Depp v. Heard

Johnny Depp (left) is suing his ex-wife Amber Heard (right) for defamation over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in 2018.

Actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard began a relationship in 2012 and married in Los Angeles in February 2015.[4] Heard filed for divorce from Depp on May 23, 2016, and obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO) against him.[5] In response, Depp alleged she was "attempting to secure a premature financial resolution by alleging abuse."[6][7] Heard testified about the alleged abuse at a divorce court deposition, saying that Depp had been "verbally and physically abusive" throughout their relationship, usually while intoxicated by alcohol or drugs.[8] The divorce received a large amount of publicity, with images of Heard's alleged injuries published by the media.[6][7]

A settlement was reached in August 2016,[9] and the divorce was finalised in January 2017.[10] Depp and Heard issued a joint statement saying that their "relationship was intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love. Neither party has made false accusations for financial gain. There was never any intent of physical or emotional harm."[9] Depp paid Heard a settlement of US$7 million, which she pledged to donate to the American Civil Liberties Union and the Children's Hospital Los Angeles.[11][12] The settlement also included a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) preventing either party from discussing their relationship publicly.[10]

In June 2018, Depp sued News Group Newspapers, the publisher of UK tabloid The Sun, and its editor Dan Wootton for libel.[13] Two months earlier, the tabloid published an article which referred to Depp as a "wife beater" and criticized author J. K. Rowling's approval of Depp being cast in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, based on her novel.[14] Depp alleged Heard had been the aggressor in the relationship, claiming she invented abuse allegations and was dishonest about her own use of narcotics, which allegedly exacerbated her "anger and jealousy issues" and her "propensity to violence".[15] In their defense, NGN and Wootton argued the article was accurate and that Depp had been abusive to Heard throughout their relationship, particularly when he was intoxicated.[14] They presented fourteen separate incidents in which they alleged Depp had been violent towards Heard.[16] Both Depp and Heard testified at the High Court of Justice trial.[17]

On November 2, 2020, Justice Andrew Nicol found that twelve of the fourteen incidents presented by NGN had been proven to a civil standard.[18] The verdict found that while Depp had been successful in proving the damage to his reputation, his claim of libel had failed as the article had been "substantially true".[19] Nicol rejected Depp's claim that Heard was a "gold-digger" perpetrating a "hoax" against him,[20] citing her pledge to donate her $7 million divorce settlement to charity and saying this was "hardly the act one would expect of a gold-digger".[11] The court accepted Heard's claim that her allegations had a negative impact on her career and activism.[19] Four days after the verdict, Depp resigned from the Fantastic Beasts film series at the request of Warner Bros., its production company.[21] In March 2021, the Court of Appeal rejected Depp's request to appeal the verdict.[22]

In December 2018, The Washington Post published an op-ed article written by Heard, titled: "Amber Heard: I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture's wrath. That has to change".[23][24][25] In the article, Heard stated: "Two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture's wrath for women who speak out. ... I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse."[24][26]

In October 2020, the judge in the case disqualified Depp's lawyer Adam Waldman from representing Depp after he leaked confidential information covered by a protective order to the media.[33] Following the verdict in Depp's lawsuit against The Sun the following month, Heard's lawyers filed to have the defamation suit dismissed, but judge Penney S. Azcarate ruled against it because Heard had been a witness, not a defendant in the UK case, and because Azcarate would not allow British justice to impact American justice.[34] In August 2021, a New York judge ruled that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) must disclose documents related to Heard's charity pledge to the organization.[35][36]

The trial began with jury selection in Fairfax County, Virginia, on April 11, 2022.[3] Actors Paul Bettany, James Franco, and Ellen Barkin are expected to testify.[37] Tesla CEO and Heard's former boyfriend Elon Musk was originally listed as a potential witness but ultimately decided not to testify, according to a source close to his legal team.[38]

