Amber Heard Shrugs off Johnny Depp Controversy, Heads to Film Independent Spirit Awards

Amber Heard gave no hint of preoccupation with her ongoing Johnny Depp controversy on Saturday at the Film Independent Spirit Awards. The actress was all smiles at the award show where she was supporting the music drama Her Smell. Heard has still not commented publicly on the recording of herself and Depp, which has caused so much controversy in recent weeks.

Heard arrived at the Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon in an eye-catching butterfly suit. The outfit featured a distinct pattern printed all over the jacket and slacks, which ended in wide billowing cuffs.

The jacket was cinched just below the elbows and had rounded shoulder pads. Heard gave coy smiles to the photographers before making her way inside for the award show.

Heard was at the Spirit Awards to support Elisabeth Moss, her co-star in Her Smell. Moss was nominated for best female lead in the movie, though it was officially released in 2018. The film is about a self-destructive punk rock singer trying to recapture her creativity while maintaining hard-fought sobriety.

Heard is juggling a controversy of her own these days as fans are incensed over her legal battle with ex-husband Johnny Depp. Moss has accused Depp of being physically abusive to her during their marriage from 2015 to 2017, but a newly released recording of the couple has some fans calling her the real abuser.

Published by The Daily Mail, the audio clip was reportedly made during a two-hour-long couples’ therapy session, with Heard’s knowledge and consent. In it, she admitted to “hitting” Depp, though she discussed his “physicality” as well.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t, uh, uh, hit you across the face in a proper slap, but I was hitting you, it was not punching you. Babe, you’re not punched,” she said.

“I left last night. Honestly, I swear to you because I just couldn’t take the idea of more physicality, more physical abuse on each other,” Depp said in the recording. “Because had we continued it, it would have gotten f—ing bad. And baby, I told you this once. I’m scared to death we are a f—ing crime scene right now.”

Later in the recording, Heard said that a court would not believe she had really hurt Depp since she is just a “115-pound woman.” Many fans on social media have accused Heard of downplaying her husband’s concern in the recording, but Heard’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said that there is nothing on the tape to suggest Heard was the “real abuser” in any way.

“The fact that a woman fights or talks back does not mean that she has not been the subject of repeated domestic violence and abuse,” Kaplan said in a statement published by Newsweek. “It’s a myth to say, as Mr. Depp apparently is implying, that if Ms. Heard slapped him, then she can’t also be a victim. That is just not true.”