On her second day giving evidence, Amber Heard said Depp once “backhanded” her in such a way that her blood splattered on the wall. She also claimed he falsely accused her of having affairs with many of her co-stars.
On Tuesday Amber Heard and Johnny Depp reconvened at High Court to proceed with the libel trial against The Sun. Heard took to the witness stand for the second time as The Sun’s star witness, defending her accusations of Depp’s violent behavior.
While giving evidence, Heard dodged multiple claims from Depp’s barrister that she “make things up” as the trial progressed. In court, Heard said Depp accused her of having affairs with many of her co-stars, including Channing Tatum, Liam Hemsworth, and Leonardo DiCaprio. She also elaborated on what she called a “three day hostage” incident in Australia where she claimed Depp sexually assaulted her.
Depp called DiCaprio “pumpkin head”
A recurring topic throughout the trial was Depp’s insecurities and jealousy while he was in a relationship with Heard. In one of Heard’s witness statements, she said Depp accused her of having affairs with her co-stars and other actors.
Heard said, “he accused me of having affairs with each of my co-stars, movie after movie: Eddie Redmayne, James Franco, Jim Sturgess, Kevin Costner, Liam Hemsworth, Billy-Bob Thornton, Channing Tatum; even women co-stars like Kelly Garner.”
Additionally, Depp had derogatory names for Heard’s male co-stars he considered a “sexual threat.”
“For example, Leonardo DiCaprio was ‘pumpkin-head’, Channing Tatum was ‘potato-head’, and ‘Jim Turd Sturgess’,” said Heard.
Depp’s barrister questioned Heard if she had relationships with anyone else while she was in a relationship with Depp, referencing text exchanges between Heard and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who she dated in 2016 following her divorce.
Heard denied being in contact with Musk until 2016, refuting a claim from an earlier witness, Alejandro Romero, a concierge at Heard’s building, who said Musk regularly visited Heard while Depp was in Australia in 2015.
When Heard told Musk that went to obtain a restraining order against Depp — she filed for one on May 23, 2016 — Musk offered to provide Heard with “24/7 security.” In his text message, he wrote, “the offer would stand, even if you never wanted to see me again… anyway, sorry for being an idiot. The radio silence hurts a lot. It only matters because I really like you.”
Depp’s barrister also asked Heard about actor James Franco, who Depp suspected Heard had an affair with while she filmed “The Adderall Diaries”. The court watched a CCTV footage from May 22, 2016, that showed Heard and Franco on the lift, up to her residence.
Heard confirmed the man in the footage was Franco. In her account, she said, “we were talking. He was saying to me ‘oh my god, what happened to you?’ He saw my face… when I let him in. He saw my face and he said ‘what the f*ck?’”
When asked about the time the footage took place, Heard confirmed it was after 11pm, adding, “in those days, I didn’t sleep much at night.”
Depp allegedly pushed Kate Moss down the stairs
Depp categorically denied all allegations of abuse from Heard and maintained that she was the abuser in the relationship. In court, Depp’s barrister referenced three alleged incidents of Heard’s violence.
They questioned Heard about a recording, undated, of an exchange between Depp and Heard after something happened in the bathroom.
In the recording, Depp appeared to be apologizing for closing the door into Heard’s toes, saying “I didn’t mean to do that.” Heard apologized after, saying, “I’m so sorry… I can remember hitting you as a response… And I’m really sorry about hitting you in the head with the door.”
When questioned about the “bathroom incident,” Heard denied punching Depp in the face and said she acted in self-defense. According to Heard, Depp was “falling against the door and screaming out incoherently.” She said she pushed the door “as an instinct.”
“I knew better than to fight with him about the details of the fight, and what he perceived as injuries to him. My job was to say sorry, and get him on track, and move on to bigger things,” said Heard.
Another audio played before court showing a conversation between Depp and Heard. In it, Depp is saying, “you seem to think there’s this cowardice in me, running away from me… the only time I did things to you was when you threw the can at me in Australia.” Heard replies in the audio that she “threw pots and pans.”
When questioned about the audio, Heard maintained she was not violent.
Depp’s barrister brought up a third allegation which she called the “stair incident.” Heard said she only used violence “in defence of myself and my sister.”
According to Depp’s barrister, Heard spat at Depp, threw a can of Red Bull at his back and punched him in the face. Heard denied the first two actions but acknowledged that she “did strike Johnny that day” to protect her sister.
In Heard’s 2016 deposition against Depp, she said she hit Depp to defend her “baby sister” from being pushed down the stairs by Depp. In court, Heard said she heard a rumour before the incident that Depp pushed his ex-girlfriend, model Kate Moss, down the stairs once.
“I heard the rumour he pushed an ex-girlfriend down the stairs — I think it was Kate Moss — and that was fresh in my mind… So I reacted quickly… I have been Johnny’s punching bag for years… And I remember this as it was the first incident when I ever struck him back,” Heard said.
Heard: Depp “backhanded” her and “popped” her teeth
The Sun’s defense relies on 14 separate allegations of domestic violence of which Heard accused Depp. Depp’s barrister challenged Heard’s accusations through multiple witnesses who claim they did not see Heard with visible signs of injury.
Heard referenced two incidents of Depp’s violent behavior in 2013, one in which they argued about an artwork made by her ex-partner and one she named “disco bloodbath” in which Depp hit her so hard her blood splattered on the wall. Heard claimed the “disco bloodbath” happened on the 8th of March 2013, and the fight over the painting on the 22nd.
Heard said, “all I can tell you is Johnny wore these rings… He backhanded me… We got into an argument because he said I’d had affairs with two people I never had an affair with.” The blow from Depp “popped” Heard’s teeth and splattered her blood.
Depp’s barrister showed the court a photo of Heard with Rolling Stone Keith Richards, in which there are no visible injuries on Heard’s face, which she claimed took place a day after the “disco bloodbath” fight. Heard refuted this and said someone took the photo after the fight over the painting.
Depp’s barrister accused Heard of changing the date of the “disco bloodbath” fight as the photo showed her without noticeable bruises. Heard denied the accusation and said there were “so many incidents in March” that she got mixed up.
The court turned to another allegation of Depp’s violence in which Heard claimed she was a “hostage” for three days while they were in Australia in early March 2015.
In her statement, Heard said, “he grabbed me by the neck and shoved me against the fridge… Over the course of the day, he kept attacking me – he hit me, pushed me, choked me, and spat in my face.”
When recounting the three-day hostage incident in court, Heard was moved to tears. On day two of the incident, there was broken glass everywhere and Depp assaulted Heard by the bar.
She said, “I was naked and my feet were bare, so I couldn’t get a purchase on my feet… I was trying to push away from the counter top, so I could breathe… I thought he had lost control of what he had done, I was slipping on the counter tops and slipping on the glass.”
Heard took photos of her injuries from the three-day incident. Depp’s barrister suggested the scars are marks of “self-harm” but Heard refuted, saying, “I have had them since that night… I have never self-harmed. Johnny’s a self-harmer, I’m not a self-harmer.”