Johnny Depp Testifies Amber Heard’s Claims in Court Are ‘Diabolical’

Johnny Depp has taken the stand one week into his $50 million defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard. The former Pirates of the Caribbean denied allegations of abuse leveled his way by the Aquaman star, calling them “diabolical” as he took issue with being implicated in Heard’s 2018 Washington Post op-ed Heard penned about being a survivor of domestic violence. 

“My goal is the truth,” Depp testified Tuesday, via Deadline, as the trial portion of his March 2019 lawsuit finally is underway. “Lies build upon lies.” Calling Heard’s allegations of abuse “diabolical,” Depp said he was “doing the right thing” taking this high-profile case to court. “It was a complete shock, it just didn’t need to go in that direction, as nothing of the kind ever happened,” Depp continued of his relationship with Heard. “There were arguments, and things of that nature, but never did myself reach the point of striking Ms. Heard in any way, nor have I struck anyone in my life.”

“It was my responsibility to not only clear my name …I wanted to clear my children of this horrid thing they had to read about their father, that was untrue,” Depp continued of his motivation to take his case to court. The Rum Diaries actor would go on to testify about his troubled childhood and the violence he witnessed at the hands of his late mother, also telling the seven-person jury stories from his early career in Hollywood.

Watching her ex-husband’s testimony throughout was Heard, who sat nearby in the courtroom, as she has since the trial began on April 11 after a number of pandemic-related delays. Depp and Heard’s brief marriage ended in 2016 with the actress filing for a restraining order against her ex. Heard is scheduled to take the stand later in the trial.

Both Depp and Heard testified in the 2020 libel trial Depp sought out in the U.K. when he sued the publisher behind The Sun tabloid over a headline referring to the actor as a “wife-beater.” In November 2020, the court ruled against Sepp, upholding the publication’s claims as “substantially true” after Heard’s testimony. Depp’s attempt to overturn the ruling was overruled in March 2021.