Amber Heard’s former nurse testified about notes stating that she was was “jealous and anxious” of her then-partner Johnny Depp’s fame and his ability to meet women often during the couple’s defamation trial on Tuesday.
The defamation trial between Mr Depp and Ms Heard began on 11 April in Fairfax, Virginia following Mr Depp’s lawsuit against his ex-wife in March 2019. Mr Depp is arguing that she defamed him in a December 2018 op-ed published in The Washington Post titled “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change”.
Nurse Erin Falati was among the last witnesses called by Mr Depp’s team to testify via video played in court - with half of her testimony played on Tuesday evening and the rest on Wednesday morning. In the latter portion, Ms Falti was asked about notes she made in September 2014 which stated that Ms Heard experienced “difficulty with jealousy issues and anxiety around fiance’s fame and ability to interact with females often”.
In another note, Ms Falati wrote that Ms Heard grew “frustrated” during a dinner at a restaurant, adding that her “previous coping mechanisms” included “impulsive anger and yelling”.
In a third note, also from September 2014, Ms Falati wrote that at around 1am, Ms Heard was “irritable, loud and angry” and that she was “screaming at times and appears agitated”. This was following a hack of Ms Heard’s phone.
Ms Falati worked with both Ms Heard and Mr Depp. She testified that she first met Ms Heard in August of 2014.
Ms Falati’s notes said Ms Heard had reported “substance abuse including an addiction to cocaine and liquor” but that at that time, she had been off cocaine for a “couple of years”.
“Client admits to history of anxiety, eating disorder, attention deficit disorder, bipolar disorder, codependence issues and occasional insomnia,” Ms Falati’s notes state.
The notes also review Ms Heard’s feelings of “insecurity and jealousy” when she was away from Mr Depp. Ms Falati said this wasn’t a constant theme but that it could come up occasionally.
In May 2016, around the time when the couple split up, Ms Heard sent pictures of her face to Ms Falati.
In relation to the often-discussed March 2015 trip to Australia, during which Mr Depp says his finger was severed when Ms Heard threw a vodka bottle at him, Ms Falati said she couldn’t remember seeing any injuries to Ms Heard when she returned from Australia.
She added that she couldn’t recall Ms Heard seeking medical care from her at this point.
In her 2018 op-ed, Ms Heard wrote that “like many women, I had been harassed and sexually assaulted by the time I was of college age. But I kept quiet — I did not expect filing complaints to bring justice. And I didn’t see myself as a victim”.
“Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out,” she added at the time.
While Mr Depp isn’t named in the piece, his legal team argues that it contains a “clear implication that Mr Depp is a domestic abuser”, which they say is “categorically and demonstrably false”. Mr Depp is seeking damages of “not less than $50m”.
Ms Heard has filed a $100m counterclaim against Mr Depp for nuisance and immunity from his allegations.
