Johnny Depp set out on a complicated legal path when he sued Amber Heard for defamation. The lawsuit opposing him and Heard in Fairfax, Virginia, which has unfolded over the course of the past four weeks, centres around an op-ed Heard wrote in 2018 for The Washington Post. Heard doesn’t name Depp in the piece but describes herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse”. Depp and his legal team have contended that the op-ed rests “on the central premise that Ms Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her”, which they say is “categorically and demonstrably false”.
Depp has taken the witness stand in the case, as has Heard. Her testimony is expected to pick up again when the trial, currently on a one-week hiatus, resumes on Monday (16 May). Testimony has focused on the alleged facts of Heard and Depp’s marriage, with Depp and Heard sharing their respective sides. One incident in Australia has been a repeated point of discussion. Depp has alleged that Heard severed his finger that night, while she has alleged that he sexually assaulted her with a bottle then cut his finger at a different moment during which she was not awake.
