Johnny Depp ‘not a wife beater’ and Amber Heard allegations are ‘lies’, court hears

Johnny Depp is not a “wife beater” and allegations of violence made by his ex-wife Amber Heard are “complete lies”, the High Court has been told by his lawyers on the first day of a libel trial.

The Hollywood star is suing The Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an article published in April 2018 which referred to “overwhelming evidence” that he attacked Heard during their relationship.

Depp has strenuously denied the claims, and his legal team argue that it is Heard who abused him.

Both attended London’s High Court today, arriving through separate entrances and wearing scarves as face masks.

On the first day of the trial, which is set to last three weeks, here is some of the key evidence that has been presented in court and in witness statements.

• Depp’s lawyers say it is “not a case about money” but “vindication”, with the Pirates Of The Caribbean star, 57, wanting to “clear his reputation” following the claims
• His team argue that Heard, 34, has “invented these stories of serious violence” and that she was the “abuser” in the relationship
• In a witness statement, Depp has called Heard “calculating” and “sociopathic” and accused her of several attacks on him, including punching him in the face on a plane, he claims, and throwing a bottle at him, severing his finger
• In court, the actor spoke about his drinking and drug taking over the years, and admitted to having taken drugs including marijuana, cocaine, LSD, ecstasy, magic mushrooms and prescription pharmaceuticals
• Lawyers for NGN have defended The Sun’s article, saying the description of Depp was “entirely accurate and truthful”
• Heard’s spokesman released a statement before proceedings started, saying she is trying to “move on” from their relationship but instead has been “dragged to court to give evidence on some of the most distressing moments of her life”

Appearing as the first witness, Depp was asked about the allegations of abuse, and also about his drug-taking and friendships with famous figures such as writer Hunter S Thompson, musicians Keith Richards and Marilyn Manson, and fellow actor Paul Bettany.

He told the court he is not the “horrible monster” he has been portrayed as.

In a written outline of the actor’s case, his barrister, David Sherborne, said The Sun’s article amounted to a “full-scale attack” on Depp as a “wife beater”, with “defamatory allegations of the utmost seriousness”.

Mr Sherborne said: “The author deploys a panoply of cultural and topical references – namely the #MeToo movement, the Time’s Up movement and the disgraced film mogul and serial abuser of women Harvey Weinstein – in order to convey the seriousness of what the claimant is alleged to have done.

“They are allegations which the claimant absolutely denies, and which, at the time of publication, he had already publicly denied.”

Mr Sherborne said Depp “is not and never has been a wife beater”.

He continued: “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.”

The barrister said that evidence will be presented to the court which supports this claim.

Speaking about The Sun’s article, written by Mr Wootton, he said it “repeated Ms Heard’s allegations, referring to what he described as ‘overwhelming evidence’ in her favour, in an obvious attempt to confirm categorically in the readers’ minds – several million readers’ minds – that these appalling and serious allegations of criminality were true”.

Later in the trial, the court is expected to hear evidence by video-link from actresses Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder, former partners of Depp who both say he was never violent towards them, as well as Heard’s friends, who claim they were present when the star was abusive.

Mr Sherborne said the “starkly contrasting nature of the evidence” given by Depp and Heard is “one of the defining features of this case” and that there is “no real room for a middle ground here”.

He continued: “One side is plainly lying, and to an extraordinary extent.

“Either Ms Heard’s allegations are true, in all their various forms now, and therefore Mr Depp has chosen to launch and pursue a lengthy libel claim despite knowing that the article which forms the subject matter of the claim is completely true.

“Or, as we say, Ms Heard has concocted them, embellishing and adding to them over the years.”

If this is found to be the case, Mr Sherborne said, it means Depp “is right in seeking vindication before this court from a hugely influential newspaper that sought to act as judge (and jury) by endorsing and convicting him in relation to Ms Heard’s allegations, not to mention demanding an end to his career as the punishment he supposedly deserved”.

