Actress Heard says ex-husband Depp threatened to kill her

LONDON (Reuters) – American actress Amber Heard told the London High Court that her ex-husband Johnny Depp had threatened to kill her, testifying on Monday as a witness in the defamation action of the Hollywood star against a British newspaper.

Depp is suing News Group Newspapers, publishers of the Sun newspaper, over a 2018 article that called him a “handcuff puncher” and questioned his cast in the “Fantastic Animals and Where to Find Them” franchise.

The 57-year-old actor, who made a fortune from his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie series, told the court last week that all of Heard’s allegations of physical and verbal abuse were false. He denies having been violent towards her or any other woman.

In a written affidavit to the court, released when her oral evidence began at the witness box, Heard said Depp had severely abused her.

“Some incidents were so severe that I feared that he would kill me, either intentionally or simply by losing control and going too far,” he said in the statement.

“He explicitly threatened to kill me many times, especially later in our relationship.”

Heard, 34, said the actor would become obsessed with his appearance and call her “a whore,” “starved for fame,” and “an attention prostitute” if she wore certain outfits.

“The physical abuse included punching, slapping, kicking, hitting the head and suffocation, in addition to throwing myself at things, pulling my hair and pushing or shoving me to the ground. He threw things at me, especially glass bottles. she said.

Heard also said that after his anger had subsided, Depp would blame his actions on an alter ego he would call “the monster.”

Eleanor Laws, Depp’s attorney, asked about allegations on her part that the couple had clashed over whether to sign a pre-nuptial agreement and that she was motivated by the money.

Heard said “I wasn’t interested in Johnny’s money, I never had been.” She said the actor had told her that she would break any prenuptial agreement and told her that “the only way out is death.”

Depp says the allegations are a hoax, with some collected over the years as part of a Heard insurance policy. Witnesses summoned by his legal team have agreed with his version of events.

His longtime former partner Vanessa Paradis, the mother of their two children, and actress Winona Ryder, with whom he was engaged in the 1990s, said he was never violent and that they do not believe Heard’s allegations.