"There's no time for
happy hour
, right?"
This sentence of Johnny Depp, pronounced in the context of the defamation lawsuit which opposes him to Amber Heard, while he was questioned about his morning alcohol consumption, sets the tone.
Since April 11, the two ex-spouses have been clashing again in court, against a backdrop of mutual accusations of domestic violence.
All this, with a lot of trashy text messages, confusing recordings and unbearable clichés.
J. Benjamin Rottenborn, Amber Heard's lawyer, had warned the judges well, at the dawn of this fierce six-week legal battle: the duel was in great danger of turning into a "soap opera".
A drama with multiple twists, which has now lasted 13 years.
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A severed fingertip
It all started in 2009, when the actors met on the set of the film
Rum Express
.
Two years later, the couple formalize their relationship.
But very quickly, the romance turns into a nightmare.
In 2013, Amber Heard first accused Johnny Depp of hitting her during an argument.
The hero of
Pirates of the Caribbean
(2003) denies the facts, the couple reconciles, and becomes engaged the following year.
He celebrated his marriage in February 2015, in a tense climate.
Lily-Rose Depp, who is “not on very good terms” with her mother-in-law, shines for example by her absence.
A few days earlier, Johnny Depp, meanwhile, lost part of his middle finger, severed by the splinters of a bottle of vodka thrown at him by Amber Heard.
These violent altercations will get the better of their couple.
In May 2016, the heroine of
Aquaman
(2018) filed for divorce and obtained a restraining order against Johnny Depp, after filing a complaint for domestic violence.
The two actors nevertheless reach an amicable agreement: Amber Heard receives seven million dollars (6.5 million euros), which she donates to associations (including a children's hospital and an organization helping victims of domestic violence).
In video, at the exit of the court, Amber Heard maintains her version of the facts facing Johnny Depp
The Sun
trial
The story could have ended there.
It was without counting on the publication of an article, in June 2018, in the columns of the
Sun
, which describes Johnny Depp as a “violent husband”.
This time, the actor is determined to fight back, ready to defend his reputation and dignity.
He filed a complaint against the editor of the tabloid for defamation and two years later opened a trial peppered with sordid stories.
Johnny Depp supports in particular, photograph in support, that Amber Heard defecated in his bed during a birthday party, in April 2016, to take revenge on him.
For its part, the
Daily Mail
unearths a damning record.
"I didn't hit you," we hear Amber Heard declare to her ex-husband.
I fucking hit you!”
Despite this piece of evidence and the interventions of his ex-companions Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis, declaring that he never raised his hand on them or on another woman, Johnny Depp lost the lawsuit in November 2020. His request for appeal is refused.
A "bloodbath"
But already, a new legal confrontation is looming on the horizon.
The actor indeed filed a complaint against his ex-girlfriend, also for defamation, in March 2019. The spark that ignited the powder: Amber Heard describes herself as a “victim of domestic violence” in a forum in
Washington Post,
published in 2018.
Admittedly, the young woman does not mention the name of her former spouse.
But Johnny Depp is claiming 50 million dollars (47 million euros) in damages.
In 2020, Amber Heard filed a complaint for defamation in turn, and asked for double this amount.
Two years later, the trial begins in Virginia on April 11, 2022, and incorporates many elements of the previous legal battle.
Including his motto: all blows (low) are allowed.
Amber Heard's lawyers strive to portray Johnny Depp as a "monster" capable of the worst outbursts of violence, to the point, according to them, of physically and sexually assaulting his former companion.
In an audio recording released to the court, the actor said: "Getting away (...) is of paramount importance, because the next step, if I don't go - or if I don't don't go out for a moment - it's going to be a bloodbath."
"Drowned and Burned"
Amber Heard's teams also unearth text messages, sent by the actor to one of his friends, in 2015. "I never want to lay eyes on Amber again, that dirty p**e, writes especially the actor.
"You said, 'I'm going to ba*** her burnt corpse afterwards, to make sure she's dead,'" J. Ben Rottenborn recalls.
