US actress Amber Heard (36, “Aquaman”) initially denied violent behavior towards her former husband Johnny Depp (58) in court. “I’ve never attacked anyone that I was in a relationship with,” Heard said on her last day on the witness stand in Fairfax County Court, Virginia, according to Deadline.
After the actress reported in the previous days of the trial how Depp had violently attacked her, his lawyers cross-examined her on Tuesday (local time) primarily about her own violent abilities.
“I had to use my body to defend myself many times, and that included hitting where I could if that would allow me to escape,” she explained.
Heard had already described in the process that Depp turns into a “monster” if he takes alcohol and drugs. During the interrogation, Heard had to justify, among other things, why she had not consulted a doctor after an alleged rape by an intoxicated dork with a bottle.
According to his ex-wife, Depp cut off his fingertip when he smashed a phone. However, Depp’s lawyers questioned this version.
In an audio recording played to the jury, Heard admitted that she once started a physical argument with Depp. But she insisted she didn’t “hit” him. “Everything’s fine with you. I didn’t hurt you,” she said in the recording. “You’re such a baby.”
In the audio recording, Heard calls Depp a “joke” and a “traitor,” according to “Deadline.” Heard said she expressed frustration at his criticism of her career. “I said horrible, ugly things to him. As you can hear, we spoke to each other in a really horrible way,” she said.
Her ex-husband’s lawyers had previously accused her of inconsistencies in her statements about alleged violence in the relationship. For example, Heard had stated that Depp sexually abused her with a bottle in Australia in 2015.
Depp’s lawyers accused Heard of throwing the bottle at her husband. “I didn’t attack Johnny in Australia. I never attacked Johnny,” Heard said. The actor lost a fingertip in the argument.
Heard was also questioned by Depp’s lawyers about a report that she allegedly assaulted then-girlfriend Tasya van Ree at an airport in 2009. Heard denied this, saying the allegation was part of a “smear campaign” on Depp’s part.
Heard’s multi-day testimony ended with Tuesday’s interrogation. Her ex-husband had previously been on the witness stand for four days to answer questions. He had denied ever having been violent towards Heard.
Closing arguments were scheduled for May 27 by Judge Penney Azcarate. Then the jury decides.
Depp has sued Heard, to whom he was married between 2015 and 2017, for $50 million in damages. The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star accuses the 36-year-old of having seriously damaged his career with false allegations of domestic violence.
The background is an article for the “Washington Post” from 2018, in which Heard described himself as a victim of domestic violence without naming Depp.
