Johnny Depp testified for a second day on Wednesday in an attempt to clear his name from Amber Heard‘s “diabolical” abuse allegations. The 58-year-old actor revealed new details about his and Heard’s tumultuous four-year relationship and painted her as the instigator. Depp is suing his ex-wife for defamation.
“Ms. Heard, in her frustration, in her rage, in her anger, she would strike. It could begin with a slap, it could begin with a shove, it could begin with throwing a TV remote at my head, it could be throwing a glass of wine in my face,” Depp said on the stand. The actor later claimed Heard “has a need for conflict, she has a need for violence. It erupts out of nowhere.”
The Pirates of the Caribbean star explained that he noticed Heard’s behavior changing a year into their relationship.
“I was suddenly just wrong about everything,” he said. “There was nowhere to fit a word in. It was sort of a rapid fire, endless parade of insults. [Amber was] looking at me like I was a fool and I was having difficulty in my mind, of course, and in my heart of dealing with that sort of barrage.”
Depp said Heard used “ammunition” she learned about his past to “verbally decimate me” and “send me into a kind of tailspin of confusion, depression.” In order to deescalate, Depp said he would attempt to “remove” himself from the situation, similar to when he was a child and his mother was abusive.
“If she didn’t allow me to walk away, there were times I would just go and lock myself in the bathroom or anywhere that she couldn’t get into. That happened constantly over the years,” he said.
When fights would escalate, Depp said it seemed like Heard had “pure hatred for me.” If he stayed to argue, the fight would “escalate into violence and oftentimes, it did.”
Depp also claimed Heard drove a wedge between him and his kids, Lily-Rose and Jack. “She had to have me there at all times for her own needs,” he claimed, adding that the actress “would tell me what a bad father I was and that I had no idea how to parent.”
When asked by his legal counsel why he stayed in the relationship, Depp said it was “very complicated.”
“I’m sure that it’s somehow related to my father remaining stoic as my mother would beat him to death,” he said. Depp also mentioned how his relationship with longtime partner, Vanessa Paradis, “was lost.”
“I didn’t want to fail. I wanted to try and make it work. I thought maybe I could help her… the Amber Heard that I knew for the first year, year and a half was not suddenly this opponent. It wasn’t my girl, she’d become my opponent,” Depp said. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone, especially Ms. Heard. I didn’t want to break her heart.”
Depp claimed Heard “had spoken of suicide on a couple of occasions,” which was also a factor in why he stayed. (The actor’s mother attempted to take her own life when his father left.)
“When I would leave sometimes… she would stop me at the elevator with the security guards crying, screaming, ‘I can’t live without you, I’m going to die,'” he alleged.
Depp said he would oftentimes “placate” Heard when they argued, which included referring to himself as “the monster.”
“I didn’t want to rock the boat as it were. Again you pick your battles, so placation seemed the best route if I was unable to escape her clutches,” he told the jury.
Heard claims Depp was often abusive when he was drunk or high. On Wednesday, Depp’s legal team turned the spotlight on the actress. When asked how often the actress drank alcohol, Depp said “always.”
“Ms. Heard could very easily drink two bottles of wine per night, not a problem,” he claimed. The actor once again claimed he had a period of sobriety for about 18 months during their relationship.
“[Amber] asked me if I would stop drinking to save the relationship and, of course, I stopped drinking. I always found it odd that in support of me not drinking, that she might stop drinking, but she did not. She continued. I didn’t make a big deal about it,” he said.
Depp claimed he witnessed Heard do drugs “several times.”
“She was always quite fond of MDMA, which is ecstasy, and mushrooms. She had some medications she was on already,” he alleged.
Depp was asked about specific instances in which Heard claims she was abused. The actress said she was once hit when she made fun of the actor’s Winona Ryder tattoo.
“It didn’t happen. I have never struck Ms. Heard,” Depp said under oath. “I have never struck a woman in my life. I’m certainly not going to strike a woman if she decides to make fun of a tattoo that I have on my body.”
As for the alleged airplane flight in May 2014, Depp said Heard got on that private jet “most definitely looking for a fight.” The actor claimed “she would verbally heckle, hassle” and “poke” and “prod” him, both “physically and psychologically.” Depp said he hid in the bathroom, locked the door and went to sleep. He said he was on opioids that day, but does not “recall” having alcohol.
Depp is expected to testify all day. Yahoo Entertainment will continue to update this story.
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