Evidence of Amber ‘assaulting sister’ shown in libel trial
A BOMBSHELL video which Johnny Depp’s lawyers say shows Amber Heard “assaulting” her sister was played to the High Court as the Hollywood’s star’s blockbuster libel case against The Sun entered its final stages.
Ms Heard’s sister Whitney Henriquez was questioned on Friday over a video Mr Depp’s lawyers said was sent by an “anonymous source” on Thursday night, after Ms Henriquez gave evidence that her sister had never attacked her.
In a dramatic development on day 14 of the trial, the Hollywood star’s legal team claimed the video demonstrates Ms Henriquez was “lying” in her evidence and had “tailored” her testimony “to meet her sister’s evidence”.
The footage shows Ms Henriquez during the filming of a reality TV show, poolside with friends, with one person heard to say “did you get in a fight?” and then “I can’t believe Amber beat your ass”.
A woman then appears to inspect Ms Henriquez’ cheek and arm, as Ms Henriquez repeatedly says she is not going to talk about it.
Mr Depp’s barrister, David Sherborne, said the clip, which was not for broadcast, was filmed in 2006 or 2007.
Mr Sherborne said the credibility of Ms Henriquez — who claims to have witnessed Mr Depp (57) punching Ms Heard (34) “really hard in the head ... multiple times” in March 2015 — is “critical”.
Ms Henriquez again took to the stand and was reminded that when giving evidence on Thursday that she had “only seen your sister hit Mr Depp once ... in self-defence, and that your sister had never been violent or hit you”.
The barrister played the video to Ms Henriquez and said: “What you were being asked by the ladies on that clip was about a fight between you and your sister, wasn’t it?”
Ms Henriquez said they were referring to a verbal argument and said her friends “trying to make a storyline, albeit a bad one, interesting, nothing more” and denied lying in her evidence.
The court also heard evidence from Ms Heard’s friend io Tillett Wright, who said in his witness statement that Mr Depp joked about punching Ms Heard in the face after their wedding ceremony in the Bahamas.
Mr Tillett Wright said in his statement: “The first thing Johnny said to me after the ceremony, as we walked to the reception, was ‘now I can punch her in the face and no-one can do anything about it’.
“He probably intended it as a joke, but it is only a joke if it’s not real — and by then I knew he was hitting her.”
Mr Depp is suing The Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor Dan Wootton, over an April 27, 2018 article with the headline: “Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”
His lawyers say the article bore the meaning there was “overwhelming evidence” Mr Depp assaulted Ms Heard on a number of occasions and left her “in fear for her life”.
NGN is defending the article as true, and says Mr Depp was “controlling and verbally and physically abusive towards Ms Heard”. The case, the biggest English libel trial of the 21st century, is due to finish next week.