Amber Heard returned to the witness stand on Tuesday to continue testifying under cross-examination in the $50 million defamation case with ex-husband Johnny Depp.
After testifying over several days that Depp’s drug and alcohol use would turn him into a “monster” who would be violent with her, an attorney for Depp pointedly questioned Heard about her own drug use, including scheduling time for “drugs” at the couple’s 2015 wedding.
“Who was the real monster in this relationship, Ms. Heard?” asked Depp’s attorney Camille Vasquez on Tuesday.
“It’s half of Johnny. It’s not all of Johnny. The other half of him is wonderful and beautiful and the man I loved,” Heard testified.
Depp has accused Heard of defaming him in a 2018 op-ed for the Washington Post. In the piece, which published roughly two years after they divorced, Heard described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” Though Depp was not named in the article, he claims it cost him lucrative acting roles.
Heard has filed a counterclaim for $100 million.
On the witness stand, Heard has described her relationship with Depp as both violent and romantic, stating his alleged violence toward her correlated with his drug and alcohol use.
“It was always the man who did drugs and beat me up. Yes, that’s always been the monster,” Heard testified.
Depp has previously testified that he has never “struck any woman” in his life.
Vasquez pointed to Heard’s own drug use, introducing a typed schedule of Depp and Heard’s wedding plans on the actor’s private island in the Bahamas, which included time for “dance party and drugs and music” after a rehearsal dinner.
“So, you planned to have drugs at your wedding to someone you characterize as a drug addict?” Vasquez said.
“To be fair, we were going to have separate parties,” Heard said. “This is a draft clearly that was sent before there were a lot of changes made.”
Messages between Heard and Depp
Vasquez also played recordings of Heard and Depp arguing, read excerpts of a “love journal” Heard filled with messages to Depp, and read texts between the former couple.
In one journal entry from April 2016, Heard wrote, “I am sorry I can get crazy. I am sorry I hurt you. None of this is meant to be an excuse for hurting you because the truth is nothing is. There is never a reason good enough to hurt you.”
Heard wrote in a March 2015 text to a physician, “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to change.”
Heard testified she was referring to the former couple’s relationship.
“I very much wanted to leave the relationship I was in. But I didn’t feel I had the power to leave,” Heard testified. “I knew I was in a very toxic relationship with Johnny. And I knew I needed to change that.”
In recordings, Heard told Depp he was a “sellout” and a “joke.” Depp called her “the most spoiled f****** brat.”
“I called him horrible ugly things as you can hear. We spoke to each other in a horrible way,” Heard conceded.
When Vasquez asked Heard how she got her role in “Aquaman,” one of her most well-known roles to date, the actress tersely replied.
“Mr. Depp got you that role in ‘Aquaman’ didn’t he?” Vasquez asked.