Actor Johnny Depp, while fighting a libel case against British tabloid The Sun, said that former wife Amber Heard physically assaulted him. Depp also shared an image from the time to prove the claim.
Depp is currently suing the tabloid for a report with a headline ‘Potty – How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife-beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?’
57-year-old Depp has been denying that he assaulted her during the time they were married. “These sick claims are totally untrue,” Johnny Depp said in a written witness statement, an AP report reads. The statement further adds that Amber Heard’s allegations hurt his career and had “been a constant issue in my casting”.
The estranged couple, who met on the sets of the 2011 comedy The Rum Diary, is now bitterly accusing one another of abuse.
The libel case is being held at the London High Court, where both Depp and Heard arrived wearing face coverings over their noses. The trial is sure to put the complex lives of the former spouses under a microscope.
Heard has accused Depp of 14 instances of violence by Depp between 2013 and 2016 in various locations Los Angeles, Australia, Japan and the Bahamas
Depp has retaliated by saying that the actress-model has attacked him with items including a drink can and a cigarette and even a bottle of vodka, which caused the tip of his finger to be severed. Depp has also shared with the court, an image of his wounded finger.
In another statement, Depp said that Heard punched him several times on the face. In a written statement, Depp alleged that Heard was “a calculating, diagnosed borderline personality; she is sociopathic; she is a narcissist; she is completely emotionally dishonest”.
Heard alleges that Depp was prone to drink- and drug-fuelled violent rages.
Cross-examination of Depp about his drug abuse, lifestyle and attitude towards woman was done by The Sun’s lawyer, Sasha Wass.
Depp, during the trial, said that he had struggled with fame, saying it meant he was “forced to live the life of a fugitive” with no anonymity. He also acknowledged in court use of various drugs including marijuana, cocaine, LSD, ecstasy, magic mushrooms and prescription painkillers.