Lawyers Benjamin J. Chew and Camille Vasquez made opening statements on behalf of Depp.[39] They accused Heard of making up domestic abuse accusations about Depp to further her own career, with Chew also stating that Heard made the accusations because Depp had asked for a divorce.[37] They argued that while Heard's 2018 op-ed did not mention Depp, it was clear by implication that it referred to him.[26] Chew argued that Heard's writing in that article ("two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse") was a reference to her May 2016 restraining order request in which she claimed that Depp had physically abused her.[26] Chew discussed Heard appearing in public with a bruised face on May 27, 2016, accusing her of staging the injury, citing that Depp had not met her since May 21, 2016, and witnesses did not see her with the injury immediately after May 21, 2016.[26] Depp's lawyers accused Heard of "physical violence, throwing things" to stop Depp from leaving.[37]

In contrast, Heard's lawyers, Elaine Bredehoft and J. Benjamin Rottenborn, claimed that Depp had physically and sexually abused Heard on multiple occasions during their relationship, usually triggered by his addiction to alcohol and drugs.[26][37][39] They accused Depp of seeking to "humiliate Amber, to haunt her, to wreck her career" with the lawsuit and to turn the case into a "soap opera".[37] Rottenborn further argued that the First Amendment protected Heard's right to express her views in the op-ed, which was mostly focused on a broad discussion of domestic violence, and did not specifically mention Depp's name.[26] Rottenborn also argued that it had not changed Depp's reputation as the abuse allegations had become public knowledge two years prior to the op-ed, and that Depp had instead ruined his career in Hollywood with his drinking and drug use, making him unreliable in the eyes of film studios.[26]

The first witness to testify for Depp was his sister and personal manager, Christi Dembrowski, who testified that Depp had sworn never to perpetuate domestic violence after being abused as a child by their mother.[40] Dembrowski testified that Depp had to hide from his mother in the past, and also had to hide from Heard during the relationship, with Dembrowski stating she had to book an additional hotel room for Depp whenever Heard initiated fights.[41] Dembrowski denied she was concerned about Depp's use of alcohol and drugs, but under cross-examination said she had been concerned about his use of a prescribed pain medication.[40][41]

Depp's longtime friend and neighbor during his marriage to Heard, artist Isaac Baruch,[41] testified that Heard told him in May 2016 that Depp had thrown a phone at her and hit her, prompting him to "inspect her face" and see no injuries.[40] Under cross-examination, Baruch said he observed no makeup on Heard's face that could be used to conceal injuries, but testified he was not an expert in makeup application.[41] He also said that Depp's family had been "completely wrecked" by Heard's "fraudulent" claims of domestic abuse, saying: "It's not fair" and "It's not right, what she did. ... It's insane." He also testified to seeing security camera footage of Heard with her sister Whitney, in which Heard was seen laughing after Whitney threw a "fake punch" across Heard's face; Depp's lawyer argued this was practice for Heard to "feign abuse from Depp."[41][42]

Eastern Columbia Building general manager Brandon Patterson provided a video-taped deposition, confirming the accuracy of approximately 80 CCTV videotapes from the building.[42] Depp's lawyers then called Gina Deuters to testify, the wife of his employee Stephen Deuters. Her testimony was interrupted when Heard's friend Eve Barlow showed Heard's lawyer an Instagram post written by Deuters, prompting the judge to ask Deuters if she had been watching the trial. Deuters admitted to having seen video clips, and her testimony was struck from the record.[43][44] Depp's attorneys later pointed out that the Instagram post was from January 2021, and accused Heard's lawyer of misrepresenting information to the court. The judge subsequently banned Barlow from attending the trial for violating its no-phone policy.[45][46]

The jury was then shown a pre-recorded deposition by Heard's former personal assistant, Kate James, who described Heard as "belligerent and abusive", saying Heard frequently spat and screamed at her and sent abusive and "incoherent" text messages. She testified Heard used psychedelic mushrooms, ecstasy and cocaine, and was prone to "manic episodes ... similar to if someone was on some kind of amphetamine drug. Moving fast, not making a lot of sense. Hyper-organizing." She further testified that Heard had treated her own sister badly, with a "kick-the-dog kind of relationship".[47]

