Amber Heard and Johnny Depp were back in court on Monday after a weeklong hiatus in their defamation trial. The Aquaman star, 36, testified about her “violent and chaotic” relationship with Depp, claiming most of their fights ended with her being assaulted. But she insisted no argument ended with human fecal matter in their marital bed.
One of the many headline-grabbing claims during trial is that, in April 2016, there was “human fecal matter” left on Depp’s side of the bed. (The topic even made it into Saturday Night Live’s latest cold open.) Last month, the court was shown a photo of the defecation, which Heard insinuated was from the pair’s small dogs, Boo or Pistol, not a prank played by her or her friend.
“What if any issues did Boo have with bathroom problems, if you will?” Heard’s lawyer, Elaine Bredehoft, asked.
“She had eaten Johnny’s weed when she was a puppy and had bowel control issues for her entire life, among some other issues, we regularly had to take her to the vet,” Heard replied. “She had some control issues.”
Heard said she left the dogs in bed while she packed for Coachella.
“Did you commit any kind of prank?” Bredehoft asked.
“Absolutely not,” Heard replied. “First of all, I don’t think that’s funny. I don’t know what grown women does. I was also not in a pranking mood, my life was falling apart.”
Heard testified Depp abused her the night before.
“I had just been attacked on my 30th birthday by my violent husband with whom I was desperately in love and knew I needed to leave. It was not really a jovial time and I don’t think that’s funny, period. That’s disgusting,” the actress added.
Heard claimed that the night prior, Depp chest-bumped her “in a kind of bro-y way.” When she was on the ground, he allegedly grabbed her pubic bone.
“He kind of pushed my down and was asking me: ‘You’re so tough? You wanna be tough like a man now?” she claimed.
The actress said she used their safe word “couch,” which meant truce.
“I was just so tried, hurt. I remember crying, feeling ridiculous,” she told a jury.
As Depp left their penthouse that night, Heard said the actor purportedly yelled out, “Happy f****** birthday!”
The April 2016 incident was one of many Heard walked the jury through. The former spouses didn’t see each other for a month after the fight on her birthday. They met up in May 2016 after Depp’s mother passed away. Heard said they got into a fight about the fecal matter as Depp was certain it was human feces.
“I thought it was just a delusion he was having,” Heard said. She claimed Depp threw a cell phone that hit her in her face. He then whacked “me on the top of my head.” The actress testified her friend and neighbor ran in and saved Heard.
Depp has denied all of his ex-wife’s allegations of abuse. The actress is expected to face cross-examination from Depp’s legal team later on Monday. Heard’s spokesperson preemptively issued a statement.
“There’s an old saying by trial lawyers: when the facts are on your side, argue the facts. When the facts are not on your side, pound away on the podium. Today, we expect Depp’s attorneys will instead pound away on the victim. We fear it will be equal parts shameful and desperate. And, the overwhelming evidence — the truth — is not on Depp’s side,” Heard’s rep said. “The one thing we suspect Depp’s attorneys will avoid is the central issue of this trial: does Amber or any woman have the First Amendment Right of Freedom of Speech.”
Depp is suing Heard for $50 million for a 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as a victim of domestic and sexual abuse.
MORE: Amber Heard claims Johnny Depp performed ‘cavity search’ for cocaine, ripped ‘my underwear off’