He continued: “You might be forgiven for wondering why would Mr Depp put himself through all of this process otherwise, ie if he were in fact guilty.

“That is the determination for this court. Mr Depp is either guilty of being a wife beater for having assaulted his ex-wife on numerous occasions, causing the most appalling injuries, or he has been very seriously and wrongly accused.”

The actor was asked by his barrister about a conversation between him and Heard in September 2015, which was recorded.

Mr Sherborne read from an extract of the recording, in which Heard said to Depp: “You got hit… but I did not punch you. I did not f****** deck you. I f****** was hitting you”.

Heard then went on to say “you are a f****** baby”, to which Depp said: “Because you start physical fights.”

The star said he “wanted to avoid another confrontation”, adding: “As was my practice in these situations, whenever it would escalate I would try to go to my own corner as it were… before things got out of hand.”

During cross-examination by The Sun’s lawyer, Sasha Wass, Depp was asked about his drug use and admitted taking marijuana, cocaine, LSD, ecstasy, magic mushrooms and prescription pharmaceuticals over the years.

He said he started taking drugs when he was just 11, as it was “the only way that I found to numb the pain” due to an unstable home life.

Asked about his celebrity associations, Depp described The Rolling Stones star Richards as his “favourite guitarist” and said both Thompson and Manson were “wonderful friends”.

He said he had taken drugs with Manson “twice maybe, many years ago” and not during his relationship with Heard.

Ms Wass replied: “Mr Depp, you are lying about that.”

Asked whether Bettany was one of his “drug buddies”, the star replied: “Paul Bettany is an actor that I’ve worked with several times, he is a friend and we have… yes, we have dabbled in drugs together.”

He then listed cocaine, alcohol, Xanax and Adderall as some of the drugs they had taken together.

Ms Wass also questioned whether Depp had an anger management problem, referencing an arrest for assault in 1989 and a later incident in which he damaged a New York hotel room.

“I was angry, but that doesn’t mean I have an anger problem,” the actor said.

In one of his witness statements filed for the hearing, Depp gave details about his relationship with Heard, who he met on the set of their 2011 comedy The Rum Diary, and married in 2015. They divorced in 2017, with Heard donating her $7m (£5.5m) settlement to charity.

He described their time together as “incredibly unhappy” and called Heard “calculating”, “sociopathic” and a “narcissist”.

“I am now convinced that she came into my life to take from me anything worth taking, and then destroy what remained of it.”

Depp said they went to see a marriage counsellor, who he says confirmed to him that Heard had a “borderline, toxic narcissistic personality disorder and is a sociopath”.

In his written statements, he also accused Heard of violent incident.

The actor said he was on a private chartered flight in late 2014 or early 2015 with Heard, when she became “verbally aggressive”.

He wrote: “Then she became physically violent and repeatedly punched me in the face. As I moved towards the back of the plane to get away from her, she followed me into the plane’s bedroom and punched me again in the face and the head.

“I pushed her away from me, on to the bed. I then grabbed a pillow and locked myself in the bathroom, where I slept for the duration of the flight.”

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Describing a period of time when they were in Australia, in March 2015, he said: “Amber severed my finger with the second of two thrown vodka bottles at me in the early afternoon of Sunday 8 March. Amber claims this was on the second day of a ‘three-day hostage situation’.”

Depp added: “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.”

In a statement released before the hearing started, a spokesman for Heard said the actress had “never asked for these proceedings” to take place.

“Amber obtained a domestic violence restraining order against Depp back in 2016 and has tried to moved on with her life,” the statement said.

“It is Johnny Depp who brought these proceedings against a British newspaper and has dragged her to to the UK courts to give evidence on some of the most distressing moments of her life.”

The trial continues.

(c) Sky News 2020: Johnny Depp ‘not a wife beater’ and Amber Heard allegations are ‘lies’, court hears