Johnny Depp's lawyers try to prove Amber Heard could be violent
Alcohol, drugs, broken glass ... The actor returned to his past in the context of the lawsuit he brought to the editors of the British newspaper The Sun for defamation. Johnny Depp's lawyers also tried to prove in court in London on Friday July 24 that his ex-wife Amber Heard could be violent.
Every day its revelations. The trial between Johnny Depp and News Group Newspapers (NGN), the publishing house of the British daily The Sun, opened on July 7 in London. The actor is suing NGN over an April 2018 tabloid article claiming he was beating his ex-wife, Amber Heard. Originally scheduled for March 23, the first hearing was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 57-year-old American and his ex-wife were present at the London court. Since then, Johnny Depp's lawyers have tried to prove through video extracts, received anonymously, that Amber Heard could be violent. They thus presented to the Court, on Friday July 24, the said images.
The video in question is an excerpt from the shooting of a reality TV show, dated 2006-2007. These images, received by Johnny Depp's lawyers the day before the hearing, would, according to them, support the thesis of a violent Amber Heard. In this sequence, Whitney Henriquez, the actress's sister, chats near a swimming pool with other participants. The latter questioned her about the marks she would display on her face and upper chest. The traces in question do not appear clearly on the images, of poor quality.
"Amber kicked your ass"
“I can't believe Amber kicked your ass,” says one of the contestants in the video. "Did you fight? She really kicked your ass, ”added another. Whitney Henriquez retorts that she doesn't want to talk about it. Asked about this sequence, Friday, July 24, the latter explained to the court that it was a "verbal" and not "physical" dispute. She also considered that the program in which she had participated was a "bad reality TV show".
She said the participants had no other goal than to spice up a conversation with utter flatness, to "create a story" by "looking for wounds that weren't there." "We do not see any mark," she said, repeating that her sister had indeed been the victim of "domestic violence". Rachel Pennington, Amber Heard's "best friend" when she was in a relationship with Johnny Depp, was also called to testify. She claimed to have seen the latter in December 2015, with torn hair, damaged lip and scalp injuries. She admitted, however, that she had never seen the actor be violent towards his friend.
"He threatened me many times"
In a new written testimony, reviewed on July 20, Amber Heard said she was afraid that her ex-husband would kill her during their altercations. She thus accused her former companion of having subjected her to verbal and physical assaults, threats and intimidation. According to her, Johnny Depp's alleged violent outbursts were "so serious that [she was] afraid that he would kill [her], whether intentionally or by losing control," by "going too far". "He explicitly threatened to kill me many times, especially at the end of our relationship," she explained in her written testimony. He's very good at manipulating people. " According to the actress, the latter would have placed the responsibility for his actions on that part of himself that he called "the monster". "He was talking about it like it was some other person or some other personality, and not him, doing all of these things," she said.
"I loved it"
Thursday, July 23, the actress appeared in court and assured that she had loved her ex-husband, and hoped until the end that he would get rid of his addiction to drugs and alcohol, reported the 'AFP. "I loved him and I didn't want to lose that (...), his other face was that of a monster, but I always kept the hope that he would detoxify himself", she declared. to Sun lawyer.
She also defended herself against wanting to use the case for media purposes: "What woman has ever benefited from being a victim of domestic violence?" As for Johnny Depp, he was for his part returned to the reasons for his divorce, as well as his turbulent past, in a long testimony given on the first day of the hearing.
"A narcissistic sociopath"
“I would never hit a woman, under any circumstance, at any time. This is an essential part of my moral code. I find that just inconceivable, and it would never happen. ” It was with these words, relayed by the Daily Mail that Johnny Depp spoke in court on day one, citing his southerner origins (he was born in Kentucky) and his attachment to "the chivalrous spirit." The reason he divorced Amber Heard was that Amber Heard was said to be a "narcissistic sociopath." And to specify that it is she who would have physically attacked him "on several occasions".
A line he also defends in the defamation lawsuit he filed against her in March, which continues in the United States: it was initially who accused him of domestic violence. Tuesday July 7, the actor also revealed, in a written note, a sordid element which would have definitely decided to divorce him: Amber Heard, "or perhaps one of his friends", would have defecated in their bed and claimed it was a joke.
A tumultuous marriage
On the first day of the hearing, the actor also returned to their meeting on the set of the film Rhum Express (2011). He said Amber Heard would have seduced him to boost his career. “She was beautiful, and seemed incredibly interested in me and my job, and I fell for it. (...) It was only later that I realized that she had a plan: to marry me to benefit her career, and / or to gain a financial advantage (...). For example, at the time, she kept telling me how much she admired my films; however, later she admitted to having seen none. "
Angry outbursts, insults, beatings, throwing dishes (Johnny Depp told how, in 2015, Amber Heard would have cut his finger while throwing a bottle of vodka at his head): to realize the severity of the abuse Mrs Heard has inflicted on me for so long. I couldn't believe we had come to this. I wondered what she could do to me again. "
As is often the case in proceedings between them, Amber Heard and Johnny Depp produced telephone transcripts of their conversations at the time (or even those they allegedly had with a third party). The actress says she kept them to remember "what Johnny could do when he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol. He didn't remember anything, and was denying what he had said. "
On July 9, however, Johnny Depp admitted to having "butted" Amber Heard. "An accident", according to the actor, who would have "collided" with his ex-wife while he was trying to "control" her during one of their many arguments, in December 2015. Photos of the swollen face of the actress were produced at the hearing, as well as a recording of a telephone conversation they had the next day. You could hear Johnny Depp say, "I gave you a head butt in your forehead." It didn't break your nose. ” A reaction to the words of Amber Heard, who said the opposite.
