Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard: 5 of the most shocking moments of the fierce legal battle between the actor and his ex-partner
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After six weeks of a bitter legal battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, the defamation trial in Virginia, United States, is in the final stage.
The lawyers for both parties have presented their final arguments and now the jury must announce its verdict, for which there is no specific date.
Depp, 58, is suing Heard, 36, for $50 million over an opinion piece the actress wrote on Washington Post in 2018, in which he presented himself as a public figure victim of domestic abuse, although he did not mention names.
The actor has denied the allegations.
Heard countersued Depp for $100 million after the actor’s attorney, Adam Waldman, called his allegations a hoax.
During the last court hearing, the lawyers of the interpreter of “Pirates of the Caribbean” indicated that what was published by Heard “ruined” his life.
Depp’s defense tried to undermine the credibility of the actress by saying that there were no medical records about the alleged abuse against her and, furthermore, that it was the actor who suffered violence during the time the relationship lasted.
“He experienced persistent verbal, physical and emotional violence from Heard,” attorney Camille Vasquez said.
Meanwhile, the lawyer of the protagonist of Aquaman He reminded the jury that there are text messages in which Depp explicitly says he wanted his ex-wife “dead.”
“This is a window into the heart and mind of America’s most beloved pirate,” said Benjamin Rottenborn, Heard’s attorney.
The verdict of the jury, made up of seven people, must be unanimous.
The group will decide on the demand of both actors.
Here we review the most impressive moments of this process in which some of the most lurid details of the relationship came to light and that captured the attention of the media from the beginning.
1. Alleged sexual assault
In early May, her voice cracking with tears, Heard described an act of sexual assault against her.
Heard told the jury that Depp inserted a bottle of liquor into her vagina.
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The alleged incident took place in March 2015 in Australia, when Depp was filming the fifth installment of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” saga.
“I was scared,” he said. “I had just married him.”
Depp offered a different account of that night. According to him, it was Heard who attacked himthrowing a bottle of vodka at him cut off the top of the finger middle of his right hand.
The actor said he entered shock and that he used the blood from his wound to write messages for Heard on the wall.
On another occasion, Heard claimed that Depp kicked her in the back in the middle of a flight because he was supposedly jealous that she was in the movie. The Aderall Diaries with actor James Franco.
2. Fecal matter in the bed
Depp testified that they met feces in partner’s bed in 2016.
One of his security guards said Heard told him it was “a horrible prank gone wrong.”
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Heard denied any involvement and suggested it might have been left behind by one of the couple’s dogs. In the actress’s version, the dog’s accident occurred after she and her friends left the house to attend the Coachella festival.
Depp argued that the fecal remains were too large to be from the little puppy. Remains that, from his point of view, were human.
As he said, it was a moment “so bizarre and grotesque, that I could only laugh.”
3. Fake photos
In the first cross-examination session, in mid-May, Camille Vasquez, Depp’s lawyer, presented a series of photos that were taken 24 hours after the alleged beatings that Depp gave his ex-wife.
Heard had testified that those beatings had left her with bruises, cuts and sometimes a swollen and possibly broken nose.
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However, in the photos that were projected during the trial, the actress does not appear to have consequences. Heard explained that she had applied ice packs and covered her face with makeup.
That same week the jury saw other photos produced by Heard herself that show her with reddish regions of her face after a last altercation that occurred in May 2016 before filing for divorce.
But Vasquez showed two different copies of the same photo and suggested that Heard had manipulated one of them.
“You edited these photos“, he declared. Heard denied it: “That is incorrect. I didn’t retouch them.”
4. “Let’s drown her before we burn her”
In late April, Depp took the stand to answer questions about a text exchange with British actor Paul Bettany, which took place in 2013 (when they were not yet married).
“let’s burn it downDepp had written. “Let’s drown her before we burn her.”
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The exchange of texts referred to in the trial took place in 2013 with actor Paul Bettany.
He then made another obscene suggestion “to make sure she’s dead.”
When asked about the messages, the actor said they were taken “directly” from a humorous scene from Monty Python about witches burned and drowned.
“This is a movie that we all saw when we were 10 years old, it is irreverent and abstract humor,” he explained.
Depp said he was “embarrassed” by the messages and that they were an attempt to humor the situation.
5. Kate Moss denies that Depp assaulted her when they were a couple
In brief testimony via video call, Moss, who was in a relationship with Depp between 1994 and 1998, said that he never pushed herbut once came to his aid after he fell down the stairs.
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His testimony contradicts the version of Heard, who had said that he had heard rumors that Depp once pushed Moss down the stairs.
“When I left the room, I slipped down the stairs and hurt my back,” Moss said. “And I screamed because I didn’t know what was wrong with me and it hurt.”
“He came running back to help me and took me to my room and got me medical attention,” she added.
Moss further claimed that Depp had never pushed or kicked her during their years together.
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