Johnny Depp speaks in the lawsuit against Amber Heard: ‘I’ve never hit a woman’

Ex-husbands Amber Heard and Johnny Depp meet in court for the second time in two years. This time in a lawsuit that Depp brought against Heard for defamation. The actor spoke for the first time on Tuesday.

–

“The truth is all I’m interested in. I am obsessed with the truth,” Depp began his testimony in Fairfax County, Virginia. The process takes place there because the web servers of The Washington Post are located there. After all, Depp accuses Heard of libel in response to an opinion piece she wrote for the newspaper in 2018. In it, Heard – without naming Depp – described how she was a victim of domestic violence.

Although he is a “very private person” and he has to “expose himself” in court, Depp says he is not ashamed. “Because I know this is the only right way.”

The actor then described his troubled relationship with his mother. “She could be very cruel and violent,” and “constantly” used him physically. For example, she threw ashtrays or hit him with a belt, the telephone or her heels. He learned from his difficult childhood that he would never become violent. “I knew exactly how to raise children,” Depp said. ‘When Vanessa (Paradis, his ex-wife, ed.) pregnant, I knew perfectly what to do: I would never yell at them. I would do the exact opposite of what I had experienced myself.’

• Johnny Depp First Charged With Sexual Abuse In Lawsuit Against Amber Heard

‘I took off my shoes. Then she started yelling at me’

Then Depp spoke for the first time about Heard, whom he met on the set of The rum diary† First, he outlined how she initially ‘seemed too good to be true’ – smart, sweet, funny, understanding – and how caring she was for him: ‘After every work day, she took off my shoes and gave me a glass of wine. ‘ But according to Depp, Heard got mad at him one night for that very reason. ‘After a long day I had taken off my shoes myself. Then she started yelling at me. She said that was her job. She was angry because I had broken our daily routine.’ Heard became a completely different woman after a year and a half, according to Depp.

“Things started to change – or rather, things started to surface.” Their relationship deteriorated noticeably, but Depp denies that he ever used violence himself. “There were fights and stuff, but I never hit Mrs. Heard. I’ve never hit a woman in my life. But her accusations were heard and read all over the film business, on social media … They soon spread worldwide. I knew—and still do—that there was not a shred of truth in it. I couldn’t help but stand up for myself and for my children. It’s very strange if one day you’re Cinderella, so to speak, and then in 0.6 seconds you’re Quasimodo: overnight I became someone completely different. And I didn’t deserve it.’

Drug use

Depp said it was a “complete shock” when Heard made her “horrific and disturbing” allegations. He did admit that he started taking his mother’s “nerve pills” as an 11-year-old and had tried “all the drugs he knew” by the age of 15. Over the years he took all kinds of drugs “to anesthetize myself against the ghosts and ghosts of my youth” and his traumas. After being injured on the set of the fourth Pirates of the Caribbeanmovie he became addicted to opioids, but he got off of them.

Heard allegedly “exaggerated” his drug use. “A lot of it is just a lie. I guess I was just an easy target for her. If you have trusted someone for a number of years, and you have told them all your secrets, then of course that information can be used against you.’ Depp says he has never lost his self-control and denies that he is a “maniac who always has to be high.” “When I was with Mrs. Heard and her friends and we all drank wine and I smoked marijuana, they used to tease me about my ‘ridiculously high tolerance limit’ because I never seemed to get high. Even if I was feeling a little giddy, no one would ever have known.’

The actor apologized for the text messages full of vulgar language he sent to Heard and which were shown in court. In it he described how he would take revenge. “I tend to be quite expressive in my writing.” According to Depp, the messages were written in the heat of the storm and the pain, and he is now ashamed of some of the references and the dark tone. ‘Sometimes pain has to be dealt with with humor, and sometimes with dark, very dark humor.’

$50 million damage claim

Depp is claiming $50 million in damages, because he says he missed several roles after the publication of the opinion piece and suffered financial loss as a result. Heard has filed a counterclaim. She is claiming $100 million in damages for defamation. On Wednesday, Depp would continue his testimony in court.

Two years ago, Depp lost a lawsuit in Britain against the newspaper The Sun† He had it in 2018 ‘wife beater’called a woman swatter.

–