Amber Heard admitted to hitting Johnny Depp in audio recordings that were played during their on-going trial.
The recordings were heard by the jury amid Depp’s testimony.
Keep scrolling to find out more…
Now, we all know Johnny Depp has been through a lot…
The Kentucky-born actor, who has been renowned in Hollywood since the 1990s, has been embroiled in a highly publicized domestic abuse scandal with his ex-girlfriend, Amber Heard, for the last 5 years.
At first, this coupling seemed to be at the start of a promising relationship.
After meeting on the set of The Rum Diary in 2011, the actor started dating Texan actress and model, Amber Heard, shortly after calling it quits with his long-term partner, Vanessa Paradis.
They announced their engagement in 2014…
And, not ones to waste any time, they hastily tied the knot just one year later in February 2015.
However, it was here when things started to go a little ship-shaped.
Their honeymoon period was rather short-lived as, just months after their marriage, Depp reportedly suffered a hand injury as a result of “smashing bottles and windows” during a heated argument with his wife.
For the next year, various reports of abuse between the pair continued to surface…
So it came as no shock when Heard filed for divorce in March 2016, just fifteen months after the couple had initially exchanged their “I do”s.
At first, the divorce seemed unsuspicious…
Many news outlets reported that Heard had cited “irreconcilable differences” while filing the divorce petition.
But, only a few months into their separation…
Heard filed a restraining order against Depp, claiming that he had previously assaulted her.
It was a big allegation to make…
So people were confused when Heard retracted her allegations just one day before the hearing was due to be held.
But this didn’t stop the world from turning against Depp.
Heard had alleged that the actor had hit her on several occasions, and even provided video footage of him flinging a glass of wine across the room in a fit of rage.
And, in 2018, the actress penned an article for The Washington Post where she opened up about her experience with domestic abuse and violence.
Though she didn’t explicitly name Depp in her op-ed, she did allude to the time period when, “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.”
There was an outpour of support for Heard…
Who was even made the American Civil Liberties Union’s “Ambassador for Women’s Issues.”
And, despite profusely denying all the allegations against him…
Depp found his career taking a hit as a result of the ongoing scandal.
Fewer and fewer directors were hiring Depp for roles…
And his appearance in J.K Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts sequel, The Crimes of Grindelwald, was heavily criticized.
And, in 2018, he was dropped from his iconic role as Captain Jack Sparrow.
In a career-shattering announcement just 4 days after Heard’s damning article, Disney announced that the actor would no longer be a part of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Though they didn’t directly cite Heard’s abuse allegations…
It was widely assumed that Disney, who has earned over $4.5 billion at the box office from the Pirates franchise, was trying to distance themselves from the actor and the scandal surrounding him.
But then, there was a sudden change in events.
Depp filed a $50-million defamation case against Heard and presented evidence that he was the one on the receiving end of the abuse, not the other way around.
Shockingly, the actor alleged that he was the victim all along.
Depp’s defamation lawsuit read: “The op-ed [Heard’s article] depended on the central premise that Ms. Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr. Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her.”
The lawsuit also states that all of Heard’s claims were “categorically and demonstrably false”…
And listed down incidents of Heard’s alleged abuse since the start of their marriage, including punching and kicking, as well as staging her attacks.
The allegations are difficult to read.
“She hit, punched, and kicked me. She also repeatedly and frequently threw objects into my body and head, including heavy bottles, soda cans, burning candles, television remote controls, and paint thinner cans, which severely injured me.” His lawsuit read.
And, to tarnish the actress’ reputation and credibility even further…
Audio obtained by the Daily Mail was released that heard her admitting to attacking Depp.
As per the audio clip, she could also be heard taunting him…
“You are such a baby. Grow the f*** up, Johnny. You poke an animal enough, it is eventually, it doesn’t matter how friendly it is, it’s not cool,” Heard can be heard saying.
The case was grueling…
Depp then went to court for his libel case against The Sun newspaper – whom he is suing over a 2018 article in which he was described as a “wife-beater.”
The pair were in court as part of the 3-week long trial.