That's what you said you would do after you burned and drowned her."
The actor, to defend himself, invokes the figure of speech, the metaphor used in the heat of anger.
Read also"Let's drown it before we burn it": the messages of extreme violence written by Johnny Depp about Amber Heard
Drug use from 11 years old
Amber Heard's teams also discuss Johnny Depp's addictions, before broadcasting a video filmed by his ex-wife.
He appears there in a daze, slamming the cupboard doors and then pouring himself a glass of wine.
The actor defends himself: "I did not try to intimidate Miss Heard (...) If she was scared to death, why didn't she leave?"
The comedian does not deny, however, his addiction problems.
He admits in court that he started taking illegal substances when he was 11 years old.
"I brought my mother her tranquilizers and I took a pill too, to escape the chaotic reality in which we lived," he recalls.
But Johnny Depp is keen to qualify: Amber Heard's claims about his addictions are exaggerated, according to him.
"The characterization of my 'addiction' that was delivered by Miss Heard is grossly embellished and, I'm sorry to say, but much of it is just plain wrong," he states.
Boots of Discord
At the same time, Johnny Depp also declares that he considers himself a victim of domestic violence.
The actor denies having ever “struck Amber Heard or any other woman during his life”.
He describes Amber Heard's accusations as "odious and disturbing", and presents the actress as a person with an exacerbated "need for violence".
He also maintains that his ex-girlfriend is unstable.
Witness an incident recounted by the actor in court in Fairfax on April 19.
According to the comedian, the couple once adopted a ritual.
"After a day's work, I would come home, she would take off my boots and bring me a glass of wine," he recalls.
However, the situation would have degenerated one evening.
"I got home and she was on the phone, so I took off my boots on my own," says Johnny Depp.
Miss Heard walked up with that funny look and she just said, "What did you just do? Did you take your boots off?"
(...) No, no, no, it's my job.
You don't do that, it's my job."" An unexpected initiative, which would have "upset" the actress.
Read also“No, no, it’s my job”: when Amber Heard refused to allow Johnny Depp to take off his boots alone
"Fat, Lonely, and Old"
The relatives of Johnny Depp testify for their part of the humiliations that the actress would have subjected him to on a daily basis.
Tara Roberts, the manager of the island owned by the actor in the Bahamas, recalls comments made by Amber Heard to her former husband during one of their conflicts: "You are a has-been actor, who will die fat, alone and old.”
personality disorders
During the trial, the temperaments of the two artists are also examined with a magnifying glass.
For Sharon Curry, a psychologist hired by Johnny Depp's lawyers, Amber Heard suffers from two illnesses: borderline personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder.
According to the expert, people with these “can react violently”.
In addition, they "often have abusive behavior towards their partners", adds the expert.
Laurel Anderson, a couple therapist consulted by the duo in 2015, believes that the two spouses at the time engaged in a dynamic of “mutual violence”.
Read alsoAccording to a psychologist, Amber Heard suffers from personality disorders that cause her to “react violently”
A “finished” actor?
The confrontation of the ex-spouses also finds an echo outside the precincts of the court.
The American brand Milani thus points, on TikTok, to an inconsistency in Amber Heard's speech.
The actress claims that she used a make-up palette from the brand to camouflage the bruises inflicted by Johnny Depp.
However, according to Milani, in 2016, the date of the separation of the couple, the palette in question did not exist, since it was marketed the following year.
Amber Heard's defense is discredited.
No matter: according to Johnny Depp, the damage is already done.
“When these allegations quickly went around the world, telling people that I was a danger, drunk, on cocaine, a man who suddenly, in his 50s, beat women, it was over,” he laments. -he.
The actor was thus ousted from the
Pirates of the Caribbean
and
Fantastic
Beasts sagas .
On the second day of his public speaking, Johnny Depp already claimed to have lost everything.
And this, “whatever the outcome of the trial”.
