Johnny Depp was not violent drug addict, sister tells defamation trial

Christi Dembrowski, the older sister of Johnny Depp, testifies in his defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard in Fairfax, Virginia. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

The contours of the high-stakes legal battle between Johnny Depp and his former wife, Amber Heard, became clearer on Wednesday, as Depp’s older sister sought to refute Heard’s claims that her brother was a violent, unaccountable, childlike drug addict.

Christi Dembrowski, who is also Depp’s personal manager, said she did not share Heard’s concerns – also advanced by a doctor who was treating Depp’s addiction to pain medication – that the actor was dependent on drugs and that he despaired of ever kicking his habit.