Johnny Depp again denied on Wednesday that he had been violent toward his ex-wife, Amber Heard, calling her testimony in the ongoing defamation case “insane” and “horrible.”
Depp’s lawyers called him to the stand to respond to a variety of matters that had come up over the six-week trial, as they continued to present their rebuttal witnesses.
Depp first testified over the course of four days in April.
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Depp is suing Heard for alluding to her domestic violence allegations against him in an op-ed in 2018, while Heard is countersuing him over statements his lawyer made accusing her of perpetrating an “abuse hoax.” Each has accused the other of damaging their careers.
“It’s insane to hear heinous accusations of violence – sexual violence – that she’s attributed to me,” Depp testified.
“Horrible, ridiculous, humiliating, ludicrous, painful, savage, unimaginably brutal, cruel, and all false. All false… No human being is perfect – certainly not – none of us. But I have never in my life committed sexual battery, physical abuse.”
Heard gave detailed and often emotional testimony earlier this month, in which she accused Depp of violence on numerous occasions. In one instance, she alleges that Depp penetrated her with a liquor bottle during a drug-fueled fight in Australia. She also testified that Depp had sexually assaulted her on other occasions, choked her, head-butted her, yanked out her hair and slapped her in the face. She also presented photos of bruises on her face and scratches on her arms, photos of the damage to their apartment, as well as contemporaneous therapy notes referencing the alleged abuse.
Depp was asked by his lawyers to respond to several other things. His former business manager, Joel Mandel, had testified that Depp rarely gave money to charity and instead preferred to lend his name to charitable causes.
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Depp called Mandel “a very bitter man,” and said he had sometimes made contributions without his name attached because “I don’t need the adulation. I don’t need the attention.”
Depp also denied Heard’s claim that he had taken 8-10 MDMA pills before the Australia incident, saying he had only taken MDMA about six or seven times in his life and never in high enough quantities to feel the drug’s full effect. Asked what would happen if he took as many pills as Heard suggested, Depp said, “I think one would die, probably rather quickly.”
Depp was also asked whether he had helped get Heard cast in the role of Mera in Justice League and Aquaman. Heard had testified that she obtained the role on her own by auditioning. Depp said that after the auditions, Heard asked him to call some top Warner Bros. executives, including Kevin Tsujihara. Depp claimed to have “curbed their worries to some degree.”
Depp also testified that he never saw the statements made by his lawyer, Adam Waldman, until Heard filed her countersuit against him in August 2020.
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Depp’s lawyer asked him how Heard’s allegations had affected him, when she first filed for a domestic violence restraining order in May 2016.
“It changed everything,” he said, drawing an objection from Heard’s lawyer.
“I don’t think anyone enjoys having to split themselves open and tell the truth, but there are times when one just simply has to because it’s gotten out of control,” Depp continued. “So this is not easy for any of us. I know that. But no matter what happens I did get here and I did tell the truth, and I have spoken up for what I’ve been carrying on my back, reluctantly, for six years.”
Heard’s lawyer Ben Rottenborn cross-examined Depp after lunch, drawing his attention to various quotes, texts and photos.
In one such quote, Depp said, “I have a lot of love inside me and a lot of anger. If I’m angry and I’ve got to lash out or hit somebody, I’m going to do it, and I don’t care what the repercussions are.”
Rottenborn also showed Depp a text message in which he unleashed a string of obscene epithets in reference to Heard, and said she is “begging for total global humiliation.” In another text, Depp allegedly referred to another woman’s anatomy as “rightfully mine,” and said, “I NEED I WANT I TAKE.”
Depp suggested that the text message had been doctored, or that someone else had sent the text from his phone.
“I don’t write like that,” he said. “I don’t have that kind of hubris or expectation.”
Rottenborn also suggested that Depp had tried to get Heard fired from “Aquaman” in June 2016. He pointed to a text from Depp to his sister, in which Depp wrote: “I want her replaced on that WB film!!!” He also asked if Depp had called Warner Bros. executives to urge that she be fired.
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Depp denied that, but said later that he “felt responsibility for having gone to those people and, y’know, painted such a beautiful picture.” He also said that the studio could face a “dilemma” because Heard was appearing in Aquaman – which he initially misstated as Aqua Net, a hairspray brand – while he was starring in the company’s Fantastic Beasts franchise.
“I had given my word to them,” Depp said. “I felt responsible that I had to tell them exactly what was going on and it was going to end up ugly.”
TMZ seeks to block Johnny Depp from calling ex-employee to testify
TMZ filed an emergency motion on Tuesday seeking to block Johnny Depp from calling one of its former employees to testify at his defamation trial in Virginia.
In the motion, TMZ said it was seeking to protect a confidential source who had provided the outlet with a video of Depp yelling at ex-wife Amber Heard and slamming cabinets. The video was played for the jury early on in the trial.
On Wednesday, May 25, Judge Penney Azcarate denied the motion, noting that Morgan Tremaine, a former TMZ field manager, is testifying voluntarily. She also held that TMZ’s concern for the confidentiality of its source is “not germane to the trial,” and said that TMZ can pursue Tremaine for any breach of a non-disclosure agreement in a separate proceeding.
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Tremaine was called to the stand on Wednesday afternoon but did not reveal anything about TMZ’s sources. He described receiving an email through the outlet’s tipline, which included a link to the video. He said he quickly downloaded it, added TMZ’s logo and the signature “bumper” sound, and published it within about 15 minutes. He said he did not know who sent the video.
Tremaine stated that he had contacted Depp’s legal team six days ago, after watching the trial. He said the version of the video that was played for the jury was longer — with additional material at the beginning and at the end — than the version received and published by TMZ in 2016.
TMZ’s lawyers argued that the identity of its source should be protected under the journalist’s privilege in Virginia law. The outlet also argued that Tremaine’s testimony would be irrelevant to the question of whether Depp and Heard defamed each other.
Depp’s attorney, Camille Vasquez, suggested during her cross-examination of Heard that she had leaked the video, and that the outlet had paid her for it.
“I didn’t do that,” Heard testified. “I had nothing to do with that.”
Vasquez also suggested that Heard’s team had tipped off TMZ when Heard went to court to obtain a restraining order against Depp in May 2016. Heard said she was “shocked” that photographers showed up, and suggested that it was in fact Depp’s divorce lawyer, Laura Wasser, who had close connections with TMZ.
In the motion, TMZ’s lawyer argued that Tremaine had nothing to do with its receipt of the video, and that any testimony he might give about the confidential source would be based on “rumour and conjecture.”
“TMZ promised this source that it would maintain their confidentiality and would not disclose their name or other information about them,” wrote the outlet’s attorneys. “TMZ makes such promises of confidentiality, from time to time, so that it may publish information in the public interest, and it relies on the journalist’s privilege protecting the identity of confidential sources to do so.”
Closing statements in the six-week trial are set for Friday.
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