They haven’t finished tearing themselves apart. Former spouses Johnny Depp and Amber Heard accuse each other of defamation in a trial that is expected to last several weeks.
Tuesday, April 12, the lawyers of Amber Heard attacked hard for this first day of trial, broadcast live on television, and which takes place in Fairfax, near Washington. They notably described Johnny Depp as having outbursts of “anger” regularly leading to physical and sexual violence. They even evoke a husband who can turn into a “monster” under the influence of drugs and alcohol, making his young companion live through hell.
At the origin of this legal battle in which the two former accuse each other of defamation, a column published in the washington post Four years ago. The actress then explained to be “victim of domestic violence” and felt bullied by society, having denounced this violence two years earlier.
A “demon” transformed by drugs and alcohol
Amber Heard’s defense therefore chose the attack for this first day of hearing. Referring to cocktails of drugs, alcohol, ecstasy, magic mushrooms and cocaine, lawyer Elaine Bredehoft said “the monster (…) appeared when he drank or took drugs”, according to comments reported by the Huffingtonpost.
She describes a man with “a huge anger” in him which transformed him into a real “demon” who “verbally, psychologically, physically and sexually assaulted” his companion. To support her point, she also recounted in detail several scenes of violence that allegedly took place in March 2015 in Australia.
Two complaints for defamation
Never, in her column published in 2018, the 35-year-old actress never mentioned the name of Johnny Depp, but she mentioned the accusations of domestic violence brought against her husband in 2016. She had finally given up her accusations during her 2017 divorce, in exchange for a check for $7 million.
The 58-year-old actor, who has always denied the violence against his ex-wife, felt targeted in the columns of the newspaper, and immediately filed a complaint for defamation, claiming in passing the tidy sum of 50 million dollars from damages and interests. In return, Amber Heard also filed a complaint for the same reasons, claiming 100 million dollars.
A young woman “always in confrontation”
Benjamin Chew, Johnny Depp’s lawyer, accuses the young woman of wanting revenge after the divorce. Two years later, she “chose to remind the world of these venomous allegations in a globally recognized journal,” he added.
Johnny Depp’s sister Christi Dembrowski also testified, describing Amber Heard as “always confrontational”, “very exaggerating” her husband’s addiction issues and regularly calling him “old fat”.
The trial is expected to last several more weeks, and many personalities will be called to the bar as witnesses. Among which we find James Franco, Paul Bettany but also Elon Musk, who had gone out with the actress after her divorce. It promises.
