The libel trial Johnny Depp versus The Sun is only on its second day, but wow, have there been some astonishing revelations.
The actor is suing the tabloid's publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over a 2018 article which referred to him as a “wife-beater” in relation to domestic violence allegations made by Amber Heard, which Depp has repeatedly denied.
Here are some “highlights” from the trial, so far. Buckle up, because you're in for a very bumpy ride!
■ Depp's lawyer stated, Ms. Heard has invented these stories of serious violence. He is not and never has been a wife-beater. Indeed, he says that it was Ms. Heard who was the one who started physical fights, who punched or hit him (and there was little he could really do to stop this); she was the abuser, not him. And the contemporaneous evidence fully supports that, as the court will hear.”
■ Questioned about his drug use by Sasha Wass QC, acting for The Sun, Depp admitted he had begun taking his mother's “nerve pills” aged 11 and confirmed a previous interview stating he had used multiple drugs at age 14. However, he denied his drug use resulted in “destructive behavior” and denied taking the drug Ketamine but admitted using cocaine, ecstasy, LSD, mushrooms and cannabis.
■ Explaining his drinking, he told the court, “I would definitely say that towards the end of my relationship with Ms. Paradis, the mother of my children, it was a very painful time – to break up with someone that you have been with for 14 years and that you have two children with… I was more than likely trying to numb myself as much as possible…”
“I didn't like making her sad and I didn't like making my children sad.” But as his alcohol abuse began to spiral out of control, Depp turned to Sir Elton for help.
“My dearest Elton, 100 fucking days of clarity for an old reprobate twat like me,” he wrote in the email, read by defense lawyer Sasha Wass. “No one would ever have believed it possible but for a select few, most importantly you… I would have been swallowed up by the monster were it not for you.”
■ In the written note, he explained Heard or “possibly one of her friends” was responsible for “defecating” in their marital bed, and when the 34 year old was confronted about the dirty discovery, she brushed off the incident as “just a harmless prank” – a move which proved to be the final straw in their already-crumbling marriage.
■ When he was questioned about whether he was being “a responsible parent” by encouraging his daughter to use weed, the Jack Sparrow of the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise said, “I never encouraged my daughter to use marijuana.”
“You don't want your 13-year-old going into some paranoid tailspin,” he defended his decision to provide his teen daughter with drugs. “I was determined not to have her try any drugs out there in the world because it's too dangerous. I was being a responsible parent.”
Johnny went on detailing what prompted his discussion about drugs with his daughter. “My daughter was 13 years old, and as we all know at 11, 12, and 13 years old, when you go to a high school party, you are approached by people who will want to give you drink because they are drinking at 12 and 13, doing cocaine at 12 and 13 and smoking marijuana at 12 and 13, doing ecstasy and doing many, many drugs,” so he claimed.
■ “Amber severed my finger with the second of two thrown vodka bottles at me in the early afternoon of Sunday March 8,” Johnny said in court. “Amber claims this was on the second day of a ‘three-day hostage situation.’ Amber claims that during these three days, I subjected her to a variety of what sounds like torture and other abuse. These sick claims are completely untrue.”
Amber claims Johnny severed his finger after he smashed a telephone into a wall.
“The severity of these injuries brought about the personal realization of the severity of the abuse that Ms Heard had inflicted upon me for so long,” Johnny said. “I couldn’t believe that we had come to this. I wondered what more she could do to me.”
■ Depp had a tattoo that had originally read “Winona Forever,” in honor of his ex-girlfriend actress Winona Ryder. When they split up in 1993, he changed it to read “Wino Forever.” In March 2013, when Depp began to drink heavily again after about 160 days of sobriety, Heard made a joke out of the tattoo, Wass said. “I don’t recall any conversation,” Depp responded.
Wass alleged the actor then slapped Heard across the face. She added: “You slapped her more than once, because after you slapped her the first time, she didn’t react. She just eyeballed you, she just stared at you, and that made you more angry and you slapped her again.”
Depp said, “That is patently untrue.” Wass then claimed he had slapped her three times. Depp answered: “I’m sorry, but that is not true. You are mistaken.”
■ Amber agreed to star in 2015′s The Adderall Diaries alongside James Franco. Johnny said he was “shocked” when she signed on to make the film and admitted it made him feel “jealous.”
“It shocked me she was suddenly so friendly and happy with him,” Johnny said. “She told me many things that were very very negative about Mr Franco, that he had tried to kiss her and made sexual advances towards her on the previous film they had made together. She said he was a creep and a rapist. She said he was quite aggressive in his advances towards her.”
The lawyer then clarified Johnny‘s use of the word “rapist,” “You have made an extremely important statement just now.”
Johnny replied, “It’s just a word that came out for the actions of Mr. Franco, as described to me by Ms Heard, which were sexual advances, him leaning over and saying I’m going to kiss you. She had to sort of run from the advances at one point, that he was kind of non-stop, she felt he was creepy and rapey so I said a rapist.”
Who's ready for day three?
Launch the gallery above for more photos of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard arriving at court for day two of the libel trial.
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