Amber Heard takes the stand for 2nd day in Johnny Depp defamation lawsuit

NOTE: This article contains details and descriptions that are graphic and disturbing. Please read at your own discretion.

Amber Heard returned to the stand Thursday, testifying in the ongoing defamation trial brought by her ex-husband, Johnny Depp.

Heard’s testimony began Thursday with three photos she took of Depp in 2013. At this point, she had been in a relationship with the actor for over a year.

In the first photo, Depp is seen asleep in a chair on his private island. Heard testified Depp had a “brief stint of sobriety”  before he began using drugs again, when the photo was taken.

A second photo of a sleeping Depp was shown to the jury after what Heard called a “several-day bender.” She said the actor was not eating or sleeping much at the time.

The third image depicted Depp laying on his face on the floor of his hotel room.

Heard later testified she asked Depp for a prenuptial agreement before they were married. She claimed he disagreed, telling her, “The only way out of this is death.”

She continued and told the jury about when she and Depp attended the Met Gala in 2014. Heard testified Depp accused her of flirting with a woman at the event. She said once they returned home, Depp grabbed her by the neck and threw a bottle at her, which missed and broke a chandelier.

She claimed Depp held her down and “whacked” her in the face. Heard told the jury she suspected she has a broken nose, as it was swollen, discoloured and red. (It is unclear if Heard’s nose was ever broken.)

When asked about filming the Adderall Diaries with James Franco, Heard claimed Depp “hated” Franco and accused her of “secretly having a thing” with the actor in the past.

Heard told the court Depp had problems with a sex scene she had with Franco in the film. She claimed Depp called her a “slut” and asked several vulgar questions about the scene and her body. Heard also claimed Depp slapped her face during the conversation.

When she attempted to leave the conversation, Heard testified Depp kicked her in the back. She claimed there were several witnesses to the kick, but no one offered to help her as she supposedly lay on the floor of the airplane.

Heard testified for the first time Wednesday, telling the court of multiple times she — and other people — allegedly suffered physical abuse at the hands of Depp.

She told the court of a time when Depp allegedly became convinced she was hiding his cocaine, and he violently groped at her and ripped off her underwear, before performing a “cavity search.”

She also recounted two separate times when she said Depp threatened to break the wrists of women he thought were hitting on her.

Most of the events shared with the court happened in 2012 and 2013, during the first year of the couple’s relationship and before they were married.

Heard also shared accounts of several different occasions when she claimed Depp either slapped or backhanded her, causing her to bleed from the mouth and nose, and the court was shown pictures of a large bruise on her arm, which she said she sustained when he grabbed her during a fight.

In the legal battle between the two stars, both Heard, 36, and Depp, 58, claim to be victims of violence. The initial court case began when Depp filed a US$50-million defamation lawsuit over a Washington Post op-ed penned by Heard in late 2018 about domestic abuse.

Heard did not mention Depp by name in the article, but the actor alleges his reputation and career were still “devastated” as a result.

As she took the stand Wednesday, Heard told the jury this trial process has been “incredibly painful” and “the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

On Tuesday, after Depp’s legal team finished questioning their witnesses, Heard’s lawyers asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that Depp had failed to make his case as a matter of law and that no reasonable jury could find in his favour.

Judge Penney Azcarate said the standard for dismissing a case at this point in the trial is exceedingly high, and that the case should be allowed to move forward if Depp has provided even a “scintilla” of evidence backing up his claims; she then dismissed the motion.

Heard is countersuing Depp for $100 million.

— with files from The Associated Press 

by Global News