Last Updated on 05/20/2022 by てんしょく飯
In the trial in which Johnny Depp is suing his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard, for defamation and seeking $50 million in damages, Heard’s cross-examination was held on May 17 local time and saw her go toe-to-toe with Depp’s lawyer.
Heard was the one who committed physical violence in the marriage.
Camille Vazquez, Depp’s attorney, took the lead early on and played numerous audio clips in an attempt to show that Heard was the one who had been physically violent in their marriage. In one, Heard mocked Depp’s age and career, calling him a “boor.” In another, he said, “Why don’t you let my son Jack teach you manhood, because you can’t do it.
In another, she said, “You’re a laughingstock,” and then added, with a laugh and a sneer, “I wish I was as good as you are.
When Vazquez implied that Depp was the reason she was cast in “Aquaman,” Heard was clearly offended and said, “No, I got the part myself through an audition.
Attorney Vazquez presented in court a cell phone message and audio of Heard “insistently” demanding that Depp not leave in the middle of an argument. In response, Heard responded that her husband – whom she called a “monster” in the messages – tried to stop her from leaving because he was afraid that she was going to go do drugs.
When Johnny moved on to the next phase of his life, he was going to do drugs,” Heard said. That made our lives even worse,” she said. “I tried to stop him from getting on drugs …… and did whatever I could to stop the vicious cycle. It was that important to me.”
But attorney Vasquez fired back, saying that Heard called Depp a “monster” not because of his drug use, but because he wanted to keep his distance. In the audio, Depp says, “I want to keep my distance …… I’m getting frustrated …… I’ll keep my distance, you keep your distance, we’ll both keep our distance,” Depp said. ‘In a few hours we’ll be able to talk to each other.’
In the audio, Heard tearfully replies. If you leave now, you’re going to put me under tremendous stress. …… Please don’t do this.”
Heard also admitted to hitting Depp several times, but insisted that both violent acts were in self-defense. ‘There were many times I had to defend myself physically. Slapping him on the hand was one of them,” she said. ‘If I could get away with it, of course I would, even if it was the difference between making my face swell up or breaking my nose. …… I tried to defend myself when I could. But before that, I couldn’t defend myself for years.”
For example, the two argued that the bathroom door hit Depp’s head in a voice played in court, but Heard said she “intentionally” hit Depp in it. Heard said she responded intuitively because she was hurt by hitting the door against her toes from Depp.
Attorney Vasquez then brought up Heard’s former boyfriend, Tasia Van Lee, and past domestic violence charges (Heard was arrested at the Seattle airport in 2009 for punching Van Lee. (Heard was arrested at the Seattle airport in 2009 for punching Van Lee, but the charges were later dropped.)
) “I have never assaulted Mr. Depp or anyone I once had a relationship with,” she replied.
Heard’s “Letter” to Depp
The majority of the day’s testimony was dominated by a heated battle between Heard and Depp’s lawyers. The attorneys often interrupted the actress as she tried to refute every question, and although both remained calm throughout the afternoon, it was clear that they had no intention of backing down.
Midway through the session, attorney Vasquez presented the court with a knife that Heard had given to Depp in 2012, just at the beginning of their relationship. Heard had previously claimed that the assault had begun around this time. Attorney Vasquez asked Depp why he gave the weapon to Depp at the time he believed he was being assaulted.
Heard replied, “When I gave it to him, I wasn’t worried that he was going to stab me with it.” ‘That’s for sure.’
But the early part of the cross-examination by attorney Vasquez concentrated on the assault, which allegedly took place over several days in Australia. Heard’s previous claims were that at the height of the fight, Depp pushed her against the kitchen counter and inserted a liquor bottle into her vagina. Attempting to cut down on the credibility of Heard’s testimony and her memory of the fight, attorney Vasquez disputed the actress’ claim that the assault continued after she cut off Depp’s fingertips.
Heard consistently insisted that everything was an actual event, but admitted that she could not remember the specific timeline of the fight.
Never once did I claim to remember the exact order in which these occurred,” the actress said. ‘It was an assault that took place day after day over three days of terror.
Attorney Vazquez also refuted the “serious injuries” that Heard claimed she sustained in the fight at that time. She also disputed the “serious injuries” Heard claims he sustained in the fight: cuts on his forearms and legs from broken glass, and bruises across his jaw.
