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Amber Heard testifies in court on May 5
Actress Amber Heard has accused her ex-husband Johnny Depp of repeatedly hitting her, noting that he hit her during a flight in 2014 for assuming she was having an affair with actor James Franco.
During her testimony in court, which has been hearing the case for weeks, Heard claimed that Depp’s violent approach to her began in 2012.
Deeb launched the lawsuit against his ex-wife, after she wrote an article describing herself as a victim of domestic violence.
But Depp denied in his court testimony that he had done anything wrong.
“I struggle to find the words to describe how painful it is,” Heard said. “It’s horrible, sitting here for weeks and remembering everything.”
During her several-hour testimony in Virginia, Heard, 36, told the court how she first met Depp while filming a movie in Puerto Rico.
“I fell in love with him during the publicity tours for the movie, which began showing in 2011,” she said.
Heard also recounted the exchange of wedding vows in Depp’s mother’s living room, followed by a party on his private island.
“It was complicated, but he was the love of my life,” she said of her desire to marry him.
She added that she was overjoyed during the first period of their marriage, but she was surprised by his embarrassing comments starting in 2012, the year he started beating her, according to her claim.
picture released, Getty Images
Heard claimed in court on Thursday that much of her ex-husband’s anger was because he thought she was meeting James Franco, whom she said Depp “hates”.
Franco starred alongside Heard in the films Pineapple Express and The Adderall Diaries.
She alleged that jealousy prompted Depp to repeatedly interrogate her on a flight from Boston to Los Angeles, where he allegedly kicked her.
“He kicked me in the back. I fell to the ground. Nobody said anything. Nobody did anything. It’s as if there was a complete silence on that plane,” she said.
The court also heard a recording, purportedly of Depp, during the flight, which Heard said showed Depp’s voice while he was suffering from the effects of drug use.
After the incident, Heard said he met her in New York to apologize and to confirm he had given up drugs and was committed to change.
During her testimony, Depp could sometimes be seen closing his eyes or wearing sunglasses. Once, he quietly shook his head.
Heard claimed she got into a fight with Depp after an argument about his daughter, Lily-Rose, who was 14 at the time.
During her emotional testimony, Heard said she once laughed when she saw that Depp had tattooed the word “winno” on his arm, a modified tattoo from another that Depp had used during his previous marriage to actress Winona Ryder.
“I laughed because I thought it was a joke, but he slapped me in the face,” she said.
And she added, “I started to look in amazement, while a laugh of some kind appeared on his face, and I thought he would laugh too, and tell me it was a joke, but he didn’t, but rather slapped me again, which I will not forget.”
For his part, Deeb denied this incident completely, and said during his testimony about two weeks ago, that this claim, “is not logical at all.”
During her testimony, Heard tried to portray Depp as being friendly, but he is quick to anger, and sometimes assumes infidelity, when under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
“It starts with accusations, after accusations, before it explodes,” she said, noting that he slapped her and then “twisted her arm behind her back” after that, before leaving the house.
And she continued, “He came back very calm and nice, apologizing deeply, and being good again.”
Heard said Depp self-examined her after an argument during a party in the California desert that involved drug use.
She mentioned that before she wore dresses to the red carpet occasions, she first checked that there were no bruises on her body.
Earlier in the trial, Depp said he did not hit Heard or any woman. He said Heard often mistreated him and had “a desire to create problems and conflict”.
Deeb filed a lawsuit demanding $50 million in compensation, against the background of an article written by his ex-wife in 2018 in which she described herself as a victim of domestic violence. Deeb has denied any wrongdoing against her.
Heard responded by filing a counterclaim, seeking $100 million in damages.