Inside Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s court battle
Details have emerged of the couple’s deeply destructive marriage
‘The star is battling to clear his name now’
Shocking details of the tumultuous relationship between former couple Johnny Depp and Amber Heard emerged last week, as part of a court hearing that’s expected to last for three weeks. The 57-year-old actor is suing The Sun for libel after Johnny was labelled a “wife beater” – and Amber, 34, who is yet to testify, will act as a witness for the defence.
During cross-examination from
News Group Newspapers (NGN)’S lawyer Sasha Wass, Johnny recounted stories of violent arguments between the couple, as well as extensive drug and alcohol abuse, and even alleged that Amber or one of her friends defecated in their bed.
Johnny met Amber in 2009 on the set of The Rum Diary, and the pair started dating in 2012, shortly after Johnny’s separation from Vanessa Paradis, the mother of his two children. The couple married in 2015, but Amber filed for divorce just over a year later – also obtaining a temporary restraining order – citing verbal and physical abuse. At the time, Johnny’s lawyers alleged she was, “Attempting to secure a premature financial resolution by alleging abuse”. A settlement was reached out of court in August 2016, and the couple released a joint statement saying, “[Their] relationship was intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love. Neither party has made false accusations for financial gain. There was never any intent of physical or emotional harm.” However, after a 2018 article in The Sun said Johnny was repeatedly violent throughout the marriage, the Pirates Of The Caribbean star is now battling to clear his name.
He alleges that Amber married him specifically to “progress her career and/or benefit financially”, adding, “She knew what she wanted, and I was an easy target.” He described the marriage as “miserable” and told the court he had resolved to divorce her after discovering faeces in their marital bed. He believes either Amber or one of her friends was responsible, and says the actress dismissed it as a “harmless prank”.
During the hearing, lawyer Wass described in vivid detail the claim that Amber had been subjected to a “three-day ordeal” in 2015, and that Johnny had “completely destroyed” the house the couple had been staying in
during a drug-fuelled rage. Johnny denied throwing his ex-wife against a ping pong table before pushing her up against a fridge, instead alleging that she had thrown two glass bottles at him – the second of which had severed his finger and “crushed the bones”. He said this led to “a nervous breakdown or something”, where he began to use his injured finger to write on the walls of the property in blood.
Johnny’s prolific drug use was repeatedly brought up, with the star admitting he’d tried “every drug known to man” by the age of 14, and that he’d binged on booze and drugs throughout his life. He also told the court that on a 2014 trip to his private island in the Bahamas, Amber withheld medication to help him detox, which left him “sobbing like a child”. She alleges he then “pushed” her, while Johnny argues he was in “no physical condition” to have pushed anyone.
In last week’s hearing, Wass also claimed Johnny had attacked his ex-wife on a plane after downing a cocktail of cocaine, pills, whiskey and Champagne, and had accused her of having an affair with actor James Franco. He denied the claims, commenting, “That’s quite a stretch of her imagination.”
The actor’s team had tried to have Amber excluded from attending court, as they argued that her evidence would be less reliable after she had been able to listen to Johnny’s testimony. However, their attempt failed and she has been present every day to watch her ex-husband on the stand. Two of Johnny’s former partners – Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder – will also give evidence via video link. Both have previously stated that the actor was “never” violent or abusive towards them, and they will appear in court to vouch for his character. ■