Even before their divorce in 2017, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard had been engaged in accusing each other of domestic abuse. Now, after years of court battles, there still isn’t an end in sight for the two ex-lovers. As a matter of fact, things only appear to be getting worse by the week as they continue to slander each other and attempt to see who will come out on top in the end.
This week, for instance, Heard is alleging that Depp had a violent split personality that’s left her scarred. The accusations came via a witness statement during Depp’s current libel case against British tabloid The Sun, which he’s suing after a journalist called him a “wife beater.” Heard claims Depp repeatedly punched and kicked her, choked her, swore at her and used controlling behavior to intimidate her until it reached a point that she became scared for her life.
On the witness stand Monday morning, Heard recalled an event in 2015 while the couple were in a hotel room in Japan, explaining:
There was an argument in a hotel room in Tokyo that resulted in Johnny kneeling on my back and hitting me on the back of the head.
She claimed that Depp would use a split personality as an excuse for the excessive abuse, saying:
He would blame all his actions on a self-created third party instead of himself, which he often called ‘the monster.’ He would speak about it as if it was another person or personality and not him doing all these things.
When Johnny puts his attention on you, with all his intensity and darkness, it is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. When I say he was dark, he had a violent and dark way of speaking: the way he talked about our relationship being ‘dead or alive’ and telling me that death was the only way out of the relationship.
The actress then said that she had hoped she could “fix” Depp throughout the early part of their relationship, stating:
I thought he could get better and that he would, and I wanted that so badly right to the end. After violent episodes, his team would try to convince me to stay with him or to come back, often telling me he was sorry and would get clean for me. I think I stayed not only because I had hope of him getting clean and things changing, but also because of the responsibility I felt, being told I was the one to motivate him and help him to get clean.
Despite Heard’s accusations, evidence made public thus far has consistently indicated that she was actually the abuser in the relationship. Depp’s estate manager has claimed that Heard physically and verbally abused him while his children were home, and the actor himself alleges that she punched him and defecated in his bed, which has been corroborated by his maid via some unsettling photographic evidence. Heard has even admitted to hitting Depp in the past, but she continues to claim that the events have always been wildly misrepresented.
As it stands, no one knows how the ongoing legal battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard will play out, but there will be no true winner, as both parties are sure to be left emotionally exhausted and broken by the time it all comes to a close.