[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Johnny Depp once again took the stand on Wednesday in his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard, and boy did it get graphic.
As we reported, the Pirates of the Caribbean star began his testimony on Tuesday, denying that he had ever hit the Aquaman star or any other woman. As his testimony under direct examination (that’s being questioned by his attorneys) continued the next day, Depp once again stressed that he never responded to Amber with violence, telling the Fairfax, Virginia courtroom:
“Violence is unnecessary. Why would you hit someone to make them agree with you? I don’t think it works.”
Picking up where he left off, the Oscar nominee detailed his and Amber’s former dynamic when they were a couple and living together. At that point, Johnny made a shocking claim: that Heard would allegedly threaten to kill herself when he tried to flee from their fights!
Related: Jana Kramer Hashes It Out With Her Ex-Husband!!
The 58-year-old insisted that Amber was the one who would instigate and drag out the nasty blowouts they often got into (which he tape-recorded), claiming that Heard would demean him, call him a terrible father, and sometimes grow violent — shoving, slapping, or throwing a TV remote at his head.
The actor alleged that Heard would also lampoon him about his substance use — conflicts he said would only prompt him to use more. He shared:
“The constant haranguing breaks you down. I was more inspired by Ms. Heard to reach out for a numbing agent because of the constant clashes.”
He said about the non-stop fights that Amber would “verbally decimate me or send me into a tailspin or depression.” He described it as a “rapid-fire sort of endless parades of insults.” It reminded him, he said, of the abusive relationship he had with his mother, in which he “wasn’t allowed to be right or allowed to have a voice.”
Johnny said he would often flee from these toxic situations, telling jurors:
“She has a need for conflict. She has a need for violence. It erupts out of nowhere. The only thing I learned to do is exactly what I did as a child — retreat.”
He described locking himself in his own bathroom to get away from Amber, sometimes getting a hotel room away from their apartment. An incident of this kind was actually described in one of those leaked audio tapes a couple years back; in a recording of one of the couple’s arguments, Johnny can be heard describing hiding in the bathroom, saying:
“I opened the bathroom door when you were knocking on it. After a few times I opened and you know, you just kept coming, you just kept going, you just kept going, kept going.”
That certainly seems to fit with what he said on Wednesday.
But the violence Johnny was most worried about was not directed at him — but at herself!
Asked why he didn’t leave the relationship if he was being “bullied” as he described, Johnny alleged that when he tried to leave it would send Amber spiraling and threatening to harm herself. He claimed the actress desperately tried to stop him from walking out, alleging she’d get security involved to stop him at the elevator. He went on to claim that she’d make what he perceived to be suicidal remarks, like, “I can’t live without you, I’m going to die.” This, too, was something he said was reminiscent of his mother, who attempted suicide after his father left. He testified:
“Ms. Heard had spoken about suicide on a couple of occasions, so that was also a factor.”
And so he stayed. He told the court:
“I stayed because I didn’t want to fail. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. Especially Miss Heard. I didn’t want to break her heart.”
Abuse wasn’t the only thing Amber has accused Johnny of which he is now flipping the script on. She has spoken quite a bit about his substance abuse, as well. But he says she was using just as much. He testified she would drink excessively and do illicit drugs around him — even during periods when he was trying to get sober. The actor alleged Amber could, and would, knock back two bottles of wine a night with ease, adding that he’s seen her take MDMA, mushrooms, and “high velocity” speed throughout their relationship. When he asked her to try sobriety with him, if only to help him with it, she refused, telling him:
“I don’t have a problem.”
The actor also began to recount the specific incidents when Heard alleged he abused her. He testified about the private flight from Boston to LA in May 2014, on which Heard alleged he kicked and slapped her. Depp denied those claims, saying he instead fled to the bathroom because she was “ready for a brawl.”
As for his alleged drunkenness, he wanted to clarify that “blacking out” from alcohol and from medication were “two different animals.” This wasn’t a situation, he explained, where a drunk person could continue to stand and fight but forget what they did later; on his meds he simply was unable and just passed out.
He then testified about the infamous finger-slicing incident. In March 2015, the actor flew to Australia to film the fifth Pirates movie. This was right after the pair tied the knot, so there were conversations about a post-nuptial agreement.
According to Depp, Heard became furious, and he tried to get away from her, locking himself in a series of bedrooms and bathrooms. At one point, he said he tossed back a shot of vodka, and Heard hurled the bottle at him, severing the tip of his middle finger.
WATCH: #JohnnyDepp demonstrates how #AmberHeard allegedly threw two bottles at him, causing the tip of his finger to be severed. @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/0PtN0EOtGk
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) April 20, 2022
He remembered:
“I was looking directly at my bones sticking out. Blood was just pouring out.”
He said he went into a closet and experienced a bit of a nervous breakdown. He admitted that it was true he started writing on the walls in his blood. He says he remembers writing “little reminders from our past that essentially represented lies that she had told me — lies that I had caught her in.”
Depp shows jury his injured finger. He says he has no feeling in the upper part of his right, middle finger.
After Heard threw the bottle and severed his finger, Depp said Heard was yelling, "high-pitched constant attack of insults"#JohnnyDepp v #AmberHeard @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/zgaAYImJf6— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 20, 2022
Johnny said he was taken to the emergency room and his finger was later surgically reconstructed. He admitted he initially lied about the injury, telling medical professionals he had smashed the finger in an accordion-style door.
Heard has denied injuring Depp’s finger, and has alleged he likely cut it himself when he smashed a telephone. She’s accused Johnny of repeatedly beating her, kicking her, and choking her over the course of their relationship.
The actress will take the stand later on in the trial, which is expected to wrap up by the end of May.
How do U think this trial is unfolding so far?
[Image via Law and Crime Network/YouTube]
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