5, Heard continued her counter argument to Depp’s defamation claim by alleging that the actor sexually assaulted her with a liquor bottle when he was intoxicated.
The incident allegedly happened in March 2015 while the pair were in Australia. It has been a key point in the trial because Depp has counter alleged that Heard threw a bottle at him, which he claims caused his middle finger to be severed.
Heard alleged that she did not witness Depp’s injury because she had been given a sedative to sleep, and that this incident had occurred after Depp sexually assaulted her. She claimed the assault occurred after Depp accused her of sleeping with co-stars Billy Bob Thornton and Eddie Redmayne—Heard has denied these accusations.
“At some point he’s on top of me, screaming ‘I fucking hate you, you ruined my fucking life,'” Heard alleged.
“I’m on the countertop, he had me by the neck and was on top of me. My back was on the countertop. I thought he was punching me. I felt this pressure on my pubic bone and I could feel his arm moving. It looked like he was punching me. I could just feel this pressure.
“I remember looking around the room, looking at all the broken bottles, broken glass and I remember not wanting to move because I didn’t know if it was broken, I didn’t know if the bottle that he had inside me was broken.”
Heard testified that Depp had wrapped strips of raw steak in her nightgown, which he used to write vulgar messages in blood, painted around the house.
Heard also denied a testimony from Depp’s security guard, Travis McGivern, who claimed that she had thrown a Red Bull can at Depp. Heard testified that it was Depp who threw the can and “took a swing” at her sister. Heard alleged that after this, she punched Depp.
Heard also alleged that Depp’s security enabled his alleged toxic behaviour. The court was shown photos of Depp passed out—Heard said she started taking these photos because Depp would later deny what had happened when he was under the influence.
She told the court: “He wouldn’t remember, or he would deny it. There was no one to back me up—just his employees versus my word.”
Heard also discussed Depp’s alleged jealousy, claiming that Depp would become angered when Heard’s movies had sex scenes.
“I had to eggshell or tiptoe around him when I had any kind of scene,” she told the court.
Heard also alleged that Depp had thrown a bottle at her after they attended the Met Gala in New York City.
“He shoved me down on the sofa and at some point he just whacked me in the face. I suspected I had a broken nose. I remember it being swollen, discoloured and red.”
She also alleged that a team of doctors were assigned to help Depp detox, but Depp told them he was on half the amount of opiate painkillers he was actually allegedly taking.
“He’d been lying to them so he could get extra-high before he had to detox,” Heard claimed.
She told the court that eventually, Depp agreed to a detox program overseen by a medical team at his home in the Bahamas, but the process didn’t go smoothly.
“He slapped me across the face, but he did so while he was crying. I shouldn’t have been there. I don’t know how to detox someone. I don’t know why the doctors and nurses wanted me to be there. It was hell,” Heard claimed.
Cross-examination
During Heard’s cross-examination, Depp’s lawyers questioned her on the op-ed essay, which is part of Depp’s defamation claim. The headline of the Washington Post essay reads: “I spoke up about sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”
When the essay was published online, Heard shared a link to the article on her Twitter page in December 2018, which included this headline—but Heard alleges she did not write the headline.
Heard claimed that she didn’t notice the headline at the time, nor did she have any ability to change it.
Camille Vasquez, Depp’s attorney, asked her: “You didn’t need to include the link to the electronic version of the op-ed in your tweet, did you?”
Heard answered: “How else would I have linked it?”
Vasquez then put to Amber that there was no need for her to link to the article if she wanted to “tell the world” she had published it.
Heard replied: “No, the goal was to tweet about it and provide a link so that people could read it.”
Vasquez also questioned Amber about the version of events which took place during the alleged fight in Australia, where Depp alleges that Heard threw a vodka bottle at him that resulted in the tip of his finger being severed.
As mentioned above, Heard testified that Depp severed his own finger in during a rage under the influence of drugs and alcohol where he smashed a wall-mounted phone.
Depp’s lawyer tried to push Heard more on the sequence of events that led to that moment, to which Heard told the court: “Just to be clear, you’re putting in order… I have never claimed that I can remember the exact sequence.
“This was a multiday assault that took place over three horrible days.”
Defence witnesses take the stand
Following on from Heard’s testimony, several witnesses have now testified. They included a psychiatrist, Dr. David R. Spiegel, who testified that Depp had behaviours consistent with someone who had a substance use disorder and a perpetrator of intimate partner violence. During his cross examination, he was asked how he could make this call when he’d never spoken to Depp, Spiegel said he’d been denied that opportunity twice after requesting he see the movie star.
Meanwhile, Depp’s ex-partner, Ellen Barkin also testified, alleging that on one event during a fight, Depp threw a wine bottle across a room in her direction. She claimed the bottle missed her, but said that it came close to her.
Barkin testified that the pair were in a sexual relationship for three to five months, and that Depp was “a jealous man” and “controlling.” She claimed he would ask questions like “Where are you going? Who are you going with? What did you do last night?”
Depp’s former psychologist, Dr. Alan Blaustein, also took the stand to testify that Depp struggled with “impatience and anger” while he was in a relationship with Heard.
Depp’s former business manager, Joel Mandel also testified that it became clear he had issues with alcohol and drugs after the first Pirates of the Caribbean film.
He also claimed that Depp’s spending habits worried him because he wasn’t bringing in enough work to cover them, but whenever he brought it up as a concern with Depp, he alleged the actor would get angry with him.
Depp has testified that he was never physically abusive towards Heard, and he alleges that she was abusive towards him.
The trial continues.
If you are experiencing sexual abuse or other unwanted behaviour, please contact Full Stop Australia or call 1800RESPECT.
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