The sister of the US actress Amber Heard described a tangible argument between the ex-couple in the defamation trial against her ex-husband Johnny Depp.
Depp pulled Heard’s hair during the argument in March 2015 in the shared apartment in Los Angeles and hit her several times in the face, Whitney Henriquez reported in court on Wednesday. Heard also beat Depp at the time.
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.
Heard has responded with a counterclaim against the 58-year-old, demanding $100 million in damages. Her younger sister was called to the witness stand by Heard’s attorneys on Wednesday. Henriquez, who lived for a time in the same penthouse complex as Depp and Heard, described the ex-couple’s difficult relationship on the 18th day of the trial.
“When he was sober things were wonderful,” said 34-year-old Henriquez. “If he wasn’t sober, they were terrible.” When Depp took drugs or drank alcohol, “there was almost always a fight”.
Henriquez detailed the argument in March 2015, a month after the couple’s wedding. Heard woke her up in the middle of the night to tell her that Depp had cheated on her. Heard found messages written between Depp and his ex-girlfriend at the time. They then got into an argument.
“They said really nasty things to each other,” Henriquez reported. She ran up the stairs to calm her sister Amber Heard and take her to her own apartment. Depp ran after her and “somehow hit her in the back”.
Heard noticed this and then yelled at him, “Don’t hit my fucking sister!” Heard then punched Depp in the face, according to Henriquez.
Depp’s bodyguard tried to intervene, “but by that point, Johnny had already grabbed Amber’s hair with one hand and repeatedly slapped her in the face with the other,” Henriquez said. The bodyguard finally separated the two.
Depp then destroyed the penthouse, broke numerous objects in the kitchen and threw Heard’s clothes on the floor.