James Franco and a plane
On the second day of the trial, July 8, the actor was also ordered to explain himself on a private flight from Boston to Los Angeles, in 2014, during which he allegedly assaulted Amber Heard. During the flight, Johnny Depp allegedly consumed cocaine, champagne, pills and whiskey ... before attacking his wife, accusing her of having had an affair with actor James Franco: the latter was indeed in filming the movie Beyond Lies with him. Johnny Depp says he saw red after Amber Heard told him he had to repel James Franco's advances on set. A man she reportedly described as "scary and rapist-like" on the set of another film, Délire Express, released in 2008 (charges of sexual assault against James Franco will not be publicly disclosed by more women than in 2018, Editor's note).
Johnny Depp, however, denies having shouted at Amber Heard that she liked "to fuck herself on the sets" and that she was only an "opportunistic s *****" in front of the crew of the plane. "It was his imagination that played tricks on him," replied the actor to the Sun's lawyer, Me Sasha Wass. A recording was then played during the hearing, where we hear what could be his screams: "I was drunk before the flight but this behavior was not proven ... I was making drawings in a notebook. “, Clarified the interpreter of Jack Sparrow.
Kate Moss, a sofa and cupboards
Still questioned by the Sun's lawyer, Johnny Depp returned on July 7 to the darkest periods of his life. And especially in that hotel room ravaged in a fit of anger in New York in 1995, when he was in a relationship with Kate Moss. The actor, who was going through a difficult time, was having a particularly bad day. "Rather than attacking someone, I preferred to take it out on a sofa," argued the ex-companion of the top model, who also admitted having been "violent with closets" thereafter, during his relationship with Amber Heard.
The actor assures us, however, that he has no problem controlling himself: “Just because I was angry doesn't mean I have anger management issues. I was expressing the latter. " Before adding, later: "I also express myself with humor, and I don't have a problem with humor management as well."
Celebrity, drugs and alcohol
Johnny Depp was very clear about his drinking, remembering the days when he called his alter ego, who he was when he was drunk, a "monster". A period that ended in 2012, according to a letter sent to Elton John, produced during the hearing. "My dear Elton, 100 p ****** days of sobriety for an old c ** like me. No one believed it except a few, and the most important thing is you. " Before adding that he would have been "swallowed by the monster" without the help of the British singer.
The actor also looked back on his long history with narcotics. During the hearing, he made no secret of "trying all known drugs," starting with his mother's painkillers, when he was 11 years old. "I didn't live in a particularly stable or secure home, there were a lot of unpleasant things about the house." This is where it all would have started: “I remember my mother asking me to bring her nerve pills. When I was 11 I realized they could calm down, and I took one. It started because it was the only way to stop the pain. "
Excess, fame, dating deemed dubious: the Sun's lawyer has peeled Johnny Depp's past. She notably asked him about his friendship with singer Marilyn Manson, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards or writer Hunter S. Thompson. As well as the overdose of actor River Phoenix in 1993 while at the Viper Room in Los Angeles, a club owned by Johnny Depp. The actor simply said he witnessed it.
While he admitted that his experience with drugs was part of "his interest in anything to do with the counter-culture," Johnny Depp also stressed that feeling like you didn't deserve your fame brought out "the lee side. more mean and angry "of his personality. Without having a "destructive and violent" behavior.
Vanessa Paradis and the respite
The most murky period of her life would have ended with her meeting with Vanessa Paradis in 1998. “Ms. Paradis has never had a problem with my drinking. And when I was with her, for fourteen years, I didn't touch cocaine or marijuana. " With the exception of this time when he allegedly gave some of the latter to his daughter Lily-Rose Depp when she was 13 to make her feel "safe" with the drug: an example of "responsible parenthood." », According to the actor.
At the Depp-Paradis, only red wine was allowed. Until the end of their story, in 2012. “It was a very painful time, and I was probably trying to numb myself as much as possible,” recalls the father of 18-year-old Jack and Lily-Rose, 21 years old today. At the time, her family "was on the verge of falling apart," which made Vanessa Paradis "very sad." "I didn't like to make her sad, and I didn't like to make my children sad," he added. But according to him, no act of violence ever occurred during their years together.
New testimonials to come
While Vanessa Paradis did not show up at the hearing, she spoke in favor of Johnny Depp. And this was via a statement similar to that on the record of the trial which pitted the actor against Amber Heard, claiming that he was "kind, generous, a father and a non-violent person." Many other stars, as well as Winona Ryder, one of Johnny Depp's ex-companions, had also come to his aid. She reiterated her statements, "I honestly and truly consider him a good man, an incredibly loving, considerate guy who was so protective of me and the people he loves," the American actress said. I felt really, really safe with him. ”