Heard admitted that she did not take pictures of the wounds, nor did she seek medical attention. Instead, she photographed certain items at the scene (such as the cell phone, which she claims was smashed, and the pillow, which she says was covered in blood) without looking at the injuries or more important evidence – Depp’s lawyer called this a “convenient” act, and other continued to point out when the assault charges were discussed.
When an audio recording of the former couple’s conversation was played, Depp’s voice was heard saying, “You continued to follow me around after I locked myself in the bathroom during our fight in Australia. The lawyer then asked. ‘You didn’t seem afraid of him at all?
I have a complicated relationship with Johnny. I fear him, but I also love him dearly,” Heard said. He tried to kill me. It’s natural to be afraid.”
Attorney Vasquez then shifted his focus to a series of letters from Heard to Depp in an exchange diary that the two exchanged during their relationship. In these “love letters,” written two months after their fight in Australia and shortly after the time Heard claims his sister was almost pushed down the stairs by Depp, Heard writes: “I am so sorry for your loss. ‘So far I have seen friendship and respect seep into you. But I still feel, perhaps more than ever, the need to tear into you, devour you, and savor you.”
Heard testified that he wrote this letter during a period of “honeymoon mode” after Depp became bareheaded. He also defended himself in regard to other letters in which he apologized for his words and actions. In one of the letters, he wrote, “I can be crazy. I am sorry. I’m so sorry for hurting you …… I’m so sorry too. Saying this is no excuse for hurting you. Because the truth is that there is never a good enough reason to hurt you.
I was always trying to make things better. I believe that in any relationship, an apology is the key to letting bygones be bygones in a fight,” Heard explained of the letter. ‘I tried every trick in the book …… but it didn’t change the relationship.”
Why an opinion piece in The Washington Post?
Depp’s lawyers also submitted elevator footage of actor James Franco visiting her penthouse. Surveillance video presented to the jury in court showed the two getting into the elevator just before 11 p.m. on May 22, 2018. When asked if he knew Depp was leaving town when he invited Franco over, Heard denied knowing Depp’s schedule.
‘James was a friend, he lived in the neighborhood. Frankly, at that time, I had exhausted my usual support network of friends and was open to any number of friends,” Hart later explained.
Attorney Vazquez moved on to the subject of the 2018 Washington Post op-ed article at issue in the current trial (in which Johnny filed a defamation lawsuit against her, claiming she lost her job and reputation for suggesting the perpetrator was Johnny, although she did not name him by name) and said of Depp I tried to get Heard to admit that the article was written about Depp. Instead, Heard said that the article was not specific to Depp – that she wrote about issues related to powerful men, sexual assault, and the #MeToo movement that was sweeping the country at the time.
‘It’s not about him,’ she said. ‘It’s not about Johnny. （It’s about what happened to me later on (when the relationship ended). That’s what I wanted to write about at the time.”
She continued. I wrote that article against the backdrop that many famous and well-known men were being accused of the same thing at the time. I was referring to a general phenomenon, not just Johnny, but more generally.
Attorney Vasquez turned to three statements by Depp’s former attorney, Adam Waldman, on which Heard’s rebuttal is based, and said he could not make the connection between these statements and their negative impact on his career. Heard disputed this, stating that he was dropped from several projects that were underway, including the termination of his contract with L’Oreal, the suspension of promotional activities for the drama “The Stand,” and a change in role for the “Aquaman” sequel.
She said that because of the attention the article garnered on the Internet, “I was no longer being used by anyone.” There’s a whole smear campaign [against me]. It’s as if people are giving me the white eye.”
When asked if she lost her job because of Waldman’s comments, she replied, “It’s a little difficult to pinpoint the jobs I wasn’t offered or didn’t get. He said that although he “fought” to secure a role in his latest film, “Aquaman 2,” he did not know how much of a role he would “actually” have in the finished film.
The day was spent mostly in cross-examination of Heard, but then Heard’s lawyers finished reexamining him – though Depp’s lawyer objected to every question. In her first question, Heard’s attorney, Elaine Bredehoeft, asked Depp what he thought was the reason he had not made eye contact with her throughout the trial.
‘Because he’s guilty,’ she replied. ‘Because he knows he is a liar. Why won’t he look me in the eye? Because I escaped from the hands of that man and I am here now. I can make eye contact with him.”
Depp let out a laugh during Heard’s testimony.
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