The bizarre and disturbing revelations about Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s relationship continued apace Wednesday as Depp’s former estate manager Ben King testified in London’s High Court.
The case stems from Depp’s claims that The Sun committed libel by calling him a “wife beater” in a 2018 article, while The Sun maintains that he is in fact a wife beater. His ex Heard has submitted 14 instances when she says that Depp abused her. Depp denies them all. The court case has devolved into a “he said, she said” accounting of wrongs and incidents between the pair, with plenty of input from witnesses and former employees.
BANAL BUT VIOLENT FIGHTS
King told the court that he “frequently witnessed” Heard, 34, “goading and attempting to provoke” Mr Depp, who he never saw “be violent or unkind towards Ms Heard, or indeed towards anyone else”.
He said: “Of what I heard of their arguments, they could start from very banal beginnings. On one occasion in London, I recall Ms Heard complained that Mr Depp had removed his hand from hers, and she complained along the lines of 'maybe you don't love me'. The argument then carried on and escalated seriously. The way they argued could make them seem like schoolchildren.”
HEARD AS ANTAGONIST
King said he “saw Ms Heard as the antagonizer” while Depp “seemed keen to walk out of, or away from, arguments. I want to make clear that I did not see any violence at any time. I do not want to accuse Ms Heard of anything, but this was what I saw of the pattern of their arguments.”
He also said that Depp left her notes saying, “I love you” and “let’s not do this again.”
SEVERED FINGER
King also spoke out about a 2015 trip to Australia in which Depp is accused of assaulting Heard and destroying a home in a drink and drug-fueled rage.
He denies it, and accuses Heard of severing his finger with a vodka bottle. She denies it.
King said he found a “significant amount of damage” at the home and discovered Depp's severed fingertip on the floor.
He said that on the flight back to L.A. Heard asked him “have you ever been so angry with someone that you just lost it?”
He said: “I replied that that had never happened to me. She seemed incredulous and asked again, 'you have never been so angry with someone that you just lost it?' Again, I answered that I had not and Ms Heard did not continue on this topic. This question seemed alarming to me, given the severity of the damage I had earlier witnessed at the house and the apparent serious injury to Mr Depp's finger.”
HEARD STOLE SEXUAL ASSAULT STORY?
Heard’s former personal assistant also gave evidence remotely, saying that the actress stole her own story of being a sexual assault survivor and twisted it into her own story.
Kate James said: “This of course caused me extreme distress and outrage that she would dare to attempt to use the most harrowing experience of my life as her own narrative.”
She added: “I’m here for my own reasons … I’m a sexual violence survivor and that’s very, very serious to take that stance if you are not one and I am one. That’s the reason I’m here, because I take offence.”
James said Heard felt she was “above the law”, and claimed she “did not care about throwing anyone under the bus, if it meant saving her own skin”.
James also claimed that she regularly received drunken messages from 2 am to 4 am. She said: “Amber would drink vast quantities of red wine each night.”
DAMNING TEXTS
But evidence against Depp was presented as well. He dubbed Heard “f—ing scum” and threatened to “fix her flabby fat ass” in a nasty text message to James sent two days before they officially split.
Depp also called her a “50 cent stripper” and a “gold digger.”
