Court hears audio of Johnny Depp asking Amber Heard to cut him. Video / AP
Warning: Contains distressing content
In an audio tape played in court, Hollywood actor Johnny Depp can be heard repeatedly begging his then wife Amber Heard to "cut" him as he held a knife.
The chilling recording was played to the High Court in London on Friday, in the case Depp brought on against The Sun, for a 2018 article in which the British newspaper called him a "wife beater".
"Cut me, cut me, if you don't, I will," the 57-year-old actor can be heard saying.
The shocking exchange reportedly took place in July 2016, a month before the couple's divorce settlement.
As his wife protested, he can be heard yelling "cut, cut, cut" then calling her a "p***y".
"Put the knife down. Just put the f***ing knife down. Don't. Do not do that. Do not that do Johnny. Please, you're gonna hurt yourself," Heard tells him at one point.
"I wanna look at you. I wanna look at you. There's a way for the pain to go away," he replies.
Heard then tells Depp "it doesn't make it go", before the audio ends.
At one point, a housekeeper knocks, interrupting the argument.
Depp tells her "no thank you" and reportedly makes an obscene sexual reference to the state of their bedding.
"You're threatening to cut yourself in front of Ms Heard and you're actually holding a knife at the time," Sasha Wass QC, for The Sun, told Depp in court.
"I was asking her to cut me. If she wasn't willing I would do it myself," he replied.
The court was also shown a text sent on August 15, 2016 - the day of the couple's divorce settlement. The text was sent by Depp to his agent.
In the message, the actor threatens to "slice" off Elon Musk's genitals, believing him and Heard were having an affair.
Musk has denied having an affair with Heard, although the pair dated for about a year after she split from Depp.
The case continues.
Actress Amber Heard leaving the High Court in London after a hearing in Johnny Depp's libel case against the publishers of The Sun and its executive editor, Dan Wootton. Photo / Getty Images
FULL TRANSCRIPT OF MOMENT DEPP HOLDS A KNIFE
Depp: You wanna cut me. Cut me wherever you want. You wanna cut me somewhere. On the arm, chest? Where do you wanna start? Cut me.
Amber: Don't cut your skin. Please do not cut your skin. Why would you do that? Please do not.
D: It's easy.
A: Please do not do that. Please do not cut yourself. You don't need to cut yourself.
