Johnny Depp’s $50 million defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard entered week four, with the couple continuing to argue over who was the victim and who was the abuser in the relationship.
Depp sued Heard after she published an op-ed in The Washington Post claiming to be a victim of domestic violence. While she didn’t name Depp in the op-ed, he quickly lost his role as Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, and lost his role in the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise as well, according to his agent.
Depp and Heard met on the set of “The Rum Diary” in 2009 before getting engaged in 2014 and marrying in 2015. Just 15 months after the marriage, Heard filed for divorce and obtained a temporary restraining order against Depp, claiming he abused her during their marriage. The divorce was settled out of court for $7 million, which Heard promised to donate to charity. In 2018, Heard published the infamous op-ed at the heart of the defamation lawsuit.
The trial has been tumultuous at times, with details revealing a vivid and at times, disturbing picture of the couples’ lives and interactions during their relationship.
Heard Allegedly Left Poop In Her And Depp’s Bed After A Fight
In what has become the most disgusting detail revealed at trial, Heard allegedly admitted to leaving poop in the bed she shared with Depp after an argument in April 2016. One of Depp’s staff, a security guard and executive chauffeur named Starling Jenkins, testified Heard told him “the defecation” was “a horrible practical joke gone wrong.”
Depp had previously said in his own testimony that he and Heard had a fight at her birthday party. He left, and was later shown a picture of fecal matter in the bed, which Heard allegedly claimed was left by their two teacup Yorkies. Depp said he never believed her claim.
Jenkins also disputed Heard’s claim, saying he had “a conversation pertaining to the surprise she left in the boss’s bed” and she referred to it as a “horrible practical joke.”
Depp Said He Lost Part Of His Finger After A Fight With Heard
Johnny Depp said he lost part of his right middle finger after a fight with Heard, though it is unclear exactly how the incident occurred. Depp insists Heard severed his finger when she threw a glass vodka bottle at him. Heard has said that Depp cut his own finger off while intoxicated. Depp responded by saying he would never have cut off his own finger because he loves playing guitar.
“There’s no reason in the world where I literally would cut my own finger off to ruin this beautiful opportunity that I was given at age twelve to learn how to play the guitar,” Depp said at trial, explaining that just a few months after the fight he was scheduled to go on tour with his band, The Hollywood Vampires.
Heard Claimed Depp Bruised Her Face In A Fight, But Multiple Witnesses Dispute
Heard claimed in court documents from 2016 that Depp bruised her face during a fight, even appearing in court with what appeared to be a bruise on her cheek. She said Depp attacked after she said she wanted a divorce.
But police officers who responded to a domestic disturbance call testified they saw no evidence of injury to Heard or damage to the property, and left without filing a report because they saw no signs of a crime, Insider reported.
Audio Revealed Heard Suggesting To Depp That No One Would Believe He Was A Victim Because He’s “A Man”
Audio played in court revealed Heard suggesting to Depp that no one would believe he was the victim of domestic abuse because he’s “a man.”
“You can tell people it was a fair fight … see what the jury and judge think. Tell the world, Johnny, tell them — ‘Johnny Depp, I, Johnny Depp, a man, I’m a victim, too, of domestic violence … and it’s a fair fight,’” Heard said in the audio, as reported by The Daily Wire. “And see how many people believe or side with you.”
In That Same Audio, Heard Admitted To Hitting Depp
Okay, so this isn’t exactly a revelation because we’ve known this since Depp’s failed defamation case in the United Kingdom, but it is still shocking.
“I didn’t punch you, by the way,” Heard said in the audio. “I’m sorry that I didn’t hit you across the face in a proper slap. But, I was hitting you. It was not punching you.”
“You’ve been in a lot of fights, you’ve been around a long time,” she continued. “You didn’t get punched. You got hit. I’m sorry I hit you like this, but I did not punch you. I did not f***ing deck you. I f***ing was hitting you. I don’t know what the motion of my actual hand was.”
“But you’re fine,” she told Depp. “I did not hurt you, I did not punch you, I was hitting you.”
“I’m not sitting here b****ing about, am I? You are. That’s the difference between me and you. You’re a f***ing baby,” she added. “You are such a baby! Grow the f*** up, Johnny.”
In another portion of the audio, Depp tells Heard that “The next move, if I don’t walk away … it’s going to be a bloodbath, like it was on the island.”
“You’ve taken everything. You want my blood, take it,” Depp also said, suggesting Heard attack him with a knife.
The Audio Was Not Kind To Depp, Either
Depp didn’t completely come across as a victim in the audio. In one clip Heard referenced a time when Depp allegedly “beat the s***” out of her. Depp denied hitting Heard and instead insisted she was the abuser.
Depp Accused Heard Of Framing Him For A Broken Nose By Using Nail Polish
The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star told the court that Heard attacked him, their heads knocked together, but that he never actually made contact with her face, Fox News reported.
“During the struggle, their heads connected, he said, but he never made contact with her face,” the outlet reported. “She left the room and returned a few minutes later clutching a tissue to her nose that had a red substance on it. ‘Way to go, Johnny, you broke my nose,’ he recalled her saying.”
Depp said he then went into the bathroom and found the tissue Heard had used that allegedly contained her blood, but he believed the substance was red nail polish.
“I pulled the Kleenex out of the trash bin, and I inspected it pretty closely and realized it was nail polish, nail varnish,” Depp said in court.
Heard Initially Wanted $4 Million In The Divorce, But Reportedly Kept Upping The Amount
When Heard initially filed for divorce on May 23, 2016, she asked for $4 million from Depp according to his business manager, Edward White. By the time the couple settled, the amount was $7 million. But as Insider reported, Heard also received another $500,000 to her legal team that was tax-free. In addition, White said that Depp was responsible for “community liabilities” – referring to their jointly owned assets and debts. In court, White testified that Heard actually received $14.25 million from Depp as part of their divorce settlement.
