Audio recordings played during Johnny Depp’s testimony earlier this week show ex-wife Amber Heard admitting to starting a physical fight between them — and downplaying his reaction to the altercation.
On Wednesday, audio recordings of discussions between Heard and Depp were played for the jury in Fairfax, Virginia.
The actor, 58, is suing Heard, 36, for defamation over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed she wrote about surviving domestic violence, though she did not name him in the article.
Heard can be heard in the recordings discussing their explosive March 2015 Australia fight that resulted in Depp’s right middle finger being severed at the tip. In the audio, Depp is heard saying he wants to remove himself from the situation to deescalate and “escape” the fighting, while Heard is heard urging him to stop running away so they can resolve their dispute.
In another piece of audio recording, Heard admitted to once having started a physical fight with Depp. “You didn’t get punched; you got hit. I’m sorry I hit you like this, but I did not punch you,” she told Depp. “I did not f—–g deck you. I f—–g was hitting you. I don’t know what the motion of my actual hand was. But you’re fine. I did not hurt you. I did not punch you. I was hitting you.”
She adds in the audio: “I’m not sitting here bitching about it, am I? You are. That’s the difference between me and you. You’re a f—–g baby. You are such a baby. Grow the f— up, Johnny.”
On Thursday, when Heard’s attorney cross-examined Depp on the stand, more evidence was admitted, including audio of a moment when Depp threatened to cut himself with a knife as Heard begged him to stop. Another video shown to the court showed Depp slamming cabinet doors as he poured himself wine in the morning, while text messages showed the actor joking about killing Heard and having sex with her burnt corpse.
Depp — who has said multiple times under oath that he has never struck Heard or any other woman — was also asked about a December 2015 incident where he allegedly head-butted Heard, who then sustained bruises on her face. He “vehemently” disagreed with the statement that he intentionally head-butted her, arguing that it was an accident while he attempted to restrain her.
“I was trying to restrain Ms. Heard, and once I had restrained her, I would say if she’s trying to still move around and kick at me or trying to get loose, any sort of movement when you’re like this, your heads are this close together, it’s not impossible for them to bump. But a ‘head-butt,’ that’s pretty extreme definition of that,” he said.
