Johnny Depp accused ex-wife Amber Heard of repeatedly belittling him and often turning violent during their marriage as he testified for the second day in a row at his defamation trial against the actress.
Depp asserted Wednesday in the Fairfax, Virginia, courtroom that Heard’s “demeaning comments” and name-calling would quickly “escalate into a full-scale argument.”
“It was sort of a rapid fire, sort of endless parade of insults,” Depp said. “You know, looking at me like I was a fool, and I was having difficulty in my mind, of course, and in my heart dealing with that sort of barrage.”
The actor said Heard “was unable to be wrong” during their disagreements, which left him feeling like he was “not allowed to have a voice.”
“I went straight to what I had learned as a youth, which was to remove myself from the situation so that it couldn’t continue, because there’s only so much that your ears can hear and never forget,” Depp said.
“There were times when I would just go and lock myself in the bathroom or anywhere that she couldn’t get into,” Depp said. “That happened constantly over the years.”
Heard would often turn physical during their disputes, Depp alleged, saying the “Pineapple Express” actress would “strike out” in anger or frustration.
“It could begin with a slap,” Depp claimed. “It could begin with a shove. It could begin with throwing a TV remote at my head. It could be throwing a glass of wine in my face.”
The comments came a day after Depp began his testimony, claiming in front of the seven-person jury on Tuesday that Heard’s accusations of domestic violence against him were untrue.
“Never did I, myself, reach the point of striking Ms. Heard in any way, nor have I ever struck any woman in my life,” Depp, 58, said Tuesday.
Depp sued Heard for $50 million in 2019 over an op-ed published by the Washington Post, in which Heard wrote she was “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” Heard didn’t name Depp in the piece, but two years earlier had accused him of physical and verbal abuse.
The actors were married from 2015 to 2017 after meeting on the set of the movie “The Rum Diary.”
Heard, who will have the opportunity to testify during the trial, was present in court for both days of Depp’s testimony. The trial is expected to last for multiple weeks.
Depp on Tuesday detailed growing up with a mother whom he described as being “quite violent” and “quite cruel.”
“In our house, we were never exposed to any type of safety or security,” Depp said. “The only thing that one could do, really, was to try to stay out of the line of fire. I started to be able to observe, and I could start to see when she was about to head into a situation where she was going to get riled up and somebody was going to get it. Generally, it was me.”
On Wednesday, the three-time Oscar nominee was asked why he stayed with Heard if she was abusing him like he claimed.
“I’m sure that it’s somehow related to my father remaining stoic as my mother would beat him to death,” Depp said. “I’m sure it had a lot to do with having been in a beautiful, wonderful 14-, 15-year relationship with Vanessa (Paradis), the mother of my children.”
He said Wednesday that he smoked marijuana on their wedding day but didn’t recall drinking.
On Tuesday, Depp told the court, “I’m not some maniac that needs to be high or loaded all the time. On film sets, there have been no moments where I would have been considered out of control.”
Depp previously lost a libel lawsuit against the media company that publishes The Sun over an article that painted him as a “wife beater.” A United Kingdom judge said the claims were “substantially true” in that 2020 ruling, and Depp was later denied a request to appeal the decision.
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