While in court, both parties played pretty dirty, revealing compromising photographs of each other which have blown everything out of the water, yet again. And of course with the evidence came more allegations.
Of course, this massive loss was terrible for the actor’s name…
But he isn’t giving up his fight.
Depp and his legal team were determined to prove that the pictures Heard shared in the case were forged…
To make it look like he was repeatedly abusing her, when in fact, according to Depp it was the other way around.
As per Page Six, lawyers working on the case claim that Heard altered photos making her appear to have 2 black eyes…
Alleging she was attacked by him in 2015.
Depp’s lawyer, Benjamin Chew claimed: “Ms. Heard’s counsel has repeatedly used these phony photographs at deposition.”
He also shared that he believes the LA Police Department “disavowed the photographs” that were previously given to the court and “did not depict what they saw.”
Chew revealed that the LAPD “found no injury upon Ms. Heard and no disruption to the penthouses” upon inspection…
“Ms. Heard and her friends then fabricated photos that she used to obtain an ex parte TRO [temporary restraining order] and a $7 million divorce settlement which Ms. Heard falsely testified in London she gave to the ACLU and, more scandalously, to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles; sick children with cancer,” he added.
Chew concluded that someone “doctored those photographs.”
“So, Ms. Heard or someone on her behalf doctored those photographs three years later. When that came up in her testimony in London, Ms. Heard falsely denied it. In short, Your Honour, without forensic imaging Mr Neumeister cannot properly assess or verify Ms. Heard’s data,” Chew added.
Since Chew exposed Heard’s alleged false claims, the court has granted Depp and his lawyer access to her phone records…
They will also be analyzed by Brian Neumeister, who is a tech expert.
And, we’ve seen some huge celebrity names in the defamation case between the two actors.
But, it’s not the first time that some of the names have been a part of the escalating battle.
Two of the celebrities involved have in fact been accused of being tangled up in an affair with Heard in the past…
While she was with Depp.
The celebrities called to testify, who were accused of affairs with the Aquaman actress, are James Franco and Elon Musk.
Both celebrity figures will be testifying for Amber Heard.
But, they’re not the only huge Hollywood names in the lawsuit.
There are many more who have been dragged into the defamation case, too.
Paul Bettany will be a witness for Depp.
And, according to Cinemablend, Heard’s legal team will use Bettany’s texts with Depp against them, displaying violent language targeted at Heard.
Heard’s exhibit list includes names we’re all familiar with…
There will be text messages and email conversations between Heard, Jason Momoa, and James Wan, as per the news outlet.
There are also emails logged from author JK Rowling and guitarist Jack White.
Who else is involved?
Ellen Barkin, an American actress, will be on Heard’s witness list, and she has spoken up about Heard’s allegations in the past.
Depp is suing Heard for defamation, claiming that his reputation has been tarnished because of the things she has said during their battle.
And Heard is countersuing him, which is why so many big names have been dragged into the case, as well.
Since the case began, texts sent by Depp to his friend have been read out…
Heard’s lawyer Elaine Bredehoft revealed some pretty horrific messages Depp sent to his friend Isaac Baruch.
According to the texts read out in court, Depp said he hoped Heard’s “rotting corpse is decomposing in the f****** trunk of a Honda Civic.”
And also allegedly said of Heard back in 2016: “That c*** ruined such a f****** cool life we had for a while.”
When Baruch was questioned on whether he remembered receiving the messages, he said: “Yeah, it was written.”
However, he tried to lessen the impact of the texts by admitting: “He’s called me a c**t in a text.”
Baruch and Depp have been friends for forty-two years, they are so close that Depp even purchased a property for him next door to where he lives.
While he was on the stand, Baruch said: “I want this all to end – her to go heal, him to go heal. So many people have been affected by this malicious lie that she started and she created.
“It’s not fair, it’s not right what she did, and what happened.
“For so many people to get affected from this, it’s insane, how this happened.”
But it seems Baruch used to admire Heard, saying: “I fell in love with her just like Johnny did. She’s totally respectful, and gracious, she’s got great teeth. She treated me with complete respect. Humor-wise total locker room humor, demented humor.
