Johnny Depp libel trial: ‘The only way out of the relationship was death,’ Amber Heard tells court

Amber Heard has told the High Court that Johnny Depp told her the only way out of their marriage “was death” and that while she loved one side of him, she was “terrified of the monster”.

In a statement submitted to the High Court in London, the actress, model and activist also alleges that Depp threatened to kill her multiple times.

On the first day of the 34-year-old giving evidence in the three-week libel trial, Depp – who finished giving his own evidence last week – watched proceedings from the public gallery.

Key points from day 10 at the High Court

• Heard described the relationship as like being with “two people”. She said she loved Johnny but was “terrified of the monster” – the name she says she and Depp used to describe the actor’s alleged violent outbursts
• The actress insisted she was “never violent” towards Depp and said she does not have a problem with her temper
• She alleges she was afraid of the actor and that she thought he was going to kill her
• In one of her witness statements, Heard says Depp accused her of having affairs with stars including Leonardo DiCaprio – who she says Depp nicknamed “Pumpkin Head”
• In court, Heard denied using make-up to pretend she was injured and leaking information to the media, and said she was telling the truth about her allegations

In one of several witness statements submitted to the court as part of the libel trial, Ms Heard accused Depp of subjecting her to verbal and physical abuse – including screaming, swearing, threatening behaviour, punching, slapping, kicking, head-butting and choking, as well as being “extremely controlling and intimidating”.

“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,” she said.

“He explicitly threatened to kill me many times, especially later in our relationship.”

The actress claimed Depp has a “unique ability to use his charisma to convey a certain impression of reality”.

“He is very good at manipulating people,” she said in her statement. “He would blame all his actions on a self-created third party instead of himself, which he often called ‘the monster’.”

In court, the actress was cross-examined by Eleanor Laws QC, representing Depp, who at the start of the day asked about an alleged argument between the couple over a pre-nuptial agreement.

The couple married in February 2015 and Heard says the row was not about being asked to sign any agreement. She told the court that Depp was accusing her of having an affair with a co-star at this time and that is what the row was about.

She said Depp: “Didn’t want to be the bad guy, so he would make it about other people… Johnny would say that’s what Christi wants.” Christi Dembrowski is Depp’s elder sister, who also runs his production company Infinitum Nihil.

Heard says the Pirates Of The Caribbean actor told her “time and time again” that he would “rip it up” and that the only way out of their relationship “was death”.

Heard said she was never interested in Depp’s money, and is financially independent.

Later on in court, Ms Laws asked Heard if she ever “got violent” with Depp, to which the actress said: “No, Johnny often put me in a situation where I was confronted with unimaginable frustrations and difficulties, often that were life-threatening to me.”

Heard said she would “try to defend myself when he got serious and when I thought my life was threatened, but I was never violent towards him”.

The court was played a recording of a conversation between the former couple, in which Depp could be heard to say: “I’m not the one who throws pots and whatever the f*** else at me.”

Ms Laws went on to say: “You were admitting throwing things at him but not in the context of self-defence. It sounds as if you are admitting throwing pots and pans.”

Ms Heard replied: “It might sound like that to you, but because I lived it I can explain to you… (it is) not what it sounds like.”

She also said she threw things “only to escape him”, adding: “I’m not admitting throwing pots and pans, I’m trying to keep Johnny on track in this argument or in this conversation.”

Heard admitted having “outbursts of anger at times” and that there were times “I lost my cool with Johnny”.

When asked about drugs use earlier in the day, Heard refuted that she had a problem with cocaine. She said she has taken the prescribed drug Provigil for much of her adult life, to treat narcolepsy and sleep pattern disruption.

She also admitted taking MDMA and mushrooms on a few specific occasions.

However, Heard said that Depp’s physician, Dr Kipper, had provided many additional drugs to her.

She told the court: “Johnny’s doctor had me on a long list of medications.” She says this was in order “to keep me sedated”.

Heard was asked about an earlier witness, security officer Starling Jenkins, who told the court last week that he saw her vomiting in a car park during the Coachella Festival.

The actress attended the music and arts festival with her sister and a group of friends shortly after celebrating her 30th birthday.

Heard says it was in fact her sister and that he must have got them mixed up. Earlier in the hearing, Mr Jenkins insisted he was certain it was Amber Heard whom he saw vomiting.

A medical note from the trip said Heard was “high for 24 hours straight”. Heard denied this, but said she spent 24 hours in bed.

Heard also alleged that Depp was “controlling” during their relationship, giving an example of a time she alleges the actor took her vintage Ford Mustang without asking, and didn’t return it to her for three-and-a-half years.

Heard she had to be driven by his staff and that this was a way of “controlling her”.

Ms Laws put it to her that this was not a good example of Depp’s “controlling behaviour” as Heard was able to “get out and about” by other means too.

Heard told the lawyer she wasn’t driven around by staff all the time, adding: “You pick your battles.”

The actress has provided seven witness statements to the court in total, detailing acts of physical, verbal and mental violence she alleges she suffered at the hands of Depp between 2011 and 2016.

Depp strenuously refutes all claims.

Heard is not a party to a claim in this case, but is the star witness for The Sun. Depp is suing the newspaper for libel after it referred to him as a “wife-beater” in a 2018 article written by Dan Wootton.

Depp is suing Heard in separate libel proceedings in the US over a December 2018 column she wrote in the Washington Post.

The High Court case continues.

(c) Sky News 2020: Johnny Depp libel trial: ‘The only way out of the relationship was death,’ Amber Heard tells court