Johnny Depp Declares He's A Victim Of Domestic Violence As He Finishes Giving His Testimony

The Pirates of the Caribbean actor is suing his ex-wife for defamation over a 2018 article written in The Washington Post, where she claimed to have been a victim of domestic abuse. 

While Heard didn't name Depp within the piece, he said it permanently damaged his professional reputation. 

Depp has now given evidence in Fairfax County, Virginia claiming he had in fact been a victim of physical assault by his former partner. 

Depp’s lawyer, Camille Vasquez concluded her questions to Depp on Monday (April 25) by asking: “What did you say in response when Ms Heard said ‘tell the world, Johnny, tell them I Johnny Depp, a man, am a victim too of domestic violence?’”

Depp replied: “I said yes, I am.”

The 58-year-old cited incidents such as a 2015 trip to Australia, during which he claims Heard severed the top of his finger, and another instance where Heard threw a can of mineral spirits at him.

During the proceedings, a recording of Heard telling Depp ‘I hit you’ was played out to the court.

In the recording, she said: "I didn't punch you, by the way... I was hitting you, I wasn't punching you.

"You didn't get punched. You got hit... but I did not punch you. I did not f**king deck you. I f**king was hitting you.

"I don't know what the actual motion of my hand was, but you're fine. I did not hurt you, I did not punch you, I was hitting you.

"I'm not sitting here bitching about it, am I? That's the difference between me and you, you're a f**king baby. You are such a baby, grow the f**k up Johnny."

Heard then admitted in the clip that she 'did start a physical fight', and Depp said he had to 'get the f**k out of there'.

She continued: "You did the right thing, the big thing. You know what, you are admirable."

Depp claimed it reflected Heard’s ‘need for a fight’. 

The court had previously heard a 2013 text exchange between Johnny Depp and English actor Paul Bettany.

Mr Depp had written: “Let’s burn Amber.

“Let’s drown her before we burn her. I will f**k her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she’s dead.”

During his testimony, Depp also attempted to explain the content behind the texts.

He said: “It’s important to know none of that was ever intended to be real and the language used which … yes, I am ashamed (of) has to be spread on the world like peanut butter.

“For example, the text that is about burning Ms Heard is directly from Monty Python and the sketch about burning witches and then drowning the witches.

“This is a film we’d all watch when we were 10, it’s just irreverent and abstract humour.”

Depp denied all allegations that he ever assaulted Amber Heard during his testimony.