Amber Heard completes testimony in civil suit over ex-husband Johnny Depp’s lawsuit – Reuters

Johnny Depp’s lawyers on Tuesday questioned the veracity of Amber Heard’s accusation that Depp sexually assaulted her with a bottle of alcohol.

Heard was cross-examined after her testimony in Depp’s libel suit against her.

Depp is suing Heard in Fairfax County Circuit Court in Virginia over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic violence.” His lawyers say he was defamed by the article even though he never mentioned his name. The trial is now in its fifth week.

Depp’s attorney, Camille Vasquez, questioned Heard about a variety of incidents in which she says she was assaulted by Depp.

The interrogations were particularly intense during a fight the couple had in March 2015 in Australia, shortly after their wedding, while Depp was filming a fifth film in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise.

It was during this fight that Heard says she was sexually assaulted. Depp, on the other hand, says he was the victim and lost the tip of his middle finger when Heard threw a bottle of vodka at him.

Vasquez asked why Heard never saw a doctor, even though she said her feet were cut by broken glass and she was bleeding after the attack.

“You were the one who assaulted someone with a bottle in Australia, weren’t you, Mrs. Heard?” Vasquez asked.

“I didn’t assault Johnny in Australia. I never assaulted Johnny,” Heard replied.

Vasquez then asked why Heard wrote a series of love notes to Depp in the months after he said she was assaulted.

Heard said she thought Depp had hit rock bottom after the Australia fight and was committed to staying sober. She said most of the assaults took place while Depp was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

“When things were going well, they were going really well,” she said.

The jury also saw a recording of a deposition Heard gave in 2016 as part of her divorce in which she appeared to inadvertently admit that she told celebrity news outlet TMZ about some aspects of her original divorce proceedings.

Heard told the jury that she was surprised when paparazzi swarmed her court appearance asking for a temporary restraining order and that she tried to avoid publicity as much as possible.

During the 2016 deposition, however, Heard put her hands to her lips as if she had dropped something by mistake after saying she wanted Depp to learn about the divorce file “from another source other than TMZ, who was alerted…”

“You slipped up there, didn’t you, Mrs. Heard?” Vasquez asked.

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Heard replied.

During the reconsideration review, Heard said she “had my team file in the most low-key way, literally put it under a pile of papers and file it at the end of the day so that ‘she’s more likely to be missed by the paparazzi and by TMZ.”

Heard’s redirection interrogation lasted only a few minutes, as Depp’s attorneys objected to nearly every question Heard’s attorney, Elaine Bredehoft, tried to ask.

After Heard’s testimony was completed, jurors heard recorded testimony from a mutual friend of the couple, iO Tillett Wright, who said Depp confided in him that he hated sobriety.

“He wanted to get sober for Amber,” Tillett Wright said. “He didn’t like being sober. It wasn’t fun, and it was painful and exhausting and very hard to do. He really, really resented being sober.”

Tillett Wright said Depp’s personality became mean and paranoid when he used alcohol or drugs.

There was also testimony about Heard’s $100 million counterclaim against Depp. She says she was defamed by Depp’s lawyer, Adam Waldman, when he called Heard’s accusations a hoax.

Heard said the accusations hurt his career, but Vasquez pointed to a series of negative articles about Heard that preceded Waldman’s comments.

The jury also heard an audio recording of a verbal brawl between the two in which each belittled the other’s acting career. Heard laughed mockingly at Depp’s defining role on the ’80s TV show “21 Jump Street.”

“Hey, at least I haven’t done, like, a teen show where I’m an idol. God, that would be, like, embarrassing,” Heard said.

Depp responded with a dismissive comment on Heard’s biggest movie role yet, shouting “Aquaman!” in a mocking way to denigrate the superhero movie.

And Heard took offense when Vasquez suggested Heard only got the role in “Aquaman” with Depp’s help.

“Excuse me?” Heard said. “No, Mrs. Vasquez, I got this role by auditioning.”