US actor Johnny Depp appeared irate on Monday as he concluded his questioning in the libel trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard, which he filed after she accused him of domestic violence.
On the eighth day of hearing of the process, which takes place in a court in Fairfax, near Washington DC, recordings of heated discussions between the couple were played.
“Shut up, fat,” the star of Pirates of the Caribbean58 years old, tell Heard on a recording.
In another audiotape, Heard, 36, who had a leading role in the film Aquamanaccuses Depp of “hitting” her and throwing a “swing” at her.
Depp denied physically abusing Heard, stating that she was the one who was frequently violent.
Depp filed a defamation lawsuit against Heard for a column he wrote for Washington Post in December 2018, in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”
Heard never named Depp, but he sued her for implying he was an abuser and is demanding $50 million in damages.
Heard countersued, asking for $100 million and claiming she suffered “rampant physical violence and abuse” at his hands.
Depp and Heard met in 2009 on the set of the film Diary of a seducer and they married in February 2015. Their divorce was finalized two years later.
Heard’s lawyers questioned Depp a lot about his drug and alcohol use during the three days he was on the witness stand.
“If anyone had a problem with my drinking, at some point in my life, it was me,” he said. “The only person I’ve abused in my life has been myself.”
Heard’s attorney, Ben Rottenborn, also tried to convince the seven-person jury hearing the case that the allegations against Depp predated the article. Washington Post.
Rottenborn noted that Heard had filed a temporary restraining order against Depp in Los Angeles in May 2016, alleging abuse and citing headlines from several news articles.
Depp responded that all those notes sought to influence public opinion by presenting false or biased information. He also downplayed the harsh language he used to describe Heard in text messages to various friends.
“It’s just irreverent, abstract humor,” he said.
Depp filed the libel suit in the United States after losing another libel case in London in November 2020 that he brought against The Sun for calling him a “wife beater.”
