Accusations and insults fly in new audiotapes of Amber Heard and Johnny Depp arguing, including Heard accusing her ex-husband of beating her up and Depp calling her a “fat a**.”
The footage was released by Heard’s attorney during Depp’s cross-examination on the stand — and his fourth day of testimony in total — amid a trial of dueling defamation lawsuits, which is being live-streamed on the Law & Crime YouTube Channel.
Pirates of the Caribbean actor Depp is suing Aquaman star Heard for $50 million for defamation for what he alleges are false claims of domestic abuse against him that have hurt his career. Heard is counter-suing, also for defamation, for $100 million. Each ex-spouse maintains it was the other person who was abusive, not them.
“Go put your f**king cigarettes out on someone else! You f**king have consequences for your actions, that’s it,” Heard could be heard saying in one tape.
“Shut up, fat a**!” Depp could be heard saying in the tape, in response.
“Yeah, you got me there,” Heard replies.
When asked about the cigarette accusation from Heard, as heard in the tape, Depp testified in the courtroom, “I think that was another grossly exaggerated moment of miss Heard’s. I did not put a cigarette out on her, throw a cigarette at her.”
In another recording, Heard accuses Depp of beating the “s**t out of [her].”
After playing another audiotape, Heard’s lawyer, Benjamin Rottenborn, asks Depp if he could hear her say “Get off me” in the footage. But Depp says he did not, and could only hear “distant screaming” and then Depp saying “I’ll talk to you later” in the tape.
Any way you slice it, the trial thus far has painted a portrait of a relationship that went on the rocks. But each individual’s account of what transpired is very different. For instance, in past testimony, Depp has accused Heard of cutting off his finger by throwing a vodka bottle at him and burning a cigarette on his face. Heard’s side of the story is that Depp cut off his own finger and burned the cigarette out on his own face as part of a larger pattern of drug and alcohol-fueled self-destruction.
Depp’s initial lawsuit centers around a 2018 op-ed Heard penned for the Washington Post, in which she describes herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” Though Depp isn’t named in the article, he argues the piece implies him as the alleged abuser — a claim which he denies.
Heard herself is expected to take the stand and testify at some point during the trial unfolding in Fairfax, Virginia. Other famous names on the witness list slated to testify, either in person or via video link, include tech mogul Elon Musk, and actors James Franco and Paul Bettany.
