Depp makes dramatic return to the stand, calls Heard testimony ‘savage’
FAIRFAX, Va. — Johnny Depp made a dramatic return to the stand Wednesday in his legal battle against Amber Heard — insisting to the jury that he never sexually or physically abused his ex-wife or anyone else.
“It’s insane to hear heinous accusations of violence, sexual violence, that she’s attributed to me, that she’s accused me of,” the actor said.
“I don’t think anyone enjoys having to split themselves open and tell the truth, but there are times when one just simply has to because it’s gotten out of control.”
The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star called Heard’s statements under oath “horrible, ridiculous, humiliating, ludicrous, painful, savage, unimaginably brutal, cruel, and all false — all false.”
“No human being is perfect, certainly not, but I have never in my life committed sexual battery, physical abuse,” he told the jury.
“No matter what happens, I did get here and I did tell the truth, and I have spoken up for what I’ve been carrying on my back reluctantly for six years.”
Depp’s dramatic testimony came during the last days of the former couple’s bombshell defamation trial in Fairfax, Virginia, and was chock-full of rebuttals to claims made by Heard’s side.
The actor, for instance, touched on testimony from earlier Wednesday by his ex-girlfriend Kate Moss, claiming Heard had twisted a story about the British supermodel falling down a set of stairs to fit her own narrative.
“As Kate Moss, Kate testified, it was many, many years ago, and exactly what happened is what she said happened,” Depp said. “I recall, um, speaking with Miss Heard about that very incident.”
Moss said Wednesday she slipped down the stairs in the rain while she and Depp were in Jamaica in the 1990s when they were dating.
Depp said: “Miss Heard took the story and turned it into a very ugly incident, all in her mind, there was never a moment where I pushed Kate down any set of stairs, yet she’s spewed this three times before.”
The actor also reiterated his claim that he was the victim of domestic abuse in the relationship, saying “Miss Heard hit me” when asked how he received a bruise under his left eye during the couple’s honeymoon on the legendary Orient Express train in July 2015.
“I had a sort of shiner, but it all ended and everything got fine again,” testified Depp. He continued, “We’d go to dinner.”
The apparent shiner under Depp’s eye can be seen in a grainy photo taken by a bodyguard.
He also claimed he wasn’t Heard’s only target, alleging the actress would grab her sister, Whitney Henriquez, and “push her around.”
Henriquez sat behind Heard in court when Depp made the claim, which Heard denies.
When asked if he had taken eight to 10 MDMA pills in March 2015 during a fight with Heard in Australia, as the actress had testified, he said: “No, I have not … because I’d be dead.”
Depp also shot back at Heard’s claim that she got her leading role in “Aquaman” on her own, saying he spoke to “three upper-echelon” Warner Bros. executives to help seal the deal.
“I can only say that ultimately she did get the job in the film … so I supposed I curbed their worries to some degree,” Depp said.
The actor pushed back on the claim at the center of Heard’s $100 million defamation countersuit against him, which alleges Depp and his lawyer Adam Waldman mounted a smear campaign against her accusing her of fabricating accusations of abuse.
Depp said he never saw Waldman’s statements to the Daily Mail in 2020 claiming the abuse allegations were a hoax — until Heard filed suit.
Depp is suing Heard for $50 million, claiming her 2018 op-ed in the Washington Post defamed him when she wrote, “I became a public figure representing domestic abuse.”
His direct questioning ended when the court broke for lunch and he will be back on the stand to be cross-examined at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday.
