The counterattack is launched. Johnny Depp on Wednesday denounced the « staggering » accusations of domestic violence brought by Amber Heard, testifying a second time at the trial for defamation that he is bringing against his ex-wife in an American court. « No human being is perfect, certainly not, none of us, but never in my life have I committed sexual violence or physical violence, » said the 58-year-old actor.
The lawyers of Johnny Depp, called once again to the bar of this trial which began six weeks ago in Fairfax near Washington, asked him what he had felt when hearing the accusations of his ex-wife. « It’s crazy to hear these heinous accusations of violence, of sexual violence that she attributes to me », explained the star of the saga Pirates of the Caribbean.
A reputation to save
“All these mind-boggling, outrageous things she says I did,” he added. “It is horrible, ridiculous, humiliating, insane, painful, savage, brutal and cruel in an unimaginable way, and entirely false”, he launched, repeating to the jury: “entirely false”. The actor assured that no one “likes having to reveal themselves to tell the truth”, but he needed to expose what he “has been carrying on his heart, with reluctance, for six years”.
The couple had started a relationship in 2011, before getting married in 2015. But Amber Heard had filed for divorce in May 2016 accusing him of domestic violence. The divorce was finalized in early 2017. In 2020, he lost a defamation lawsuit in London against the British tabloid The Sun, who called him a « violent husband ».
He then filed a complaint in the State of Virginia against his ex-wife, who had described herself in a column published in the washington post in 2018 as « a public figure representing domestic violence », without naming Johnny Depp. Believing that this platform has ruined his reputation and his career, he claims 50 million dollars in damages. The 36-year-old actress, who appeared on the poster for Justice League and Aquaman counter-attacked and asked for the double, claiming to have been banned from the cinema industry from her platform.
“He never pushed me”
At the helm, she spoke of the many arguments that degenerated into physical violence when Johnny Depp was under the influence of a cocktail of drugs and alcohol, including a rape with a bottle of alcohol in 2015 in Australia. The actor affirms for his part that it was his wife who was violent and had in particular cut off the end of a finger by throwing a bottle of vodka at him during this same argument.
Previously, British supermodel Kate Moss denied rumors that her ex-boyfriend Johnny Depp pushed her down a flight of stairs during their relationship, during brief testimony at trial. “He never pushed me or threw me down any stairs,” said Kate Moss by videoconference from England.
On May 5, Amber Heard described a heated argument with her husband in March 2015 and raised a rumor that Johnny Depp once pushed Kate Moss down a flight of stairs. The 48-year-old supermodel, who was in a relationship with the « Edward Scissorhands » actor between 1994 and 1998, recounted an incident that occurred while the couple was vacationing in Jamaica.
“We were leaving the room and Johnny left before me. There had been a thunderstorm and when I left the room I slipped down the stairs and injured my back,” she said. “And I screamed because I didn’t know what had just happened to me and I was in pain. He came running back to help me and carried me to my room and got me medical help,” the supermodel continued during a three-minute intervention. Amber Heard’s lawyers did not wish to question Kate Moss.