NO ‘MR. SLICE GUY’
Surgeon doubtful of Depp cut tale vs. Heard
Jurors in Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s bombshell defamation trial were shown graphic photos of the “Edward Scissorhands” actor’s bloody finger — which allegedly contradicted his claims of how he received the injury.
Dr. Richard Moore, an orthopedic surgeon, testified in the ongoing Fairfax, Va., civil case that the images don’t “line up” with Depp’s claim he was injured when Heard threw a vodka bottle at him during a blowout March 2015 fight in Australia.
“The wound doesn’t really appear to be a sharp glass laceration,” Moore told the jury, discussing the gory photos.
Depp, 58, previously described the alleged 2015 brawl, telling the jury his digit was cut when Heard hurled the bottle his way, requiring him to get surgery.
“I was looking at my bones sticking out,” he said.
But Heard, 36, countered the claim in her testimony, saying Depp possibly injured himself when he drunkenly smashed a wall-mounted phone to “smithereens.” It was during this fight that she alleged Depp sexually assaulted her with a liquor bottle.
After reviewing Depp’s medical records and the images of his finger, Moore testified that no shards of glass were found embedded in the actor’s maimed digit.
Several X-rays of Depp’s finger were shown to the jury, displaying crushed bones in his finger.
The photographic evidence was inconsistent with a “glass explosion” caused by a bottle being lobbed at the hand, and the wound was most likely a “crush injury,” the doc testified.
Depp is suing his ex-wife for $50 million over a 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post calling herself “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” The essay did not name Depp — who denies the allegations of abuse — but he claims it defamed
him and hurt his career.
H’wood p.r. woes
A former Hollywood producer, however, testified Monday that Depp’s career was already in freefall due to his alleged drug and alcohol abuse and unprofessional on-set behavior.
Kathryn Arnold, an entertainment industry consultant, was asked by Heard attorney Elaine Bredehoft about what contributed to Depp’s “career downturn.”
“Well, we’ve talked about the erratic behavior, the tardiness, the drugs and alcohol abuse,” said Arnold. “And the lawsuits have had a really big impact . . . because there’s a lot of publicity around anything that he does.”
Every time Depp has filed a lawsuit, it has “brought to light various issues,” she testified. “Whether it was about, you know, erratic behavior or domestic abuse or drugs and alcohol and even spending habits.
“So every time a lawsuit has been filed,” she added, “it’s been an unfortunate problem . . . for the industry to continue to work with him.”
Arnold also testified about the core of Heard’s $100 million countersuit accusing Depp and his lawyer Adam Waldman of defaming her by claiming her abuse allegations were a “hoax.”
She said that while 2018’s “Aquaman” should have put Heard on a path to stardom, the actress’s career prospects tanked instead.
Closing arguments in the trial, now in its sixth week, are set for Friday.