Her union was "collapsing," she said in court. "I knew I had to go. I knew she wouldn't survive if she didn't"
Amber Heard decided to divorce Johnny Depp in May 2016 because violence had become "normal" for him and made him fear for his life, she said Monday during the defamation trial initiated by her ex-husband and that was resumed after a break week.
The 36-year-old actress evoked several violent episodes before the court in Fairfax, Virginia, including a crisis of jealousy during a stay in France. According to Heard, Depp couldn't stand that he had shot a s-x scene in a movie and didn't believe her when she told him a stunt double had been used for the scene.
After one last violent argument in May 2016, during which the actor reportedly threw a phone in her face, she finally decided to file for divorce after a year of marriage, she said.
Her union was "collapsing," she said in court. "I knew I had to go. I knew I wouldn't survive if I didn't."
"I was so scared that it would end badly for me and I didn't really want to leave him, I loved him so much," she added on the verge of tears.
But "the monster was that thing that was now normal and not the exception. Violence was now normal," she explained, evoking the two faces of her ex-husband, who became aggressive under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
Her lawyers showed photos in which she appeared to have the right part of her face numb from the blow of the phone.
On May 27, 2016, she sued her then-husband for domestic violence and sought a restraining order against her to "change the locks" on her apartment so she could "sleep well."
"She was losing her hair, she was losing weight, she was very sick, she had herpes, she couldn't sleep, she woke up at night in the middle of panic attacks," she said.