Heard Pledged To Donate Her Settlement To Charity – But She Hasn’t Fully Paid Up
Heard pledged to donate the $7 million reported settlement she publicly received from Depp to two charities: The Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the American Civil Liberties Union. The Daily Mail reported in 2021 that Heard had paid only $100,000 to the Children’s hospital. At the time, Depp’s attorneys successfully lobbied a judge with the New York Supreme Court to force the ACLU to prove whether Heard followed through on her pledge to donate half of her divorce settlement from Depp to the organization.
In court, ACLU general counsel Terence Dougherty testified that Heard has not given the full $3.5 million she promised to the organization. Dougherty testified she has so far only provided $1.3 million, and only $350,000 of that was donated by Heard herself. Another $100,000 came from Depp, and $500,000 is believed to have been donated on Heard’s behalf by billionaire Elon Musk, who dated Heard for almost a year after her divorce from Depp, Deadline reported. Dougherty said that payments stopped after 2018. “We reached out to Heard starting in 2019 for the next installment of her giving and we learned that she was having financial difficulties,” he said.
Musk, in a 2016 email to the ACLU, told them that Heard’s donation would be made in installments over 10 years, but she never signed an official pledge form stating that to be the case.
The ACLU Actually Wrote The Op-Ed At The Center Of The Trial
Dougherty also testified that the ACLU actually ghostwrote Heard’s 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she claimed to be a victim of domestic violence and timed it to coincide with the release of her movie, “Aquaman.”
“I recall there was a conversation for optimal timing,” Dougherty said in response to a question from one of Depp’s attorneys about ensuring the op-ed would come out “just after the Aquaman release.”
Emails released in court show ACLU communications strategist Robin Shulman wrote the first draft of Heard’s op-ed in November 2018, one month before it was published. Shulman told Heard in a message that she tried to “gather your fire and rage” and turn it into an op-ed. Dougherty was asked in his deposition whether that “rage” was related to Depp, but said it was related to “gender-based violence issues.”
The ACLU also pitched the op-ed and mentioned Depp in their pitch to the Post.
“Hey Michael, wondering if we might interest you in an op-ed by Amber Heard ‘Who [sic] as you may recall was beaten up during her brief marriage to Johnny Depp,” Stacey Sullivan, a member of ACLU’s communications team, wrote in an email to Post editor Michael Duffy.
Heard Allegedly Wanted To Get Back Together With Depp After Filing For Divorce
Christian Carino, who worked for Heard as an agent beginning in the mid-2000s and started working with Depp in 2016, said Heard wanted to get back together with Depp after filing for divorce and filing for a restraining order. Carino said Heard told him to “Please tell [Depp] I love him.”
Depp was apparently “reluctant at first and then agreed,” Carino testified, and only agreed to meet with Heard after ensuring she wouldn’t accuse him of violating the restraining order.
Their Marriage Counselor Said The Violence Was Mutual, But Heard Seemed To Start More Fights
The couple’s 2015 marriage counselor Laurel Anderson, testified that the violence was mutual but still seemed to put most of the blame on Heard, saying that the actress said it was a “point of pride” to start a fight with Depp. Anderson also noted that “if [Depp] was going to leave her to deescalate the fight, she would strike him to keep him there.” Anderson said she thought Depp may have initiated some fights but she was “less sure on” that.
Depp Insulted Heard Numerous Times In Text Messages
Dr. David Kipper, an addiction doctor for Depp, testified regarding text messages the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor sent about his ex-wife. Back in 2015, Depp complained in a series of messages about Heard being “a malicious evil and vindictive c***” who regularly insulted him and was “condescending” to him about “hippie s***” to the point where he wanted “to rampage against anyone wearing Birkenstocks.”
Depp also texted Kipper that Heard was “full of s*** as a Christmas Goose.”
“I’m done,” Depp added. “NO MORE!!!! Constant insults released from a malicious evil and vindictive c***!!!!! You know what’s far more hurtful than her venomous and degrading educational ranting??? Her hideously and purposely hurtful tirades and her goddamn shocking treatment of the man she was meant to love above all.”
“Here’s the real deal mate…her obsession with herself is far more important,” Depp said. “She is so f***ing ambitious!!!! She’s so desperate for success and fame. That’s probably why I was acquired, mate. She has hammered me with what a sad, old man has been I am.”
“I’m so very sad,” Depp said.
A Clinical Psychologist Hired By Team Depp Diagnosed Heard With Two Personality Disorders
Shannon Curry, who was hired by Depp’s lawyers to evaluate Heard for the trial, diagnosed the “Aquaman” actress with borderline personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder. Curry evaluated Heard over a period of 12 hours spread across two days, making her answer hundreds of questions. Curry said Heard greatly exaggerated her symptoms when she claimed to have post-traumatic stress disorder after her relationship with Depp. Curry insisted Heard didn’t have PTSD at all. Curry also agreed with Depp’s assessment of Heard as emotionally domineering and abusive, as Insider reported.
“They might say that they are going to file a restraining order or claim abuse, or they might do these things, to essentially try to keep their partner from leaving,” Curry testified. “In the moment, they’re not consciously thinking, ‘I’m going to keep my partner from leaving right now.’ They’re just thinking, ‘I can’t stand this. I hate my partner.'”
Curry further testified that people with disorders like Heard are “very attention-seeking” and “prone to externalizing blame, to a point where it’s unclear whether they can even admit to themselves that they do have responsibility.”
It is expected that in the coming days, even more details will arise. Whether they bring clarity or confusion about this complicated and tumultuous relationship can only be known once those facts and further details are revealed.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.