The libel jury called in Johnny Depp against his ex-wife, the actress belongs to amberShe heard audio on Monday in which the actor hinted at the violence that could ensue if their altercations escalated.
“The next step, if I don’t go, will be a bloodbath, like on the island,” Depp says on the recording.
Last week, the actor testified that Heard threw a bottle at him during a fight in Australia in 2015, cutting off his finger, and that he began writing on the walls in his own blood to tell the lies where she had caught him.
In other audio clips heard Monday, Depp yells loudly at his wife with vulgarities, calling her a demeaning name and saying, “Stupid (expletive)!”
Depp winced as the videos played. Footage when Heard appeared to be fighting back tears.
Depp is suing Heard for defamation over a 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post in which she described herself as a “public figure who depicts domestic violence.”
The audio files were part of a grueling cross-examination of Depp that ended Monday morning when he took the stand for a fourth day to testify on his allegations that Heard misrepresented him as a domestic abuser.
Heard’s attorneys continued their barrage of questions during cross-examination, focusing on Depp’s drug and alcohol use and his explosive interactions with Heard during their relationship.
During Monday’s testimony, Depp actually said very little. Most of the interrogations consisted of Heard’s attorney playing audio clips or reading vulgar text messages from Depp and asking the actor if he read them correctly.
Throughout the interrogation, Depp expressed dissatisfaction with questions from Heard’s attorney, Benjamin Rottenborn. Interrupting a response, Depp said, “I’ve been talking.” When Rottenborn said he considered the question fully answered, Depp replied, “As long as you’re happy.”
Depp also expressed his disapproval when Rottenborn read the headlines of a series of negative articles about the actor, some of which dated back to 2014.
“It’s all fake news. They’re trash,” Depp said.
Rottenborn submitted the articles to show that it wasn’t the 2018 post at the heart of the case that tarnished his reputation, but a long history of bad behavior.
While the defamation lawsuit is said to focus on whether Depp was defamed in the article, most of the lawsuit has focused on ugly details of the couple’s brief marriage. Depp denies hitting Heard, while Heard’s attorneys argue that Depp physically and sexually abused her and that his denials are unfounded. because he was often so drunk and on drugs that he didn’t remember what he was doing.
Depp last spoke on Thursday. Heard’s attorneys cited his history as a hotel room vandal and an occasion when he broke a bathroom light during an argument with Heard. Depp is also facing a lawsuit filed by a member of a production team alleging the actor assaulted him in 2018.
The jury saw dozens of text messages from Depp to his friends about his alcohol and drug use and his interactions with his then-wife, as well as his regretful notes to Heard and her father.
Depp claims the allegations and Heard’s article helped unfairly ruin his reputation, made him a Hollywood outcast and cost him his role in the lucrative Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. (“Pirates of the Caribbean”). Heard’s lawyers say the damage to Depp’s reputation is the result of his own wrongdoing.
Depp has been testifying in Fairfax County Circuit Court since Tuesday afternoon. The actor has explained that Heard abused drugs and that it was she who physically assaulted him. He called the drug allegations against him “extremely embellished”, although he admitted to having taken a lot of drugs.