The 36-year-old actress, sued for defamation by her ex-husband in an American court, explained that she joined the actor in early March 2015, who was filming the fifth installment in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” saga.
But shortly after his arrival, an argument suddenly breaks out. “As we turn on the light, he started screaming,” she said. He throws bottles and cans at her, grabs her by the neck and threatens to disfigure her with a broken bottle, bangs her against a wall then rips off her nightgown.
« I’m against the wall and he’s screaming at me that he hates me, that I ruined his life, » she told the audience, unable to hold back her tears. « He told me + Damn, I’m going to kill you + », before pushing a bottle of alcohol into her vagina.
“All I felt was this pain,” she continued, claiming to have remained still because she did not know “if the bottle with which he (her) penetrated was broken”.
It was during this scene, she said, that the 58-year-old actor cut his finger. He assures that it was his ex-wife who cut him off by throwing a bottle at him, which Amber Heard denies.
« Toxic » Love
« I loved this man so much but it was so toxic, I couldn’t stop him from hitting me, » she said, when questioned by her lawyer about why she hadn’t left her husband after those three days of hell.
The couple then decided to start couples therapy, but the arguments enamelled with brutality continued until she filed a complaint for domestic violence in May 2016. She had dropped these charges during the divorce proceedings, concluded early 2017.
The actress also claimed that Johnny Depp, under the influence of cannabis and alcohol, kicked her on a private plane between Boston and Los Angeles, accusing her of having an affair with the actor James Franco, with whom she was shooting a film in May 2014. « He hated, hated James Franco and already accused me of having something with him » on a previous film, she said.
« He hit me in the back, nobody said anything, nobody did anything, » she said, referring to the star’s bodyguards and companions on board the aircraft.
« A Million Promises »
On the second day of her court hearing in Fairfax, near Washington, she continued to recount how her relationship had become « toxic » with her ex-husband, despite multiple objections and interruptions from Johnny Depp’s lawyers who had the knack for pissing off Judge Penney Azcarate.
The idyll born in 2009 had, according to her, quickly given way to fits of jealousy of the actor, culminating in beatings and fueled by the consumption of various drugs and alcohol. Despite “a million promises to heal and be sober”, Johnny Depp regularly fell back into his addictions, she explained.
The 58-year-old actor listened carefully to his estranged wife, sometimes reacting with slight nods of denial or whispering with his lawyer. As since the start of the trial, he avoided as much as possible the gaze of Amber Heard, who must continue her testimony when the trial resumes on May 16.
Johnny Depp is seeking $50 million in damages from his ex-wife. He accuses her of having ruined her reputation and her career after having claimed in December 2018 a platform in the Washington Post that she had suffered domestic violence in 2016, without however quoting her former husband.
The actor, who testified for four days at the end of April, denies having ever raised his hand on Amber Heard and assures that it was she who was violent. He admitted to heavy drug and alcohol use, which he claims to have been under control most of the time.