THE DEPPS OF DEPRAVITY
LURID STORIES FROM INSIDE STARS’ STORMY RELATIONSHIP AND BRIEF MARRIAGE SUGGEST COURT BATTLE CAN HAVE NO WINNER
AS the world watches t hes in horror the ongoing death and destruction in Ukraine, there is another battlefield on which war is raging.
But whereas in Kyiv, innocent lives are being lost, both opponents are guilty of initiating their own demise in this bloody conflict.
When it comes to mutually assured destruction, there can be no greater example than Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard.
After a stormy shortlived marriage, the former couple has become embroiled in years of acrimony and legal drama that has spanned three continents.
Now, in a Fairfax County courthouse in the US, the latest unedifying chapter of the pair’s life together is not so much unravelling as exploding.
Depp is suing his ex-wife for more than £38m, saying her domestic abuse claims against him have ruined his career and reputation.
The actress, 35, has filed a countersuit against the actor, 58, seeking almost £78m in damages and saying his legal team falsely accused a her of fabricating claims against him.
The case has become like the War of Roses movie but on steroids – or class A drugs in this pair’s case.
If ever there was an example of how fame and fortune can infantilise two grown people, this is it.
It seems each of them desperately needs to have the last word in public.
The interactions between them are on a whole different level, and include some of the vilest comments ever played out in a courtroom.
Bizarrely, the pair would record each other in secret. Who does that?
They include, at one point, Depp telling a friend he wished his wife was found dead in the boot of a Honda Civic and that he would have sex with her decomposing body. Meanwhile, the Pirates of the Caribbean star has alleged that Heard flew into fits of violence, once slicing off the top of his finger after throwing a vodka bottle at him.
He also alleged she used nail polish to pretend he broke her nose and repeatedly left him with cuts and bruises.
The actress is heard in one recording admitting she hit Depp, and photographs have been offered to support his claims that she was physically abusive.
Over four days of testimony on the stand, which ended this week, Depp delivered his version of their life together in a soft and often halting voice, as his ex-wife looked on with a stony demeanour.
He depicted himself as a confused, melancholy, peaceful soul who somehow stumbled into global fame and fortune, bringing with it demons of drink and drugs.
Not once did he hide that he was an utter train wreck of a human being.
Even the couples’ therapist, Laurel Anderson, has described in the court the couple’s dynamic as “mutual abuse”.
How humiliating to have your therapist testify to the world what awful spouses you were?
When Heard takes the stand, we are almost guaranteed an equally dramatic performance providing her versions of events that will likely differ wildly from Depp’s.
With the Oscars so bereft of outstanding acting performances in recent years, this pair would clean up if their televised courtroom drama was entered for best movie.
After all, it has all the makings of a Hollywood hit except for one thing – the absence of a single redeeming character.
Not once did he [Depp] hide that he was an utter train wreck of a human being.