By Estelle Shirbon
LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) – When he was drugged with drugs and alcohol, Johnny Depp became a violent alter ego he called “The Monster” and lashed out at his wife Amber Heard, he told a London court on Monday as defamation of the actor. The trial against a British tabloid was nearing its end.
The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star is suing News Group Newspapers, publishers of The Sun, and one of his journalists, Dan Wootton, over a 2018 article that called him a “handcuff puncher.”
Depp and Heard gave evidence at trial for several days. Depp said he was never violent towards Heard or any other woman, accusing his ex-wife of lying. Heard described multiple incidents when she said he physically assaulted her.
Summarizing the defense case for News Group Newspapers and Wootton, which is that the accusation of hitting the wife was true, attorney Sasha Wass said Depp’s drug and alcohol-fueled lifestyle was the backdrop for his violent behavior.
She said the relevance of her substance abuse was twofold: it led to her “irrational mood swings and abnormal behavior patterns,” and it also meant that her own recollection of the extent of her violence was affected.
Portraying Depp as “a desperate addict” unable to contain himself, Wass said the actor knew he was prone to uncontrolled outbursts, citing an email from March 2012 that he had sent to his friend Elton John.
In the email, written during a period of sobriety, Depp thanked John for helping him kick his drug habit, saying that being clean and sober had helped him beat “The Monster,” an alter ego who risked swallowing him. .
Wass accused Depp of “a deep misogyny that was at the root of his anger.”
She said that by accusing Heard of physically assaulting him, she was seeking to reverse the roles of criminal and victim. When he was accused of hitting her, he accused her of hitting him, and when he was accused of being a drug addict, he accused her of being a heavy drug user, Wass said.
She added that Depp had also tried to deploy what she called outdated methods to discredit a woman, portraying Heard as “a gold digger, shrew, and adulterer.”
She said Heard denied cheating on Depp and was irrelevant anyway. He also said that Heard was a successful actress in her own right and was financially independent.
Wass was to continue his closing speech throughout the Monday hearing. Depp’s attorney, David Sherborne, will present his own closing arguments on Tuesday. A failure is not expected immediately. (Report by Estelle Shirbon; Giles Elgood Edition)
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