Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s marriage counsellor has said there was ‘mutual abuse’ in their relationship.
Depp, 58, is suing his 35-year-old ex-wife Amber Heard in a $50 million (£38.2 million) defamation lawsuit over domestic abuse claims she made in an article in The Washington Post.
In a video deposition to Fairfax County Court in Virginia, Dr Laurel Anderson said that she saw Depp and Heard for a total of four sessions.
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During one of these sessions, she said one of the couple walked out – although Anderson could not recall who it was, adding that both had threatened to do so during their time together.
Anderson, a marriage counsellor based in Los Angeles, said Heard had a ‘jackhammer’ style of talking, saying: “She was very amped up. He had trouble talking at the same pace. Their dialogue, he had trouble keeping up ... He couldn't keep up with her rapid fire way of her conversation. And so he was really overwhelmed.”
She continued to say that she did not witness abuse between Depp and Heard, but said she did see bruises on Heard, which she believed were around her eyes.
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Anderson said: “They engaged in what I saw as mutual abuse. I know she led on more than one occasion, and started it ... Abandonment and having him leave was her worst nightmare.
“And I think he may have initiated it on occasions. But that I am less sure of.”
Anderson said it was a ‘point of pride’ for Heard ‘if she felt disrespected to initiate a fight’, adding: “If he was going to leave her to deescalate [a] fight, she would strike him to keep him there. She would rather be in a fight to keep him there.”
The counsellor described injuries that Heard had shown her, remembering bruises that were 'not purple, green [or] blue', but 'a darkening', indicating with her fingers that the 'grey/blue' marks measured approximately an inch wide.
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Before Anderson's video deposition concluded, she also claimed Heard 'initiated fights', saying: "She rose to the challenge ... She fought as hard as [Depp] did. And he tried to deescalate, in my opinion, more than she did."
The trial will see 11 jurors will come to a conclusion based on both sides. After beginning on Monday 11 April, it is expected to run until May.
Topics: Johnny Depp
Jess Hardiman