Amber Heard concluded her four-day testimony in the defamation lawsuit brought by her ex-husband Johnny Depp on Tuesday.
Depp, 58, is suing Heard for $50 million over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018. Heard, 36, is countersuing Depp for $100 million.
In Heard's op-ed, she talked about becoming "a public figure representing domestic abuse." Although the op-ed didn't mention Depp by name, Depp's lawyers say that the piece was making reference to allegations Heard made against him during their divorce. When Heard filed for divorce in 2016, she also filed for a domestic violence restraining order.
This is the second time the couple has been at the center of a trial. In 2020, Depp sued the executive editor and publisher of The Sun for libel after calling him a "wife beater" in a headline. Depp lost the case, per NBC News.
Depp denies all allegations of abuse.
Tuesday marked the final day that Heard took the stand. Depp's legal team finished their cross-examination of Heard, which began on Monday. Here are the biggest revelations from her testimony.
Heard recalled meeting Depp on the set of a movie
Heard met Depp when they filmed the 2011 movie "The Rum Diary." Heard said they bonded over their love for "books and music, poetry," and that Depp seemed “very well-read and charismatic."
“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," she said in her testimony. "I thought it was unusual and remarkable. I left there feeling, like, ‘Wow.’”
In "The Rum Diary," Heard and Depp played on-screen lovers. When they kissed during their shower scene, Depp told the court in his testimony he felt something "real" for Heard.
“That moment ... felt like something I should not be feeling,” he said in his testimony. “I think there was something in the kiss in the shower that was real.”
Heard said she their relationship deepened when promoting the film. She said that the actor “saw” her “in a way that nobody else had.”
“He made me feel seen, made me feel like a million dollars. That kind of feeling where he just lavished gifts, lavished expressions of love, and how he’d never met a woman like me. I remember he took the foil off of this bottle and put it on my ring finger, and I had only been with him, like, days, maybe it was weeks at the time. It just felt very intense,” she said.
Depp formally separated from his long-term partner Vanessa Paradis in 2012.
She said her 'life was changed' the first time Depp allegedly hit her
While engaged to Winona Ryder in the '90s, Johnny Depp famously got a tattoo that read, "Winona Forever." When they split, he altered the tattoo to say "Wino Forever."
That same headline-making tattoo was brought up during a pivotal point in Heard's testimony.
Heard testified that Depp would "hit walls" and "smash up furniture," and once threw glass at her. But according to her testimony, the first time Depp was physically violent with her occurred after asked him about the tattoo.
The altercation transpired when they were sitting on the couch, having a "normal conversation" and listening to music. Heard said Depp was drinking at the time.
In this environment, Heard said she asked about the tattoo, which she described as being "muddled" and "faded," as well as "hard to read." Depp responded that it said, "Wino."
Heard laughed. "I thought he was joking. It didn't look like it said that at all. It was that simple," she said.
In response, Heard said Depp slapped her across the face.
"I laughed because I didn't know what else to do. I thought this must be a joke," Heard said. "This must be a joke because I didn't know what was going on. I just stared at him kind of laughing still thinking that he was going to start laughing too to tell me it was a joke. But he didn't."
Heard said that Depp proceeded to become more violent, slapping her again.
The altercation took her aback. "I will never forget it. It changed my life,” she said. "I didn't want this to be the reality. I know you don't come back from that."
Heard said that Depp started crying afterward, and said he would never do that again while apologizing. "'I thought I put the monster away, I've done it before, and it's done,'" Heard recalled Depp saying.
While testifying in late April, Depp denied hitting Heard over his tattoo. During his testimony, Depp said that he "never struck" Heard and would not "take great offense" to someone making fun of a tattoo on his body.
Heard gave her take on the severed finger fight, which took place during their honeymoon
A fight that took place in Australia in March 2015, two months after they got married, came up in both Heard's and Depp’s testimonies.
Depp characterized the fight as beginning with a conversation about a postnuptial agreement. Depp said that Heard instigated the fight: “She was irate and she was possessed." According to Depp, Heard “hurled” a bottle of vodka at her, severing the tip of his middle finger.
In Heard’s recollection of that evening, given during her testimony, the fight began when Depp accused Heard of having an affair with her "Danish Girl" co-star Eddie Redmayne.
Heard said memories of the night's violence came in “flashes.” She said Depp “(slammed) her against the wall hard,” threw her onto a ping-pong table, and slapped her on the face. According to Heard, Depp also threw a bottle at her, and said he would “carve up" her face.
Heard said Depp ended up on top of her, saying, “I f---ing hate you” repeatedly. She said she felt a “pressure on (her) pubic bone" and said Depp was penetrating her with a liquor bottle.
“I remember not wanting to move because I didn’t know if it was broken — I didn’t know if the bottle that he had inside me was broken,” she said.
“I was heartbroken. Eventually, I realized that I could be hurt because I was bleeding, but I convinced myself it wasn’t broken, that the bottle wasn’t broken, or else it would be a lot worse,” she said. “The discomfort I was feeling afterward paled in comparison to how scared (and) shocked I was. I was scared. I just married this man. I just married him.”
