Actor Johnny Depp’s lawyers on Wednesday tried to disprove a claim made by his ex-wife, Amber Heard, that he threw a mobile phone at her in May 2016 and hit her in the face..
The testimony by Isaac Barouk, an old friend of Depp, comes on the second day of a defamation trial that the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star brought against Heard..
Depp, 58, filed a defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife after the latter described herself in a 2018 article for the Washington Post as a “victim of domestic violence.”
The actress did not mention the name of Johnny Depp, whom she met in 2009 on the set of “The Ram Diary.” The actor sued, seeking $50 million in damages.
Heard, whose marriage to Depp lasted for two years (from 2015 to 2017), counterattacked, and in turn filed a defamation lawsuit against him, demanding $100 million in damages, claiming that she had been subjected to “physical violence and abuse” on his part..
Heard claimed that Depp hit her in the face with a mobile phone on the evening of May 21, 2016 during an argument. The police were called at the time, but Heard did not file a report.
Two days later, Heard filed for divorce and sought a warrant for Depp’s arrest on May 25, showing signs of beatings on her face when she appeared in court in Los Angeles..
In his testimony, Barouk, who lived in the same building with Depp and Heard, said he saw Heard in the entrance to the building one day after the alleged phone hit..
Barouk, who has been a friend of Depp since 1980 and the actor has been paying his rent and some of his expenses, said he asked Heard if Depp hit her, adding: “She said yes, he threw a phone and hit me.” He said he saw her face.
He continued, “I looked at her forehead, the sides of her eyes, her cheek, her chin, and the other side of her face and I didn’t see anything. I didn’t notice any wound, bruise, swelling or redness.”
He indicated that he “hug her and kissed her” on the side of her face, which she claimed had been beaten..
Barouk said that he learned several days later that Heard had asked for a divorce from Depp, noting that he had seen a picture of her in the news showing a beating mark on her cheek..
He explained that Depp – according to his knowledge – is not violent, and that he did not witness any physical violence that occurred between the spouses..
Heard’s lawyers told the jury on Tuesday that Depp had physically and sexually abused Heard with drugs and alcohol, which they described as turning him into a “monster.”
Depp filed a defamation lawsuit against Heard in the United States, after he lost another similar case in London in November 2020, which was filed against The Sun newspaper, which published an article in which it described him as a violent husband..