Johnny Depp reacts to photo Amber Heard took of him asleep with spilt ice cream
Lawyers representing Amber Heard cross-examined Johnny Depp for a full day on Thursday following his two days of testimony in his $50m (£38.2m) defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife.
The trial has now adjourned, and resumes on Monday for a third week at the Fairfax County Courthouse in Virginia.
Heard is being sued by Depp for implying he abused her in a 2018 op-ed. Although she did not name him, he claims her allegations have made it difficult for the actor to land movie roles, turning him from “Cinderella to Quasimodo” in Hollywood.
The actor has testified about a traumatic childhood with an abusive mother saying his relationship with Heard mirrored that, describing her as “bullying” him.
On Thursday, Heard’s lawyers challenged him over vulgar text messages he sent about her and his drug use and drinking.
His account of the severing of his finger in Australia was also disputed, and pictures of messages scrawled across mirrors in blood and paint were shown in court, as well as several secretly recorded arguments and fights.
The jury also saw messages between the pair in which Depp described one of their fights as a “Disco Bloodbath”.
RECAP: Why is Depp suing Heard?
If you’re just joining The Independent’s coverage of the trial opposing Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, here’s what you need to know:
Depp filed a lawsuit against his ex-wife Heard in March 2019, alleging that she defamed him in an op-ed she wrote in 2018 for The Washington Post.
The op-ed, which ran in December of that year, is titled: “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”
Depp isn’t mentioned by name in the op-ed, but his legal team has argued that it contains a “clear implication that Mr Depp is a domestic abuser”, which it says is “categorically and demonstrably false”.
Clémence Michallon explains:
Megan Sheets22 April 2022 18:40
Depp draws a laugh with happy hour joke
Depp created several moments of levity over three days of testimony, including during cross-examination on Thursday.
The actor noted that he was struggling with sobriety in the spring of 2013, after which Heard’s attorney Ben Rottenborn asked: “You would sometimes drink whiskey during the morning at that time?”
“I mean, isn’t happy hour any time?” Depp replied, spurring a ripple of laughs in the gallery.
Megan Sheets22 April 2022 18:10
Depp reacts to photo of himself asleep with spilt ice cream
Heard’s lawyers placed an emphasis on his drug use throughout cross-examination as they tried to poke holes in his timeline of sobriety.
At one point, the court was shown an unflattering photo in which Depp is seen asleep on a couch with ice cream spilling down his lap.
Depp said the photo was taken by Heard after he had worked a 17-hour day and taken some opioids.
He said Heard gave him the ice cream “because she knew what was going to happen”.
Megan Sheets22 April 2022 17:40
Depp admits to ‘disgraceful and odious behaviour’ in notes to Heard
The jury learned that Depp and Heard used to write messages to each other in a journal on Thursday as her legal team presented examples in court.
In a message dated Sunday 27 September 2015, Mr Depp wrote, “I can’t express how sorry I am for having stooped so low … to have spewed such vicious untruths for the sole purpose of hurting you – I am far from being proud of myself for such a grievous error!!! Shameful…”
“I will never allow myself to resort to such disgraceful and odious behavior… No matter what!!!” he added.
The Independent’s Gustaf Kilander reports:
Megan Sheets22 April 2022 17:10
Heard cringes at audio of Depp telling her ‘I f**king hate you’
Heard cringed in court as a jury heard audio of Depp gagging and berating her during cross-examination on Thursday.
On the graphic recording, Depp could be heard saying to Heard: “You’re a c*** and I f***ing hate you and I want out.”
The court was also played a string of recordings of other fights between the couple.
In one Depp said: “I become irrational when you’re doing movies, I become jealous and f****** crazy and weird and we fight a lot more.”
The Independent’s Grame Massie reports:
Megan Sheets22 April 2022 16:40
Court hears audio of Depp moaning like a ‘pained animal’
During questioning about the 2014 flight from Boston to Los Angeles, Depp acknowledged that he had a bad reaction to mixing alcohol with opioids.
The court then heard three audio excerpts in which he seeminly moaned in pain.
“It sounds like a pained animal and it’s my voice,” Depp said in response to the audio.
In the last excerpt, his former security guard Jerry Judge can be heard saying, “I’m going to stay with this f***ing idiot in case he gets sick”.
Megan Sheets22 April 2022 16:10
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Megan Sheets22 April 2022 15:50
Depp says he feared Heard was having an affair with James Franco
Much of Thursday’s cross-examination centred around a May 2014 flight from Boston to Los Angeles, during which Heard and Depp had a fight.
Heard’s lawyers sought to portray jealousy as the catalyst of the fight, bringing up his frustration that Heard was at the time filming a movie with James Franco.
Depp confirmed he did fear that Heard and Franco were having an affair and said it was “highly likely” that they had a heated discussion about his suspicions.
The Independent’s Gustaf Kilander reports:
Megan Sheets22 April 2022 15:40
Heard begs Depp not to cut himself in disturbing audio
Shocking audio played in court at the end of Thursday’s proceedings featured Heard begging Depp not to cut himself two months after she filed for divorce.
Heard grew emotional as the jury heard the clip in which Depp implored her to cut him with a knife, while he also wiped his eyes and grabbed a tissue.
The knife in question had “Until death” inscribed in Spanish, as well as “Slim”, Depp’s nickname for his ex-wife.
“Want to cut me somewhere?” Depp could be heard saying in a low voice on the recording.
Heard replied: “Just don’t cut your skin, please don’t. Why would I do that? Please don’t cut yourself.”
The Independent’s Graeme Massie reports:
Megan Sheets22 April 2022 15:10
Depp asked about vulgar texts about Heard
Thursday’s cross examination of Depp began with him being asked about texted messages in which he said he wanted to “burn” and “drown” Heard.
Depp had sent the texts in question to his friend Paul Bettany in June 2013.
“Let’s drown her before we burn her!!! I will f*** her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she is dead…” the actor wrote in one message.
The Independent’s Gustaf Kilander reports:
Megan Sheets22 April 2022 14:40