Jack Whigham, Depp's talent manager, failed to convince Pirates of the Caribbean producers to continue to employ Depp. Video / AP
Actor Amber Heard told jurors on Wednesday (US time) how difficult it has been for her to relive her troubled marriage to Johnny Depp as part of a libel lawsuit he filed against her.
Taking to the stand for the first time, Heard said it was "the most painful and difficult thing I've ever gone through."
"I struggle to find the words to describe how painful this is," she said at the outset of her testimony. "This is horrible for me to sit here for weeks and relive everything."
"Hear people that I knew — some well, some not — my ex-husband with whom I shared a life, speak about our lives in the way that they have."
Heard's testimony comes after a psychologist hired by her lawyers testified that Heard suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from multiple acts of abuse, including sexual violence, inflicted on her by Depp.
In her opening statements, Heard said she struggled to find the words for the pain of sitting through the last three and a half weeks of the trial. Photo / NBC
Depp is suing Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court after she wrote a December 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post describing herself as "a public figure representing domestic abuse".
The article never mentions Depp by name, but Depp's lawyers say he was defamed nevertheless because it clearly referred to accusations she made in 2016 during their divorce proceedings.
Depp spent four days on the stand earlier in the trial, testifying he never struck Heard and that he was the abuse victim. He said he was punched and struck by her on many occasions, and that she threw things at him. He described Heard as having a "need for conflict."
Psychologist Dawn Hughes, in her testimony Tuesday, acknowledged that Heard at times perpetrated physical violence against Depp, but said it paled in comparison to violence she suffered, which left her intimidated and fearful for her safety.
During cross-examination Wednesday, Hughes acknowledged that she wasn't making factual determinations that Depp assaulted Heard on specific occasions. But she testified that Heard's account of her experiences are consistent with accounts of those experiencing domestic violence.
Hughes testified that sexual assaults included being forced by Depp to perform oral sex. On cross-examination, though, Depp's lawyers noted that Heard denied being forced to perform oral sex during psychological testing performed as part of Hughes' evaluation.
Hughes said Heard initially was framing the encounters as consensual but "angry sex."
"She wasn't framing them as physical force," Hughes said.
While on the stand, Heard recounted her first meeting with Depp.
Johnny Depp in court. Photo / AP
She described a meeting she had with him for his film The Rum Diary in the late 2000s. She said she thought it might be an audition, but turned out to be a meeting. Heard said they clicked in a way she hadn't anticipated.
"We talked about books and music, poetry. We like a lot of the same stuff. Obscure writers and interesting books and pieces of poetry I haven't heard anyone else know or reference or like," she recalled.
She described Depp as "very well read and charismatic." Heard said she may have left his office with a few books he'd lent her.
"I knew who he was. I wasn't a fan of his work. I wasn't familiar with him, but I knew who he was. I knew he was one of the most famous people in the world," she said. "It was weird because he's twice my age and this famous actor and here we are getting along about old books and the blues. I thought it was unusual and remarkable. I left there feeling like 'wow.'"
Eventually, Heard said Depp called her and told her, "You're it. You're the dream, kid."
The trial, now in its fourth week, continues to capture public attention. More than 100 people were lined up Wednesday before 7am — three hours before proceedings began — outside the courthouse for the 100 seats made available in the courtroom. Most were Depp supporters and fans.
