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VIRGINIA: Hollywood actor Johnny Depp branded allegations of domestic violence and sexual abuse ‘heinous and disturbing’ as he took the witness stand at the US defamation trial against his former wife, Amber Heard.
“There were arguments and things of that nature but never did I myself reach the point of striking Miss Heard in any way,” Depp told the jury hearing the case at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Virginia. “Nor have I ever struck any woman in my life,” he added.
Depp said the “heinous and disturbing” allegations of physical abuse made against him were “not based in any species of truth”. The actor was asked by one of his lawyers why he had brought the defamation case against his ex-wife.
“I felt it my responsibility to stand up not only for myself, but stand up for my children,” Depp said, adding: “I wanted to clear my children of this horrid thing that they were having to read about their father that was untrue.”
“It’s strange when one day you’re Cinderella, so to speak, and then in 0.6 seconds you’re Quasimodo,” he added. The 58-year-old Depp took the stand on the fifth day of the blockbuster defamation trial.
Depp said his first experience with drugs came at the age of 11 when he would steal “nerve pills” from his volatile and abusive mother. “I have taken substances over the years, on and off, to numb myself of the ghosts, the wraiths, that were still with me from my youth,” he said.
However, Depp said he is not some maniac who needs to be high or loaded all the time. “The characterisation of my quote unquote substance abuse that’s been delivered by Miss Heard is grossly embellished and, I’m sorry to say, but a lot of it is just plainly false,” he added.
Heard listened attentively but impassively as Depp testified in a slow and measured voice punctuated by elaborate hand gestures.
Depp filed the suit after Heard wrote a column for The Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” The actress never named Depp but he sued her for implying he was a domestic abuser and is seeking $50 million in damages.
Heard, who was married to Depp from 2015 to 2017, countersued, asking for $100 million and claiming she suffered “rampant physical violence and abuse” at his hands.
Depp accuses Heard of seeking to “generate positive publicity for herself” ahead of the release of the film Aquaman, in which she had a starring role. Depp filed the defamation complaint against Heard in the United States after losing a separate libel case in London in November 2020 that he brought against the tabloid The Sun for calling him a “wife-beater.”
