Johnny Depp and ex-wife Amber Heard arrive at London's High Court for legal showdown. Video / AP
Amber Heard has alleged in court that Johnny Depp explicitly threatened to kill her "many times" and that she was afraid of him.
In her witness statement, she claimed: "As I talk about in this statement, some incidents were so severe that I was afraid he was going to kill me, either intentionally or just by losing control and going too far. He explicitly threatened to kill me many times, especially later in our relationship."
In a remarkable first day on the witness stand, Heard said her ex-husband accused her of having affairs with a string of Hollywood stars, branded her "fame-hungry" and that they fought on their wedding night over his drug use.
Heard has begun the first of three days of evidence at the High Court as part of Johnny Depp's libel case against The Sun over allegations of domestic violence during the pair's tempestuous relationship.
The actress, 34, has been present throughout the trial at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, watching from the public gallery as her ex-husband, 57, gave evidence over five days.
Today, Heard is facing questions over 14 allegations of domestic violence - all denied by Depp - which the tabloid's publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN) relies on in its defence of an April 2018 article that called the Hollywood star a "wife beater".
The alleged affairs
Heard said Depp accused her of having affairs with stars including Leonardo DiCaprio, who he nicknamed "pumpkin-head".
Heard said she had to justify to Depp why she accepted film roles and said the situation was "much worse" if there were sex scenes or kissing.
She has alleged that Depp would "taunt" her and had nicknames for all of her male co-stars that he considered a "sexual threat".
In this court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook, actress Amber Heard is questioned by Sasha Wass QC as she gives evidence at the High Court in London. Photo / AP
In a witness statement filed as part of Depp's High Court libel case against The Sun over allegations of domestic violence, Heard said Depp "demanded" to know about romantic scenes in her films and "complained about how people can watch me 'get f***ed on camera'".
She said: "He would insist every male actor was trying to sleep with me and/or that I had had an affair with them, that he'd spoken to people and knew all about it.
"He would try and catch me out by taking my phone or telling me someone had told him I was having an affair and act as if he had information proving it - when I really hadn't.
"He accused me of having affairs with each of my co-stars, movie after movie: Eddie Redmayne, James Franco, Jim Sturgess, Kevin Costner, Liam Hemsworth, Billy-Bob Thornton, Channing Tatum; even women co-stars like Kelly Garner.
"He also accused me of having affairs with stars I auditioned with, like Leonardo DiCaprio. He would taunt me about it - especially when he was drunk or high - and had derogatory nicknames for every one of my male co-stars he considered a sexual threat.
"For example, Leonardo DiCaprio was 'pumpkin-head', Channing Tatum was 'potato-head' and 'Jim Turd Sturgess'."
Heard, 34, said Depp, 57, would even get himself copies of the scripts she was looking at, without asking her, in order to "review them for himself".
She said: "His rules got tighter every year we were together about what nudity or scenes were acceptable, wanting descriptions of every detail, every aspect of scenes and how they were covered, placing increasing restrictions on what I could and couldn't do."
Johnny Depp arrives at the High Court in London to hear Amber Heard give evidence. Photo / AP
Heard said she found herself turning down work, and said her salary fell every year she was with him.
She said he was "very jealous" and would obsess about who she had slept with and been out with before him.
Heard said: "He spoke possessively of me as 'my woman' and made comments that he wished he had found me before I had slept with anyone else, joking he would have locked me away at 14.
The Australian 'three-day hostage situation'
Later, while in Australia, she described a "three-day hostage situation" with Depp where he allegedly went on a drug binge, attacked her, urinated in front of people and hid raw meat in a wardrobe.
She said she went to visit him in Australia in March 2015 while he was filming Pirates Of The Caribbean and they were due to be alone for three days.
Heard said she feared for her life and described it as "the worst thing I have ever been through".
In a witness statement filed as part of Depp's High Court libel case against The Sun over allegations of domestic violence, Heard said her ex-husband was making "all kinds of nonsensical accusations" about her as well as having "strange, paranoid hallucinations".
