Amber threw punch at me, claims Depp
JOHNNY Depp told yesterday how his ex-wife Amber Heard threw what he called a wild “haymaker” punch at him.
And he suggested her allegations of domestic violence “mirrored” what he claimed was her abuse towards him.
The Pirates Of The Caribbean star told the High Court that “it seemed like everything she would accuse me of was something she had done to me”.
Depp, 57, accused Ms Heard, 34, of throwing the punch at him during a row after her 30th birthday party.
It was hours after he had learned during a “bad” business meeting that he had lost more than £500million.
The Hollywood actor made the claims during his fifth and final day of evidence in his libel action against News Group Newspapers for an article which labelled him a “wife beater”.
Injuries
David Sherborne, for Depp, referred to a recording of the pair discussing matters in San Francisco in July 2016, after they had split and Miss Heard had obtained a restraining order against the actor.
He said Miss Heard said it was “unbelievable to imagine” that she had been “in a secret fight club”.
Depp said he had no idea what that referred to as he had never heard the term. “It was almost as if it was a reverse confession, if you will,” he added.
“It seemed like everything she would accuse me of was something that she had done to me, so I started to see this kind of pattern, a mirroring, and when she said that, I was real taken aback, for sure.”
The court heard that in a recording of the couple Depp can be heard to say “you ******* haymakered me, man”. The actor also says to Ms Heard that “you came around the bed to ******* start punching on me”, the court was told. Depp said a haymaker punch was “a bit of a wild swing, but effective if it reaches the target”.
Mr Sherborne asked Depp about the row after Miss Heard’s birthday party at the couple’s Los Angeles penthouse in April 2016. He is accused of throwing a bottle of champagne at her , grabbing her by the hair, and pushing her during a row after he arrived home late for the party. Depp previously told the court he went straight to bed and was reading. Depp’s accountant, Edward White, appeared over a video link from the US. He said that at the meeting Depp did not seem “physically impaired by alcohol or any other substance”. Depp had just
discovered that his former business managers had taken “quite a lot of my money,” the court heard.
He had lost $650million from Pirates Of The Caribbean 2 and 3, but also $100million (£80million) because they had not paid taxes for 17 years.
The court was also shown a photo taken by Heard of him holding a melting ice cream.
The image, taken in 2014, was to show him how “pathetic” he had become, it was alleged.
But Depp said: “I was preparing to go to the Bahamas to detox from the opiates and I had been working 17 hours a day prior to that.
“I was obviously on the nod and very tired, falling asleep, and the ice cream then spilled all over my leg.”
Stephen Deuters, European president of the actor’s production company, said he never saw Miss Heard with injuries and claimed she subjected Depp to “years of abuse”.
Accountant Mr White confirmed that Ms Heard received $7million from the divorce.
The case continues.