The libel case filed by Hollywood actor Johnny Depp against a British tabloid newspaper entered day 3 on Thursday. The case is related to a 2018 article in the tabloid newspaper that labelled the actor violent and abusive to his ex-wife Amber Heard. Whereas, the Caribbean actor Depp strongly denies the claims made in the article. Depp, the 57-year-old star, issued The Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers, and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an article Wootton wrote in April 2018 which tagged him as a “wife beater”.
Hollywood actor Johnny Depp accused his ex-wife Amber Heard of narrating “porky pies” about their relationship to their psychiatrist. On the third day of libel case hearing, the Caribbean actor explained to the court how Heard operated by pinpointing the incident when she told the medical professional that Depp was threatened by her career.
This issue was brought to light after the medical notes of Depp’s private doctor were presented in the High Court. The notes suggested that Depp had a tendency to “romanticise the entire drug culture and has no accountability for his behaviour”. This note was made by Depp’s private doctor after the couple took a trip to the Bahamas in August 2014, during which Heard claims Depp attacked her in the influence of alcohol and drugs.
The Sun’s lawyer Wass told the court that Depp’s private doctor had started treating Heard for anxiety, and it was in course of this treatment only when he wrote medical notes that read, “JD (Johnny Depp) is very threatened by career, particularly any kind of romantic scenes she has to do. Her movie with JF (James Franco) precipitated a binge that put JD in the hospital. Everyone around J seems to be intimidated by his power and money. No one stands up to him.”
Lawyer Wass also read out two other medical notes to the court. One of the notes was for an incident dated September 22, which recorded that Caribbean actor punched the wall in rage during an argument with ex-wife Amber Heard. To this Depp replied, “I would rather express my anger by hitting an inanimate object than… the person I love.”
Wass then cross-examined Depp for the 2014 Bahamas trip and asked if he “hit and pushed” his ex-wife, to which Depp clarified, “I didn’t push Ms Heard or attack her in any way, as certainly I was not in any condition to do so. I was in no physical condition to push anyone”.
This took the court to the last cross-examination of the session which was in regard with a text message exchange between Depp and his mother-in-law, sent during the same trip. The text messages were read to the court. Depp sent, “your daughter has risen far above the nightmarish task of taking care of this poor old junkie.” Then added, “My words are truly feeble in attempting to explain her heroism in a text – suffice to say that I have never met or loved a woman or a thing more.”
The hearing is set to last for three weeks under the judge, Andrew Nicol.