Amber Heard arrives at the High Court in London to give evidence. Photo / AP
She said: "The best way I can describe what happened in Australia is that it was like a three-day hostage situation.
"We were due to be there for three days on our own, but it was only when I arrived that I realised I was trapped in this remote place without any means to leave and that Johnny had already been using and had a bag of drugs.
"I was in a remote house, at least 20 minutes from help; where I could not leave; was trapped and isolated with a violent person suffering from manic depression, bipolar disorder and a pattern of repeated, drug-induced psychosis and violence, who was on a multiple-day drug and alcohol binge.
"Over the course of those three days, there were extreme acts of psychological, physical, emotional and other forms of violence.
"It is the worst thing I have ever been through. I was left with an injured lip and nose and cuts on my arms."
Heard alleged that at one point Depp grabbed her by the neck, shoved her against the fridge and said he could "crush" her neck.
She said there was broken glass everywhere, and alleged that he ripped off her nightgown so that she was naked.
"At some point he pulled me around by my neck and pushed me down against the bar, I was against the bar, naked, bent over backwards, my back against the marble. He was pressing so hard on my neck I couldn't breathe. I was trying to tell him that I couldn't breathe.
"I remember thinking he was going to kill me in that moment," she said.
The next day, she said she noticed that Depp's finger had been cut off, explaining in her statement: "I didn't actually see the finger being cut off, but I was worried that it had happened the night before.
"I figured it might have happened when he was smashing the phone on the wall by the fridge."
Heard was 'captivated' by Depp
Amber Heard has said it felt like she was "dating a king" at the start of her relationship with Johnny Depp due to his fame and the way he lived.
The actress said she was "captivated" by him, thought he was "engaging and intellectual and dark and funny", and said that when they were together "it was like we were the only people in the world".
But in a witness statement filed as part of Depp's High Court libel case against The Sun over allegations of domestic violence, Heard said that on their wedding day she had "never felt more lonely in my life".
Heard, 34, said Depp had pursued her romantically when they were filming The Rum Diary in 2009, but nothing happened because she was in a relationship at the time with Tasya van Ree.
However, she said she liked him, found him "charismatic and interesting", and recalled them hanging out sometimes with the director "just drinking wine and talking".
Amber Heard is seen through the window of a car as she leaves the High Court in London. Photo / AP
"We had a lot of things in common, like blues music - I love blues.
"After that shoot, I didn't hear from him directly, although he would send me gifts," she said, adding that she declined a guitar he tried to deliver to her house.
Heard said the next time she saw Depp was in 2011 when they were promoting The Rum Diary.
She said his publicist invited her to meet Depp and the director in a hotel room for a drink, but when she got there it was just Depp.
"Our romantic relationship then began," she said.
Later that year, Depp invited her to spend a weekend at the Trump SoHo in New York.
"I booked a room and met him there. I remember I had to go out to run an errand, and when I came back, my bags were in his room. He said he had them moved and I would stay with him now."
"At the time, I thought it was kind of romantic," she said.
The pair drank red wine together late into that first night, she said, adding: "When Johnny and I were together, it was like we were the only people in the world. We loved the same music, and poetry, and art - we would just sit and talk for hours.
"He was engaging and intellectual and dark and funny. He knew so much about life, and he had lived longer and so much more than me.
"I was captivated. I had never been with someone like him."
When she woke up the next morning, she said she remembers that Mr Depp was drinking champagne "and a lot of it".
She said: "I didn't think so much of it at the time. It didn't seem out of control, and back then he was always subdued, and sort of dark and intense when he was with me."
'Lonely' wedding night
In early 2012, Heard went to meet Depp on his private island in the Bahamas, and this is where she said their relationship "really began".
Heard said Depp told her that he had split from his former partner Vanessa Paradis, but that it was not public yet.
He said they had to be careful about how the news of their new relationship got out because he was concerned Heard would get blamed for his split with Paradis, Heard said in her statement.
