Johnny Depp Admits to Taking ‘Every Drug Known to Man’ But Denies Abusing Amber Heard

Johnny Depp may have done “every drug known to man,” but insisted in court Tuesday that he had not physically abused ex-wife Amber Heard. The actor, 57, took the stand in the U.K.’s High Court Tuesday on the first day of his three-week libel trial against The Sun, saying that the publication’s accusations that he is a “wife beater” are “sick and completely untrue.”

The Pirates of the Caribbean star instead accused Heard of being abusive, saying she severed part of his finger by throwing a vodka bottle at him in 2015. He did admit to having used cocaine, ecstasy, LSD, mushrooms and cannabis, calling them the “only thing I found to numb the pain.”

He also denied having a “nasty, angry side,” when questioned about trashing a New York’s Mark hotel in 1994 to the extent of $10,000 worth of damage. Depp dismissed the incident as “a few dents,” saying that the incident came after a “particularly bad couple of days.” He added, “I was angry. That didn’t mean I had an anger problem. On that occasion I chose to express my anger.” Actress Ellen Barkin also testified to Depp’s temper, accusing the actor of throwing a bottle of wine across a hotel room while angry. Depp called the story “untrue” and accused Barkin of holding a grudge.

Depp added to the court that Heard had “said to the world that she was in fear of her life from me, and I had been this horrible monster, if you will,” which he insisted was “not the case.” The actor instead painted himself as a peacemaker in their marriage: “Whenever it would escalate, I would try to go to my own corner, as it were … before things got out of hand,” he said.

Heard, 34, was also in court Tuesday and is due to give evidence for the newspaper at some point in the trial. In a statement submitted by News Group newspapers, the publishers of The Sun, said they would demonstrate “that the description of Mr Depp as a ‘wife-beater’ is entirely accurate and truthful,” according to The Guardian. The company added, “The sting of the articles is correct – namely that [Depp] beat his wife Amber Heard causing her to suffer significant injury and on occasion leading to her fearing for her life.”

Heard’s representative also spoke to reporters Tuesday, saying that Heard “never asked” to be involved in the trial between Depp and The Sun, as she has tried to “move on with her life” after obtaining a domestic violence restraining order against her ex in 2016. They added, “It is Johnny Depp who brought these proceedings against a British newspaper and has dragged her to the UK courts to give evidence on some of the most distressing moments of her life.”