Johnny Depp's lawyers continue to paint Amber Heard as the abusive one in the Heard/Depp marriage as his libel trial against the Rupert Murdoch-owned British newspaper, The Sun, continues The Fantastic Beasts actor had filed the suit after the tabloid repeated claims by Depp's ex-wife, Aquaman actress, Amber Heard, that the Pirates of the Caribbean star was physically abusive towards her during their tumultuous, short-lived marriage.
Not only is Depp's legal team bringing forward a number of witnesses to argue that it was Heard who was the abusive one in the relationship, but Depp is also seeing some vocal support from two other notable exes, Vanessa Paradis (the mother of Depp's two children) and Winona Ryder, Depp's former fiancee (it was in her honor that Depp got a tattoo that said "Winona Forever" that he later had altered to read "Wino Forever," instead).
Both Paradis and Ryder were set to testify in support of Depp in his British libel trial, but the defense team for News Group Newspapers (the division of Murdoch's News Corp that directly owns The Sun) cut off any reason for them to testify by conceding that Depp had never been abusive in any prior relationship. Their contention is that Depp only became abusive once he began dating Amber Heard. Therefore, there is no longer any need for Paradis or Ryder to state that Depp was not abusive towards them.
The Stranger Things star's pre-trial witness statements, though, were still leaked to the press (as was Paradis'). Ryder noted, "I understand that it is very important that I speak from my own experience, as I obviously was not there during his marriage to Amber, but, from my experience, which was so wildly different, I was absolutely shocked, confused and upset when I heard the accusations against him. The idea that he is an incredibly violent person is the farthest thing from the Johnny I knew and loved. I cannot wrap my head around these accusations. He was never, never violent towards me. He was never, never abusive at all towards me. He has never been violent or abusive towards anybody I have seen. I truly and honestly only know him as a really good man – an incredibly loving, extremely caring guy who was so very protective of me and the people that he loves, and I felt so very, very safe with him. I do not want to call anyone a liar but from my experience of Johnny, it is impossible to believe that such horrific allegations are true. I find it extremely upsetting, knowing him as I do.”
Paradis' witness statement was similar.
Meanwhile, Depp's head of security, Sean Bett, testified in support of Depp. His testimony accompanied a photo exhibit entered into evidence of Depp with what looks to be a bruise on his face, under his eye. Bett claims that Depp told him that the mark was the result of Heard striking him in the face a few times.
Bett testified that he never saw any cuts or bruises on Heard, and instead claimed, “On the contrary, throughout the course of Mr Depp and Ms Heard’s relationship, Ms Heard was verbally and physically abusive towards Mr Depp. On many occasions, I witnessed her shout at Mr Depp. I was also told by Mr Depp on multiple occasions that Ms Heard had physically abused him. A very common occurrence throughout the relationship would be that Mr Depp would have me, and other members of his security team, take him away from Ms Heard, due to her behavior. He would then stay somewhere else. This happened on so many occasions that it is not possible for me to remember them all in detail. However, I would describe it as a recurring cycle that Ms Heard would abuse Mr Depp, who would then remove himself from the situation.”
Depp's team continues to make their case that Depp was the victim in his relationship with Heard.
Via Deadline.