Johnny Depp’s former PA called Amber Heard the ‘abuser’ in their relationship
Johnny Depp’s former personal assistant branded Amber Heard a “sociopathic show pony” and a “Machiavellian overlord” who was the real abuser in the pair’s relationship, as the Pirates of the Caribbean actor’s libel suit against the Sun newspaper entered its second week today.
Stephen Deuters told London’s High Court that Heard subjected the Hollywood star to “years of abuse” and that he was “appalled” the Pineapple Express actress had claimed she was a victim of assault by Depp.
Depp is suing the Sun’s publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN) and the Sun’s executive editor Dan Wootton over an article from April 2018 that referred to Depp as a “wifebeater”, and which claimed there was “overwhelming evidence” that he attacked his wife at the time.
NGN is relying on 14 separate accounts of alleged domestic violence against Heard in its defence case. Depp strongly denies the allegations.
In a witness statement Deuters, who is now the European president of Depp’s Infinitum Nihil production company, told the High Court he saw the Aquaman actress “on many occasions” during the period Depp is alleged to have been abusive.
“At no point did Ms Heard ever mention any physical abuse and I never saw evidence of any injury to Ms Heard,” said Deuters.
The court heard texts sent by Depp’s former PA calling Heard a “sociopathic show pony, Machiavellian overlord, talentless c***” after she filed for divorce from Depp in 2016, just one year after the couple were married.
Deuters alleged that Heard subjected Depp to “years” of physical and emotional abuse, and added that he was “extremely surprised and outraged” when the 34-year-old actress filed for a restraining order against her ex-husband.
The revelations came as Depp today rounded off 25 hours of cross-examination in the witness box, which saw him fend off allegations of assault from his ex-wife.
The three-time Academy Award nominee accused Heard of throwing a “haymaker” punch at him following her 30th birthday party in April 2016, after the actress confronted him about showing up late to the bash.
Depp admitted he had “probably smoked marijuana” and arrived late to the birthday dinner in Los Angeles, after attending a “bad meeting” with a new finance manager who revealed the star had lost $650m (£517.5m) after it was allegedly stolen by his previous managers.
Depp said it was “embarrassing” that he not only had he lost the sum due to his previous business managers, but he was “$100m in the hole because they had not paid the government my taxes for 17 years”.
The actor claimed Heard had been “drinking heavily” on her birthday and punched him in the face four times while he was reading in bed before he grabbed her arms to stop her.
The next morning, Depp’s assistant texted him a picture of human faeces that the cleaner had found in his hotel bedsheets, which the actor said he believed had been planted there by Heard or one of her friends.
He replied with a series of jokes including “Amber Turd” and “Amber’s in the dumps”, telling the court that he found the incident “hilarious”.
David Sherbourne, representing the Edward Scissorhands actor, asked Depp if he thought he deserved to be punched for reading in bed, after NGN’s lawyer Sasha Wass QC last week claimed it had deeply upset Heard.
Depp replied: “Under the circumstances of being harangued and forced into some argument or altercation, I didn’t think that it was the wrong thing to do. I thought it was best to remove myself from the argument because it seemed ridiculous to me.”
The court last week heard a witness statement from Heard claiming that Depp had thrown a magnum of champagne at her in the same incident, before pulling her hair and leaving a note saying “Happy f******* birthday”.
The Pirates Of The Caribbean star, who on Thursday was accused of accidentally headbutting his ex-wife during a separate scuffle, told the High Court today that “it seemed like everything she would accuse me of was something she had done to me”.
The actor’s case against NGN and the Sun’s executive editor Dan Wootton follows the publication of an article on the Sun’s website in April 2018 that urged author JK Rowling to scrap Depp from the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them franchise over allegations of domestic assault.
Depp has argued that article’s headline, “Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”, is defamatory.
NGN is defending the article as true, and has claimed Depp was “controlling and verbally and physically abusive towards Heard, particularly when he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs” during their relationship.
The trial continues.
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