Virginia: Actor Amber Heard choked back tears as she told a Virginia jury that her ex-husband Johnny Depp physically abused her multiple times,starting when he slapped her after she laughed at the writing on one of his tattoos.
Heard took the witness stand for the first time in a widely followed US defamation case brought by Depp,saying the actors had a “magical” relationship until it turned violent.
Actor Amber Heard testifies in the courtroom at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Virginia.Elizabeth Frantz/AP
Depp’s first physical outburst,Heard said,came after she asked what was written on one of his faded tattoos. She said he replied “wino”,and she laughed,thinking it was a joke.
“He slapped me across the face,” Heard said. “I didn’t know what was going on. I just stared at him.”
Heard said he slapped her twice more and said,“You think it’s funny,bitch?”
Actor Johnny Depp returns to the courtroom after lunch break at the Fairfax County Circuit Court.Elizabeth Frantz/Pool Photo via AP
She also said Depp held one of her dogs out of the window of a moving car while he howled like an animal.
The incident on March 2013 took place after Depp ingested cocaine and liquor,while accusing Heard of being unfaithful, reported.
“He grabs this teacup Yorkie and holds Boo out of the window of the moving car,and he’s howling like an animal while holding the dog out the window,” Heard told the court. “And everyone in the car – I’ll never forget it – everyone just froze. No one did anything.”
Heard said Boo belonged to Depp at the time,but she later got custody of Boo and the other Yorkshire Terrier,Pistol,when the couple separated.
Actor Amber Heard speaks to her legal team during a lunch break.Elizabeth Frantz/Pool Photo via AP
On Tuesday Virginia time,a psychologist testifying on Heard’s behalf told jurors that Depp forced Heard to
Psychologist Dawn Hughes,Heard’s witness,testified that Depp performed a cavity search on the actor as he looked.
Depp,58,testified earlier in the trial that he never hit Heard,36,and that she was the one who was the abuser in their relationship.
Depp,the star of thePirates of the Caribbeanfilms and others,is suing Heard for $US50 million ($70 million),saying she defamed him when she claimed she was a victim of domestic abuse. Heard has counter-sued for $US100 million,saying Depp smeared her by calling her a liar.
Lianne Kent with Pistol (left) and Elly Kent with Boo when they were in Australia with Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. Happy Dogz Grooming Gold Coast
Heard said she stayed with Depp after the tattoo incident because he apologised and promised not to behave that way again.
“I didn’t want to leave him. I didn’t want this to be the reality,” she said.
But,Heard said,Depp became violent at other times,usually when he was drinking or using drugs.
He would hurl insults or accuse her of cheating,she said,and “it would escalate to the point where he would push me or shove me down”.
“This happened several times,” she said.
At the start of her testimony,Heard said it had been hard to relive their relationship in the courtroom.
“This has been the most painful and difficult thing I’ve ever gone through,” she said.
The case hinges on a December 2018 opinion piece she wrote inThe Washington Post. The article never mentioned Depp by name,but his lawyer told jurors it was clear Heard was referring to him. The couple’s divorce was finalised in 2017 after less than two years of marriage.
Surprising allegations emerge in the defamation trial including faecal matter in the bed,painting in blood,graphic text messages and 'hitting not punching'.
Depp,once among the biggest stars in Hollywood,said he never struck Heard nor any woman and that Heard’s allegations cost him “everything”. A newPirates movie was put on hold,and Depp was replaced in theFantastic Beasts film franchise,aHarry Potter spin-off.
Heard’s attorneys have argued that she told the truth and that her opinion was protected free speech under the US Constitution’s First Amendment.
A state court judge in Virginia’s Fairfax County,outside the nation’s capital,is overseeing the trial,which is expected to last until late May.
Less than two years ago,Depp lost a libel case againstThe Sun, a British tabloid that labelled him a “wife beater”. A London High Court judge ruled he had repeatedly assaulted Heard.
Depp’s lawyers have said they filed the US case in Fairfax County becauseThe Washington Post is printed there. The newspaper is not a defendant.
In April 2015,Depp failed to declare Boo and another Yorkshire terrier,Pistol,to customs authorities when he and Heard flew in to Queensland in his private jet to filmPirates of the Caribbean 5.
The following month,when then-agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce found out,he famously.
“It’s time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States,” Joyce said.
The couple complied and the dogs were returned to the US.
Reuters,Staff reporters
National Sexual Assault,Family&Domestic Violence Counselling Line:1800 737 732. Crisis support can be found at Lifeline:(13 11 14 and),the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467 and) and beyondblue (1300 22 4636 and).
Get a note directly from our foreigncorrespondentson what’s making headlines around the world..