(Press Association) Johnny Depp is a “remarkable man” when he is “clean and sober”, but “the other side of him was a monster,” Amber Heard told the Superior Court.
On her fourth day in the witness box in the defamation case of her ex-husband against The Sun newspaper, the Aquaman The actress said she had been “so in love” with Depp and that she “always held out hope” that he would clean up.
The court has heard that in a series of text messages to his mother Paige in March 2013, Heard, 34, described Depp, 57, as “violent and crazy” and said, “I am heartbroken because she is a who I love. “
Depp is suing the editor of the tabloid News Group Newspapers and his executive editor Dan Wootton over an April 2018 article that called him a “handcuff puncher.”
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On Thursday, Sasha Wass questioned Heard, representing NGN, who read text messages the actress sent to her mother on March 22 and 23, 2013.
In his first witness statement, Heard claimed that in March 2013, Depp hit her with the back of his hand, causing her blood to hit the wall, after an argument about a painting by her former partner Tasya van Ree that He was hanging up His house in Los Angeles. He denies this.
The actress initially said that the incident took place on March 8, 2013, but told the court that she now considers the correct date of the “painting incident” to be March 22, 2013.
Wass told the court that in a text message to his mother, Heard wrote: “It is terrible, Mom. I don’t know what to do. “Another read:” He is crazy, mom. Violent and crazy. I am heartbroken because he is the one I love.
In a third, he wrote: “I feel like I’m on a very fast train that is about to explode, but I don’t want to jump and leave my love behind. So I stay on the train, even though I know it’s about to explode. “
Heard told the court: “I was so in love with Johnny at the time. We had a wonderful year together, where he was sober and clean, and that’s how I met him. And Johnny, when he was like this, (is) generous, loving, he is a remarkable man when he is like that.
“I loved him and I didn’t want to lose that … the other side of him was a monster, but I always kept hoping he would get clean and sober.”
While reading the messages, Wass told the court that Heard’s mother had suggested that he report to his father, to which the actress replied, “I can’t tell dad.”
Heard explained to the court: “I felt safe in telling my mother, but I didn’t know how my father would react. I had never been in this situation before and I didn’t know if he would react violently … to Johnny. I didn’t want to make things worse. “
Wass also cited a series of texts between Heard and Depp’s then assistant Nathan Holmes, which were sent on March 22, 2013.
Depp is said to have been on set at the time to film part of a documentary he was making about Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.
Holmes texted Heard around noon saying “on the way to look for him,” to which Heard replied, “Trying to wake him up now.” The court heard that Heard texted Holmes just before 6 pm to say, “Success, it’s going down.”
Wass asked, “What was going on between noon … and around 6pm?” Heard replied, “Johnny refused to leave … (he was) huffing cocaine tails, drinking whiskey and was saying we really had to figure this out, he wanted to get to the bottom.
“I wanted him to admit that he was having a love affair, not only with Tasya van Ree, my ex-partner, but also with a gentleman he hardly knew … he just thought that I had these issues and that he wouldn’t do it.” Don’t leave until I admit it.
Heard will conclude his evidence on 14 domestic violence allegations, on which NGN relies on his defense of an April 2018 article that called Depp a “handcuffs beater” in the London Courts of Justice on Thursday.
Her sister Whitney Henríquez, who previously lived in one of Depp’s five penthouses in the Eastern Columbia Building in Los Angeles, is scheduled to present evidence Thursday afternoon.
Depp is suing over the publication of an article on April 27, 2018 with the headline: “Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be the ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife, Johnny Depp, in the new Fantastic Beasts movie?
Her lawyers say the article had the meaning that there was “overwhelming evidence.” Depp assaulted Heard on several occasions and left her “fearful for her life.”
NGN is defending the article as true and says that Depp was “controlling and verbally and physically abusive towards Ms. Heard, particularly when she was under the influence of alcohol and / or drugs.”
The successful case, the largest defamation trial in English of the 21st century, will end next week with the closing of submissions from both sides’ legal teams on Monday and Tuesday.
The trial continues.