Laurel Anderson, Depp and Heard's therapist in 2015, testified that there was "mutual abuse" during the marriage.[47][48][49] She described Heard as having a fear of abandonment that caused her to initiate violence against Depp, adding that Depp attempted to "de-escalate" the violence more than Heard, but testified the pair had both initiated physical confrontations.[50] She further testified both Depp and Heard had been beaten by a parent as children, characterizing Depp as "well controlled" over decades and not violent against previous partners, but that he was "triggered" when with Heard.[48] Anderson stated that for Heard, it was "a point of pride to her, if she felt disrespected, to initiate a fight" and that if Depp was "going to leave her to de-escalate a fight, she would strike him to keep him there. She would rather be in a fight to keep him there."[47][48][49] She stated she had seen bruises on Heard in both images and in person.[47][48][49]

In a pre-recorded deposition, Dr. David Kipper testified he had diagnosed Depp with ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, insomnia, substance dependence and chronic reflux.[51] Kipper stated he attempted to detox the actor of his drug addictions several years ago, with Depp saying he "didn't think he could do" and was concerned he would "never feel normal without his drugs."[47] Kipper denied witnessing violence between Depp and Heard, but said he observed the scene following an incident in Australia in March 2015, describing the rented property as "a mess. There were things that had been thrown around."[52] He described seeing blood and broken glass at the house.[51] He accompanied Depp to an Australian hospital following the incident, where he said he would withdraw his care if Depp did not comply with a drug treatment plan, saying Depp had to be "stable" for the surgery. Kipper also testified that sometime later, Depp texted him saying he had begun using Xanax as it "takes the edge off. I don't take them all that often, just when my brain is inundated with this badgering and half-truths from my wife."[47]

Debbie Lloyd, who worked with Dr. Kipper as a nurse, testified the relationship was "toxic" and that Heard would instigate arguments with Depp.[51][53] She said she attended Depp's rented house in Australia in 2015 after his finger injury, describing the property as being in disarray, with writing on the walls and a destroyed television set; she also described searching the property for Depp's severed fingertip.[51] Keenan Wyatt, Depp's on-set audio technician since the 1990s, testified he had never witnessed Depp being abusive.[53] He was onboard the flight from Boston to Los Angeles during which Heard alleges Depp was abusive towards her, and denied seeing Depp shout at Heard or pass out in the plane's bathroom.[54] Instead, he said Heard had been giving Depp "the cold shoulder" on the plane journey, and that she shouted at Wyatt after he attempted to speak to her.[55] Depp's security guard Sean Bett testified he had never seen Depp or Heard be violent towards each other, but said their relationship eventually descended to "constant arguing and bickering". Bett also presented to the court photographs he had taken in March and December 2015 of Depp's injuries.[56]

In his testimony, Depp said he had "never struck" Heard or any other woman,[53] and had sued her to clear his name and repair the damage her allegations caused to his career.[54] He described his childhood with an abusive mother, and admitted to having used drugs as self-medication to cope with his childhood trauma. He denied having been addicted to any substance other than Roxicodone, and stated that Heard had "grossly embellished" the extent of his "quote un-quote substance abuse".[57] Depp testified that Heard would often fire at him an "endless parade of insults", saying as these incidents "continued to escalate, I went straight to what I had learned as a youth, which was to remove myself from the situation so that it couldn't continue because there's only so much your ears can hear and never forget."[58]

Depp also testified that Heard had sometimes been physically abusive,[59][60] and testified about the specific incidents that Heard had alleged he had been violent.[61] He denied becoming violent over a comment Heard made about one of his tattoos in 2013,[60] and claimed Heard withheld his medication to help treat the withdrawal symptoms of his prescription painkiller addiction while he was detoxing in the Bahamas in 2014.[61] During the incident on a private plane flight from Boston in 2014, he testified that Heard had tried to initiate a fight,[61] but locked himself in a bathroom to avoid her and eventually fell asleep in there after taking two painkillers.[60] Audio recordings were played for the jury. In one recording, Heard tells Depp: "I did not punch you ... I did not fucking deck you. I fucking was hitting you. ... You're a fucking baby ... Grow the fuck up, Johnny. I did start a physical fight."[62]