She added: "He only allowed me to tell a few family members and close friends about our relationship, and in those days we could never be seen in public together.
Amber Heard waves as she arrives at the High Court in London. Photo / AP
"When I would go to his compound on Sweetzer Avenue in Los Angeles or meet him on set he would send a driver for me, and I would have to hide under a blanket in the car.
"When we were together it was always just the two of us. We would be at his compound, behind gates. It was like I was dating a king, with his level of fame and the way he lived.
"I learned then that I had to suspend all expectations of normalcy, but I later came to understand how this protected him, isolated me and facilitated unacceptable behaviour."
Laws said: "You took the important decisions in the relationship."
Heard replied: "No, I had very little decision-making power in that relationship."
Laws then asked about the five penthouses in the Eastern Columbia Building in Los Angeles which Mr Depp owned, and said to Heard that she "moved some friends and your sister in".
Heard replied: "Not exactly."
She added that her sister, Whitney Henriquez, did move into one of the penthouses and that her friend Raquel Pennington did so "at his invitation".
Laws continued: "And it was you who wanted them there."
Heard replied: "Yes, I loved that they were there."
Laws asked: "And none of them paid any rent?"
Heard said: "No, Johnny wouldn't let them."
Eleanor Laws then asked Amber Heard about the couple's marriage in February 2015, saying: "At that stage, according to you, you had been subject to repeated and regular physical violence, is that right?" Heard replied: "Yes, that's right."
Trouble over a pre-nup
Laws asked Heard about discussions with lawyers in January 2015 about a pre-nuptial agreement between herself and Johnny Depp, and suggested there was an argument about it.
Heard told the court: "There was an argument in a hotel room in Tokyo that resulted in Johnny kneeling on my back and hitting me on the back of the head.
Actor Johnny Depp gestures as he arrives at the High Court in London. Photo / AP
"He mentioned ... it was more about Christi his sister, who handled most of his affairs.
"He said it was Christi, that he didn't want that, that he trusted me and, as he said to me time and time again, the only way out of this was death.
"He said this to me, to which I responded that of course I would sign whatever I needed to sign.
"But then Johnny was also accusing me of having an affair with a co-star and that is what led to the actual argument."
She said Depp hit her in the hotel room and that "everything else proceeded in the closet".
Eleanor Laws then reiterated Amber Heard's answer that Johnny Depp did not really want a pre-nup, to which Heard responded: "I think Johnny, at least from my experience, had a very hard time ... asserting himself if he felt that would make you feel poorly or badly about him, he would try to avoid it. "He did this a lot with his kids, I saw him do it with other people... he didn't want to be the bad guy, in some ways, he was allergic to that."
She said Depp would tell her it was his sister who wanted the pre-nup and that she asked for a meeting with Christi (Dembrowski) and told her she would hire a lawyer, which she did.
Heard said the lawyer worked on a draft of an agreement and it was sent to Depp's team through Christi.
She added: "That is why we didn't need to have a fight about it because he wasn't claiming it was something he wanted, he said time and time again that he would tear it up, that the only way out of this was death."
Laws then asked why the pre-nup was never signed, to which Ms Heard said that it was left on Depp's "team's" desk and "no-one did anything".
"I made it very clear from the early days ... that I was not interested in Johnny's money, I never had been, I never was," Heard told the court.
Depp is suing NGN and Wootton over the publication of an article on April 27, 2018, with the headline: "Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be 'genuinely happy' casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?"
His lawyers say the article bore the meaning there was "overwhelming evidence" Depp assaulted Heard on a number of occasions and left her "in fear for her life".
NGN is defending the article as true, and says Depp was "controlling and verbally and physically abusive towards Ms Heard, particularly when he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs".
Depp is suing Heard in separate libel proceedings in the US over a December 2018 column in the Washington Post, which did not mention Depp by name, but said the actress received "the full force of our culture's wrath for women who speak out".
