(Press Association) Johnny Depp has said he did not intend to hit Amber Heard during an alleged heated dispute between the couple in their Los Angeles penthouse.
On his last day in the witness box during his defamation trial with the British newspaper The Sun, he told the High Court that he grabbed his ex-wife to “block her arms” in an attempt to arrest Heard, 34, attacking him and said that he had not been violent towards her in any way.
Depp, 57, was answering questions about an alleged incident on December 15, 2015, “the night before Ms. Heard was filming for an appearance on the James Corden show, The Late Late Show.“
The incident is one of 14 domestic violence allegations, all denied by Depp, on which News Group Newspapers relied in its defense against the actor’s libel claim.
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On Monday, Depp’s lawyer David Sherborne said the actor allegedly inflicted “a litany of violence” on Heard on that occasion, before he was said to have hit his ex-wife with the head.
Sherborne said Depp’s evidence was that “her foreheads may have collided” when the actor was trying to “grab her by the arms” to prevent her from hitting him.
Depp explained that he grabbed Heard to “lock his arms” to prevent her from attacking him.
Sherborne asked, “Were you violent towards Mrs. Heard in any way?”
Depp replied, “No, sir.”
Sherborne asked, “Did you intend to hit her?”
The actor said, “No, not at all.”
Sherborne referred to a recording of a conversation between Depp and Heard, made without the actor’s knowledge, when they met in a San Francisco hotel room in July 2016, shortly after Heard had obtained a restraining order.
The recording refers to the incident of the “head bang” in December 2015, in which Depp can be heard saying, “I gave you a head butt on the damn … forehead.” That doesn’t break your nose.
The attorney asked if “Ms. Heard requested” the meeting, to which Depp replied, “That’s correct.” Sherborne then asked, “Do you remember in the restraining order how far he said you needed to stay away from Ms. Heard?” Depp replied, “I think it was something like 150 feet.”
Sherborne referred to Sasha Wass QC’s suggestion, on behalf of The Sun’s News Group Newspapers editor, that Depp had “made up” his version of the events that had accidentally hit his ex-wife, asking if “you have made this up. (counts) since December. ” 2019?
Depp replied, “Certainly not, no.”
The actor was also asked about a text message he received from Heard’s father, David Heard, after the alleged incident, in which he said he knew his daughter needed help with his temperament, as the actor did because of his problems with drink and alcohol. drugs
In the text, David Heard also wrote: “But I still love you as a father or a brother.”
Sherborne asked, “If Lily-Rose … if your daughter told you that her husband had slapped her repeatedly, he hit her, deliberately hit her on the nose, grabbed her by the hair, dragged her upstairs by the hair, and ripped her pieces of hair. ” off, would you still text him saying ‘I love you like a brother or a father’?
Depp replied, “Definitely not.”
The actor’s case against NGN and Wootton stems from the publication of an article on The Sun’s website on April 27, 2018 with the headline: “Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ by throwing Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic? Movie Beasts?
NGN is defending the article as true and says that Depp was “verbally and physically controlling and abusive toward Heard, particularly when he was under the influence of alcohol and / or drugs” between early 2013 and May 2016, when the couple broke up. . The couple met in 2011 and started living together in 2012 before getting married in Los Angeles in February 2015.