“Every time I walked into that place ‘Isaac you want something to eat, you want something to drink’.”
However, his feelings towards her changed when she made the abuse claims against Depp…
He said: “About the phony pictures that were taken and put in tabloids? And about the fake narrative? And about the way that she’s trying to … extort and blackmail a man? Yeah, that kind of got me … frustrated, confused, angry.”
One of her Heard’s former assistants has also testified against her saying that she used to fly into a blind rage.
Heard’s former assistant, Kate James, spoke about Heard’s fits of blind rage, her frequent drug use, and her alleged tendency to verbally abuse people.
James said:
“Her poor sister was treated like a dog that you kicked, basically.”
She added that once Heard instructed her to buy two magazines which featured a story about her and then to hide the magazines in the garage. But when James forgot to hide the magazines, Heard went into a ‘blind rage’…
Then James said that once Heard turned on her.
She said that once while attempting to negotiate her salary, James was in Heard’s office when Heard stood and put her face just four inches from James’.
“She was spitting in my face and telling me how dare I ask for the salary I was asking for, which was in fact of my regular annual salary. I was offering her that as a favour.”
“She felt that gave her the right to spit in my face.”
James went on to add that there was a witness to this incident also.
Depp and Heard’s marriage counselor also spoke to the court.
Speaking via a video deposition to the court, Dr Laurel Anderson explained: “It was a point of pride to [Heard] if she felt disrespected to initiate a fight… If he was going to leave her to de-escalate [a] fight, she would strike him to keep him there.”
Anderson added: “She would rather be in a fight to keep him there.”
Although Anderson added that there was, in her opinion, mutual abuse in the relationship.
She said: “Heard had a jackhammer style of talking. She was very amped up. He had trouble talking at the same pace. Their dialogue, he had trouble keeping up … He couldn’t keep up with her rapid fire way of her conversation. And so he was really overwhelmed.”
“They engaged in, what I saw as, mutual abuse. I know she led on more than one occasion, and started it … Abandonment and having him leave was her worst nightmare.”
“And I think he may have initiated it on occasions. But that I am less sure of.”
Anderson did say, however, that she did not witness abuse between the couple.
Although she did confirm that she had seen bruises on Heard which she believed were about an inch in diameter around the eyes.
She added that they were not ‘purple, green [or] blue’, but ‘a darkening.’
Over the past few days, it has been Depp’s turn to take to the stand to testify.
And on April 20th, amid Depp’s testimony, the jury heared Heard admit to hitting Depp in an audio recording.
According to the Daily Mail, an audio recording was played in court which heard Depp and Heard talking about a fight in which she admitted to hitting him.
In one clip of the recording, which appeared to have been taken by Depp, Heard can be heard saying: “I didn’t punch you. I’m sorry I didn’t hit you across the face in a proper slap. I was hitting you, it was not punching you.”
Depp responded telling Heard: “Don’t tell what it feels like to be punched.”
To which she said: “You’ve been in a lot of fights, you’ve been around a long time. You didn’t get punched. You got hit. I’m sorry I hit you like this, I didn’t punch you.
“I did not f****** deck you. I f******g was hitting you. I don’t know what the motion of my actual hand was. You’re fine. I did not hurt you, I did not punch you, I was hitting you. I’m not sitting here b******* about.”
She continued: “You’re a f****** baby. You are such a baby. Grow the f*** up Johnny.”
The outlet reports that Depp then said it was a physical fight to which Heard said she “did start a physical fight.”
The court reportedly also heard another audio recording in which Heard called Depp a “f****** piece of s***.”
Later in the audio, Depp can be heard saying to Heard threw “f****** pots at me” to which she said: “That’s different, just because I’ve thrown pots and pans does not mean you come and knocking on the door.”
The outlet reports that Depp spoke about the recordings on the stand saying that was the “sound that I’d gotten very used to.”
“What was just played was very much the tone and the aggression and the attitude and the need for a fight from Miss Heard,” he said. “I don’t know if that was some need for attention. That was the sound that I’d gotten very used to, the squabbling, the raising of the voice to excommunicate anything I had to say about the situation.”
What do you think about the lawsuit?