At the beginning of the third week of his defamation trial about Amber Heard, Johnny Depp was asked about a number of negative news stories written about him.
Mr Depp has been on the witness stand since Tuesday (19 April). He has sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for alleged defamation over an op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post in December 2018, in which she doesn’t name him but describes herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse”.
“For years prior to 2018, when Amber wrote the op-ed, there were numerous negative news stories about you that were released in the public, correct?” Ms Heard’s attorney asked Mr Depp.
Mr Depp confirmed that the attorney meant “by 2018”, then replied: “Yes, it all started with Ms Heard going directly to a court to get a [temporary restraining order] with a bruise on her face and paparazzi. That was the beginning of the ball rolling down the hill and gaining momentum.”
Reports that Ms Heard was granted a temporary restraining order against Mr Depp were first published on 27 May 2016.
In court, Ms Heard’s attorney asked Mr Depp: “There were lots of negative stories about you prior to 27 May 2016, when Amber went into court, correct?”
“I’ve been in the racket of Hollywood since 1984,” Mr Depp replied.
Ms Heard’s attorney cut in: “Mr Depp, I’m asking you a yes or no question. There were plenty of negative news stories about you prior to 27 May 2016, correct?”
“From 1984 up until then, there were all s– there were both,” Mr Depp said. “So of course people read negative stories.”
Mr Depp was then asked to look at a stack of articles that had been placed in front of him, which he described as “a stack of hit pieces”.
Ms Heard’s attorney then read aloud a series of headlines that all predate Ms Heard’s 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post.
These included a 2014 Guardian article titled: “Apparently drunk Johnny Depp cut off at Hollywood Film Awards ceremony”; a 2017 piece by The Hollywood Reporter titled “Johnny Depp Has a “Clear and Epic” Sense of Entitlement, Ex-Managers Say”; another 2017 article by The Hollywood Reporter with the headline “Johnny Depp: A Star in Crisis and the Insane Story of His “Missing” Millions”; and a 2017 piece by Insider titled “Johnny Depp reportedly drank heavily and was constantly late on the new 'Pirates' movie set.”
Also mentioned in court were a 2017 Vanity Fair article headlined “Johnny Depp’s financial woes might sink the next Pirates of the Caribbean”; a 2018 Rolling Stone piece titled “The trouble with Johnny Depp: Multimillion-dollar lawsuits, a haze of booze and hash, a marriage gone very wrong and a lifestyle he can’t afford – inside the trials of Johnny Depp”; and a 2018 Daily Mail article headlined: “Vodka for breakfast, 72-hour drug binges and spending sprees that beggar belief: ALISON BOSHOFF reveals why Hollywood's reeling over what's being called Johnny Depp's career suicide note.”
Mr Depp disputed some of the articles mentioned and described them as being “all hit pieces.”
Ms Heard has counter-sued Mr Depp in Virginia, accusing him of allegedly orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her and describing his own lawsuit as a continuation of “abuse and harassment.”
The trial is expected to last six weeks.
