Johnny Depp took the stand for a fourth day Monday to continue being cross-examined by Amber Heard’s attorneys in his lawsuit against his ex-wife.
Depp has been on the stand in Fairfax County Circuit Court since Tuesday afternoon. The actor has spent much of that time describing the couple’s volatile relationship and denying that he ever abused his ex-wife. Heard lawyers’ cross-examination of Depp, which lasted all of Thursday, resumed Monday.
Many of the questions have been pointedly focused on Depp’s drinking, drug use and charged interactions with Heard during their relationship as Heard’s attorneys try to derail his claim that she falsely portrayed him as a domestic abuser and ruined his acting career. On Monday, Heard’s attorneys played clips for jurors where Depp allegedly referred to the violence between the couple.
“The next move, if I don’t walk away … it’s going to be a bloodbath, like it was on the island,” Depp says on the recording. In another, he can be heard cursing at Heard, saying “”You stupid f–.”
Depp winced on the stand as the clips were played, while Heard appeared to fight back tears.
Steve Helber / AP
Depp said that Heard often violently attacked him and also abused drugs, calling the accusations of his drug addiction “grossly embellished.”
Depp argued that his movie career suffered after she wrote a 2018 op-ed piece in The Washington Post, which prompted his libel lawsuit. Heard never mentioned Depp by name in the article, but Depp’s lawyers said it was a clear reference to accusations Heard made when she sought a 2016 restraining order against him.
Depp said the accusations and the article contributed to an unfairly ruined reputation that made him a Hollywood outcast and cost him his role in the lucrative “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie franchise.