He testified the argument in Australia in March 2015 originated after Heard had a conversation with Depp's lawyer about signing a postnuptial agreement. He said he once again locked himself in a bathroom while Heard was "banging on the doors and screaming obscenities and wanting to have a physical altercation."[58] He said he was left distraught by the incident, and relapsed by drinking vodka when he exited the bathroom. When Heard discovered him consuming alcohol, he says she threw two vodka bottles at him, severing a finger on his right hand.[58] He said he had a "nervous breakdown" after this.[60] After hiding in a closet for some time, he began writing on the walls with his own blood, "little reminders from our past that essentially represented lies that she had told me—lies that I had caught her in."[61] He said he lied to Australian healthcare professionals about the cause of the injury, saying he "didn't want to get her in trouble."[60] In December 2015, he stated he had accidentally headbutted Heard while trying to prevent her from attacking him, and that Heard had tried to fake breaking her nose with nail polish.[61] He additionally accused Heard hitting him in the face during an argument at her birthday party in April 2016,[61] and of leaving human feces on his side of the bed soon after.[60]

Under cross examination, Heard's legal team showed graphic and violent text messages Depp had sent to Heard as well as video and audio recordings of angry outbursts and threats of violence.[63][64][65][66] In one of them, Heard is heard stating that she had ended their relationship "a fucking week prior after you beat the shit out of me"[66] and telling Depp to put his "cigarettes out on someone else"[65] and accusing him of throwing a lit cigarette at her.[64] In his text messages to Heard and to other people, Depp was shown referring to her as a "cunt" and a "filthy whore", and stating that he had taken one of their fights "too far".[66] In a text message to actor Paul Bettany, Depp wrote "Let’s burn Amber… Let’s drown her before we burn her!!! I will fuck her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she’s dead." Depp stated that this was in reference to Monty Python.[66] In another recording from July 2016, Depp asks Heard, "Where do you want the scar?". Heard responds, "Don't cut your skin. Please do not cut your skin. Why would I do that. Please do not do that. Please don't cut yourself."[67]

In addition to violence, Depp was asked about several text and email messages where he appears to discuss using drugs and alcohol to excess, and to describe his substance abuse as "the monster".[63][66] Depp denied that the messages correctly reflected his use of substances. Depp was also shown several negative articles of him from 2014 until 2018, which Heard's lawyers allege demonstrate that Depp's reputation had been damaged prior to Heard's op-ed.[65] He called the articles "hit pieces" and denied knowing that the Daily Mail had reported that he had been fired from the Pirates franchise in October 2018, over a month prior to Heard's op-ed being published.[66]

Following Depp taking the stand, Tara Roberts, who had managed Depp's private island in the Bahamas at the time of the relationship, testified, denying that she had seen signs of injury on Heard.[68] She said that she had once seen Depp with "mark across the bridge of his nose" and had witnessed Heard calling him a "washed-up actor going to die a fat, lonely old man" during a dispute.[69] When cross-examined, Roberts described Depp's high tolerance for alcohol, and admitted that there had been an incident where Depp had fallen out of his hammock and had been found lying face down in the sand; Heard's lawyers allege that Depp had passed out.[70][71][69] Roberts also testified that shortly after this incident, she had arranged for Depp's two children and Heard to leave the island.

