On the 14th day of Johnny Depp’s defamation trial, his ex-wife Amber Heard entered the witness to discuss the beginning phases of their relationship and how his supposed maltreatment of her started.
Heard was tearful during her testimony on Wednesday as she described a number of alleged acts of violence, as well as drug and alcohol abuse, that she was exposed to or observed during their time together. One such episode, which she became engaged in at the end of the day, concerned his children.
She concluded her evidence by remembering a “goodbye” trip she and Depp, as well as Depp’s children Lily-Rose and Jack, made aboard Johnny’s yacht after he decided to sell it to J.K. Rowling. Johnny was disappointed that he had to sell the boat; he had fallen off the wagon again, but he didn’t want to inform his children.
Heard characterized Depp’s actions as “emotional,” saying he was hiding it from them, putting it in coffee cups and drinking. He started getting more visibly intoxicated, there’s just no off switch with Johnny, she added as he continued to drink.
Heard stated Lily-Rose became “panicky” and inquired about his drinking. Concerns grew when he began leaping from the boat in a manner she described as “a bit alarming” and not like something somebody would do if they’re entirely alright. Lily-Rose began screaming and had a near-panic episode at that point, according to her, with “rapid breathing, crying, and lots of questions.” She stated that she was soothing the teen when Johnny returned to the boat, and that after a few seconds she recognized he moved his attention on her and then he appeared really furious.
He asks Lily-Rose to go, Lily-Rose looks at her, departs weeping, and Johnny accuses her of reporting on him, calling him a drunk in front of his children. That was something she hadn’t done. She was truly attempting to safeguard Johnny, she explained. It didn’t feel like her place to discuss that with his daughter or anybody else at the moment, other than grownups who may be able to assist, not his children.
She stated he was actually blaming her for informing them that he was drinking again. He pushes her up against the cabin’s side wall, grabs her neck and holds her there for a second before telling her that he could kill her and that she was a disgrace, that she was humiliating, that this entire thing was a joke, that she made him sick. She’ll never forget that. She was madly in love with this entire family, and he says she is humiliating to him, and it somehow remained with her more than the fact that he could murder her. It wounded her feelings when he called her names and pushed her up against the wall by her neck.
Heard stated that she and Lily-Rose requested a helicopter to get them out of the location, despite the fact that she “felt awful about leaving” him there and also “felt like she had done something wrong, that he was upset at her.” She described receiving “all these text messages from him calling her all these things and barely coherent” while “holding his baby weeping.”
The day concluded with one of the texts being read out in court. It said: “Rears??? Ahh!! Tears??? Beers??? Sheers??? Saphires??? Leers??? Jeers??? Peers??? Queers??? Here’s??? Faquirs??? Mousketeers ears??? I can go all night … DJ Maxipad!!! The old vintage motherf—er you went for … Dumbass.”
Last week, Depp’s estate manager said that she received a phone call from Lily-Rose Depp and Jack Depp, who were “upset and wanted to leave” a boat vacation they were on and wanted to “have a helicopter take them away” with Amber. She further stated that when she arrived to pick them up, Depp was “passed out on the beach.”
That alleged event was just one of several Heard described on the stand today, which started with her claiming that being on trial and having to “sit there for weeks and relive everything” had been “the most terrible and stressful thing I have gone through, for sure.”
Her testimony will be heard again on Thursday.
Depp is demanding $50 million in damages after Heard alleged in an op-ed in the Washington Post in 2018 that she was a survivor of domestic violence. While she did not identify Depp in the article, his attorneys claim it was supposed to be about him and harmed his career. Depp was countersued for $100 million.
The actor already lost a case in the United Kingdom over the identical piece that was published in The Sun.
