Johnny Depp's libel trial against The Sun opened on Tuesday, July 7, 2020. In 2018, the tabloid published an article in which the 57-year-old actor was accused of being a 'wife-beater,' which he denies. So, three years after their messy divorce, the actor and his ex-wife Amber Heard faced off once again at the High Court of London, where they shared their accounts of the evening that led up to their separation, reports the Daily Mirror.
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Til poo do us part
'Depp was forced to finally call time on this relationship, largely after behaviour by her and her friends following her birthday party in their flat in April 2016, Johnny Depp's defence team revealed. Apparently, one of them defecated on their shared bed, and Ms Heard blamed their dogs. So the Hollywood actor ended his marriage after finding human faeces... in their bed. Amber Heard denied having anything to do with it, accusing their Yorkshires Terriers instead.
But the Pirates of the Caribbean star insists his loyal four-legged friends were too small to jump on the bed or leave such a large dump behind. Furthermore, 'on 12 May 2016, Ms. Heard confessed to our estate manager, Kevin Murphy, that leaving the faeces in the bed had been 'just a harmless prank’ thereby effectively acknowledging that she had been responsible, whereas she had previously sought to blame our dogs,'he said in the statement he presented to the court.
Domestic violence charges
'I resolved to divorce Ms. Heard on that day,' he continued. He describes the American actress as a 'calculating and narcissistic sociopath' who only married him to progress her acting career. Meanwhile, Amber Heard claims that her ex-husband showed up 'drunk and high' at the end of this disastrous birthday party and attacked her after her guests were gone. Again, Johnny Depp said he never laid a hand on her:
I would never strike a woman, under any circumstances, at any time. I find it simply inconceivable and it would never happen.
In the meantime, the Sun's lawyers announced that they had enough evidence to prove that the plaintiff was, in fact, abusing his wife. Amber Heard's lawyers plan to bring forward 'medical evidence, photos, videos, audio recordings, digital evidence, and text messages' to prove their claims. To defend himself, Johnny Depp asked his former partners, Vanessa Paradis and Wynona Rider, to testify (see video at the head of the article). This tumultuous and highly publicized trial should last three weeks.