Heard said Depp injured his finger himself.
She described other instances of alleged abuse
Heard detailed multiple instances of abuse while on the stand. She said that Depp’s struggle with sobriety was one of the reasons why he would allegedly get so violent with her. Depp has testified that he was never “out of control” while being under the influence, per NBC News.
At one point, Heard said Depp accused her of stealing his cocaine, and performed a "cavity search" on her.
"He just shoved his fingers inside me. And I just stood there staring at the stupid light. I didn’t know what to do. I just stood there while he did that, he twisted his fingers around," Heard said.
On her final day of testimony, Heard said Depp assaulted her due to a sex scene in the movie "London Fields," which Heard starred in.
Heard said, “He was unhappy with me having done a sex scene in it that he claimed I didn’t tell him about,” she said. Heard claimed the scene was filmed with a body double, "unbeknownst" to her.
"I have an incredibly jealous man who is already upset with me for breaking the ‘rule’ about participating in a sex scene. He was irate. He called me a liar and a whore," she said.
After the physical fight, which took place at a remote chateau in France, Heard said she thought she had a concussion.
Heard described a time in which she 'landed a blow'
In his testimony, Depp said he was a victim of domestic abuse, and said Heard was physically abusive toward him.
While on the stand, Heard admitted to hitting her ex-husband. She said the first time she "landed a blow" was while trying to defend her sister, Whitney Henriquez, who had intervened in a fight.
“I remember this brief struggle we had. Whitney ... all of a sudden put herself in between,” Heard said.
Heard said that she noticed that Depp was getting ready to "swing" on Whitney when her back was turned towards a staircase. Heard said she sprung into action.
"I don't hesitate. I don't wait. In my head, I just instantly think of Kate Moss and the stairs and I swung at him," she said, referencing a rumored fight between Depp and his ex-girlfriend, model Kate Moss. "In all of my relationship to date with Johnny, I hadn't landed a blow and I, for the first time hit him, like actually hit him."
Heard said she didn’t think she would ‘survive’ her marriage
Heard said she filed for divorce in 2016 because she was afraid for her life.
“I knew if I didn’t, I’d likely not literally survive. I was so scared that it was going to end really badly for me. And I really didn’t want to leave him. I loved him so much. I would have done anything but I couldn’t do that one thing. I couldn’t stay,” she said.
Heard said she thought Depp tried to kill her during a fight in December 2015. During what she described as one of the “worst and most violent nights of (their) relationship,” Heard alleged that Depp pulled out hair, head-butted her, and tried to smother her with a pillow.
Heard said that as Depp "pounded" the back of her head and screamed he hated her, she believed she would die. “I got really still. And it felt in my body like quiet. And I thought, ‘This is how I die. He’s gonna kill me now,’” Heard said.
The alleged incident took place the day before her appearance on "The Late Late Show with James Corden." She said she used makeup to cover up bruising.
She said their relationship continues to affect her career
During her testimony, Heard said that her relationship and split from Depp affected her career.
In her final day of testimony, Heard said that Warner Bros. “didn’t want to include” her in “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” the “Aquaman” sequel, amid her divorce.
“I lost opportunities. I got dropped from jobs and campaigns. I fought to keep my job and the biggest movie opportunity I had to date," Heard said, referring to "Justice League" and the option to star in "Aquaman."
Heard said she "fought" to stay in the movies, but that her “Aquaman 2” role was pared back. “They basically took a bunch out of my role,” she said.
Since “Aquaman 2,” Heard said she has only filmed “one small independent film” called “In the Fire.”
Depp said that he also has missed out on professional opportunities. In testimony, Depp’s manager, Jack Whigham, said it was “impossible” for Depp to “get ... a studio film” after the publication of Heard’s op-ed.
In cross-examination, Heard defended her claims
During cross-examination, Depp's lawyer Camille Vasquez questioned Heard over her testimony.
Vasquez zeroed in on the 2015 fight in Australia. “You’re the one who assaulted someone with a bottle in Australia, isn’t that right, Ms. Heard?” Vasquez asked.
Heard responded, “I didn’t assault Johnny in Australia. I didn’t assault Johnny ever."
Vasquez asked why Heard didn't seek medical attention after the Australia fight, despite saying in testimony she had vaginal cuts after being penetrated with a bottle. Heard said she didn’t want people to know what was going on in her relationship.
Vasquez accused Heard of editing photos after alleged interactions, which Heard denied.
Vasquez presented photos of Heard taken days after the violent incidents, in which she displayed no visible sign of injury. Heard she said that she used makeup to hide her injuries. “And makeup covers up swelling right?” Depp’s legal team asked.
Heard responded, “Makeup will not cover up swelling. Ice will though.”
Vasquez also played the recording in which Heard encouraged Depp to "tell the world” he was a victim of sexual abuse.
Responding, Heard said she didn't think Depp could claim to be a victim. “I was saying it to the man who beat me up,” Heard said. “I found it hard to believe that he could or would do that given the relationship that he and I had. I thought that it would be crazy for him to do so knowing what we lived through."