Featured Image Credit: Law & Crime Network
Topics: Celebrity, Johnny Depp, US News
Jake Massey
Amber Heard has taken the stand, describing the trial 'the most painful and difficult thing I've ever gone through'. Watch her get emotional during her testimony here:
Johnny Depp is suing ex-wife Heard for $50 million (£38.2 million) in a defamation lawsuit over domestic abuse claims she made in a 2018 article in The Washington Post.
Depp's attorneys rested their case yesterday (Tuesday 3 May) after 13 days of testimony against Heard, and now the Aquaman star is giving testimony.
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Speaking in Fairfax County District Courthouse in Virginia, the 36-year-old said: "I am here because my ex-husband is suing me for an op-ed I wrote... I struggle to have the words. I struggle to find the words to describe how painful this is.
"This is horrible for me. To sit here for weeks and relive everything... hear people that I knew - some well, some not - my ex-husband, speak about our lives in the way that they have."
She went on to say that the trial was the most difficult thing she has ever had to go through, topping the previous libel case Depp brought against The Sun in 2020, over an article in which he was labelled a 'wife beater'.
Referencing the previous trial, Heard said: "I sat on the stand, for four days, under mostly cross-examination. And, up until this point, it was the hardest thing I ever had to do."
Heard went on to talk about how they first began seeing each other and teared up when she reflected on how he used to make her feel.
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"When I was around Johnny, I felt like the most beautiful person in the world," she said.
Earlier today, Heard's psychologist Dr Dawn Hughes told the court about Depp's alleged 'drug-fuelled rages'.
She said: "When Mr Depp was drunk or high, he'd throw her on the bed, rip off her nightgown, and try to have sex with her.
"There were times when he forced her to give him oral sex when he was angry. These weren't in loving moments. These were angry moments.
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"These were moments of dominance, moments where he was trying to get control of her."
Dr Hughes also spoke about one alleged incident where Depp apparently performed a cavity search on Heard to 'find cocaine'.
Depp has denied all accusations of abuse against Heard and is suing his former partner for $50m (£38.2m), with Heard having issued a counterclaim for $100m (£76.4m).
The pair began dating after meeting on the set of 2011 film The Rum Diary and got married in 2015. Heard obtained a restraining order against Depp the following year and they finalised their divorce in 2017.