Actor Amber Heard is testifying in a trial of dueling dafamation lawsuits involving ex-husband Johnny Depp, saying the experience of the trial has been very “painful” for her.
Pirates of the Caribbean actor Depp is suing Aquaman star Heard for defamation for $50 millin for alleged false domestic abuse claims she made against him that he says hurt his career. Heard is counter-suing Depp, also for defamation, for $100 million.
The trial is being live-streamed on the Law & Crime Network YouTube channel.
“I struggle to find the words to describe how painful this is,” Heard said in regard to what it feels like to be going through getting sued by Depp and watching the trial unfold for the past several weeks.
“This is horrible for me to sit here for weeks and relive everything here. People that I knew, some well, some not, my ex-husband with whom I shared a life, speak about our lives in the way that they have. This is the most painful and the most difficult thing I’ve ever gone through, for sure.”
Heard also said the previous lawsuit in which she testified, as a witness in a libel lawsuit in London in 2020, was also one of the most painful experiences in her life.
Depp ultimately lost that lawsuit, which was not a claim leveled directly at Heard, but at the newspaper The Sun, who described Depp as a “wife beater” in an article. However, the judge ruled that the article was not libelous, since it was based on credible evidence provided by Heard.
At the center of Depp’s current lawsuit, unfolding in a courtroom in Fairfax, Virginia, is a Washington Post op-ed that Heard penned in 2018, in which she describes herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” Heard doesn’t name Depp in the article, but Depp claims the piece nevertheless implied him as the abuser. Heard made previous domestic abuse allegations against Depp in 2016, something he says is referenced in the article.
A major focus of the trial has been the topic of domestic violence, with Heard maintaining she was abused by Depp, but Depp claiming just the opposite: he was abused by her, and not the other way around.
Last week, Depp wrapped up his four-day-long testimony, with Tuesday representing Depp’s team resting its case.