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Amber Hear on the witness stand
PHOTO: ELIZABETH FRANTZ / POOL / EPA
US actress Amber Heard took the floor for the first time on the witness stand in the defamation lawsuit brought by her ex-husband Johnny Depp.
At the trial in Fairfax, Virginia, she tearfully testified that Depp physically abused her several times.
For example, he physically attacked her after she laughed at one of his tattoos.
"He punched me in the face," Heard said.
'I didn't know what was going on.
I just stared at him."
»Magic Relationship«
The actress said they had a "magical" relationship until Depp became violent.
Depp has sued Heard, to whom he was married between 2015 and 2017, for $50 million in damages.
The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star accuses the 36-year-old of having seriously damaged his career with false allegations.
The background is an article for the "Washington Post" from 2018, in which Heard described himself as a victim of domestic violence without naming Depp.
"I didn't want to leave him."
Heard has responded with a counterclaim against the 58-year-old, demanding $100 million in damages.
She accuses the actor of "unbridled physical violence".
Heard said she stayed with Depp after the tattoo incident because he apologized and promised not to act like that again.
'I didn't want to leave him.
I didn't want this to be reality," she said.
However, Depp continued to become violent, usually when he was drinking or using drugs.
The process was the "most painful and difficult" experience of her life, said the actress known from the film "Aquaman".
"I struggle for words to describe how painful it is." It was "terrible to sit here for weeks and go through everything again."
Depp had previously testified for several days in the process.
He denied ever hitting Heard.
Rather, the actress herself had become violent against him several times.
ktz/dpa/Reuters