Pre-recorded testimony by officers Melissa Saenz and Tyler Hadden of the Los Angeles Police Department, who had responded to a May 2016 incident between the couple, was then played for the court. Both officers stated that they saw no visible signs of injury when they saw Heard despite saying that she looked "red with emotion" and that she was "uncooperative". They left the premises after determining no crime had been committed.[72] A third officer, William Gatlin, testified the following day that he had visited the penthouse later that same evening but also did not see any signs of injury on Heard, leaving after two minutes.[73]

Dr. Shannon Curry, a forensic psychologist hired by Depp's team, took the stand and provided evidence against Heard's claim that she had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) stemming from the relationship. Curry testified that she spent a total of 12 hours in two sessions with Heard, during which she conducted multiple mental health tests.[74][75][69] She also examined Heard's medical records and "all the case documents", as well as various documents, audio recordings, photos, and videos.[75][74] Curry testified that Heard was "grossly exaggerating symptoms of PTSD when asked about them", as Heard told Curry that she had 19 of the 20 "core symptoms" of PTSD, which Curry stated was "not typical of somebody with even the most disabling form of PTSD". After further interviewing Heard, Curry found that Heard only had three of the 20 "core symptoms" of PTSD; Curry concluded that Heard did not have PTSD.[75] Curry instead diagnosed Heard with borderline personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder, based in particular on her results from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Volume 2 (MMPI-2).[70][71][74][69][68] Curry testified that Heard's borderline personality disorder manifested in "instability" that is "driven by this underlying terror of abandonment".[75] Curry testified that people with borderline personality disorder "will make desperate attempts to prevent" abandonment, and that the disorder "seems to be a predictive factor for women who implement violence against their partner".[75] Histrionic personality disorder has correlations with "drama and shallowness", said Curry.[68]

Under cross-examination, Heard's lawyer argued that Curry's diagnosis of borderline personality disorder matched Depp's earlier claims about Heard,[70] and that Curry had been retained on the condition that she must diagnose Heard with a disorder; Curry denied both claims.[71] Curry admitted that Heard did not "exhibit patterns of behavior that suggests her allegations of abuse against Mr. Depp are false". Further, she testified that although she did not diagnose Heard with PTSD, it "doesn't mean that they weren't harmed psychologically by whatever is being alleged -- in this case, Ms. Heard is alleging that she was psychologically harmed and that she suffered PTSD because of abuse that she alleges occurred by Mr. Depp".[74] Heard's lawyer made the point to the jury that this statement differs from Curry's designation documents that were made when she was first hired by Depp's team, where it was stated that she had been hired to find that Heard was not abused.[70] Curry admitted that she had been hired after a dinner at Depp's house with his lawyer Adam Waldman, the legal team and the actor.[70][71] Curry also stated that she had not conducted any evaluation on Depp's mental state.[71]

A pre-recorder deposition of Alejandro Romero, who worked as a doorman at the building in which Depp and Heard lived together, was shown in court. Romero described a time where he had been called up to the unit, because Heard had reported hearing scratching on the door, and searched the unit but did not find anyone and believed the scratching had been a dog. He stated that he had not seen any injury marks on Heard’s face, or makeup covering it. He also mentioned his disapproval of being involved in the case.[76]

In a video recording, Terrence Dougherty, chief operating officer of the American Civil Liberties Union, testified that the ACLU was involved with "conceiving, drafting, and placing" the 2018 Washington Post op-ed that was credited to Heard, and that the goal was to "capitalize on the tremendous campaign for Aquaman," which Heard starred in.[77] Dougherty also stated that the piece had been edited multiple times by Heard's team and the ACLU, and that "based on my review of prior drafts of the op-ed, I knew that she was referring to Johnny Depp and her marriage."[78] Furthermore, Dougherty stated that of the $3.5 million Heard pledged to donate to the ACLU, which was half of her $7 million divorce settlement received from Depp, only $1.3 million had actually been received in four installments, of which only $350,000 was directly from Heard, $100,000 from Depp, $350,000 from a fund tied to Heard, and $500,000 from a Vanguard account believed to be of Elon Musk, who Heard was dating at the time. In 2019, the ACLU then learned that Heard was "having financial problems and could not fulfill the remainder of the pledge."[77][78]