A #MeToo activist said in a court document released Friday that she was “misquoted and misused” by The Sun in an article that accused Johnny Depp of beating his wife Amber Heard. The now-divorced pair have seen much of their marriage and life together thrown into the spotlight as Depp sues The Sun in London’s High Court for libel. Depp’s team has set out in court to paint him as the victim of abuse in his marriage, while The Sun and Heard have set out to paint her as the victim.
The article that dubbed him a “wife beater” also claimed their was a backlash by #MeToo activists against author J.K. Rowling for her defense of Depp, who stars in the film adaptation of her book Fantastic Beasts.
The piece quoted Katherine Kendall, an actress and activist who says Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her, as condemning violence and saying ''it seems that Amber got hurt.”
She said she had been “completely misquoted and misused by The Sun to accomplish their goal.”
She added: “Although it was true that I was a victim of Harvey Weinstein, the rest was a lie. I was not 'going public' on behalf of #MeToo or myself, to criticize J.K. Rowling's decision to cast Mr. Depp, nor did I accuse Mr. Depp of hurting Amber Heard, about which I have no first-hand knowledge.”
HEARD THE ABUSER?
Kendall added that she had also heard “several times” of Heard abusing Depp.
The Sun‘s defense is depending on 14 allegations Heard made against Depp, all of which he denies. Several witnesses have come forward in the trial defending Depp and accusing Heard of being the abuser.
On Friday, one of Depp's security guards, Travis McGivern also testified that Heard spat at Depp and threw a can at him during a fight in 2015.
Isaac Baruch, a longtime friend of Depp’s also testified claiming that he saw Heard after the encounter during which she has claimed Depp beat her. He said: “Ms Heard, whose demeanor I would describe at that moment as being very animated and in control, informed me that Mr Depp had come by the night before and got violent. She told me that he hit her in the face and threw a phone at her. I then asked her where he had hit her and she stretched her neck and pushed out the right side of her head for me to look at her right eye.”
“I literally was around 12 inches from her, inspecting her face and I did not see a single mark or evidence of any marks, bruising, or swelling of any kind anywhere on her face,” Baruch continued.
CHEATING?
On Friday, Alejandro Romera, a concierge at their L.A. apartment building testified that Elon Musk, whom Heard dated post-divorce for about a year, regularly visited Heard “regularly late at night” in March 2015, while she was married to Depp.
Heard is due to share her side on Monday. Heard is also facing a $50 million defamation suit filed by Depp against her in the U.S. for an op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post in which she described being a domestic violence victim.
