A bodyguard for Johnny Depp is testifying that he twice saw Amber Heard strike Depp.
The testimony came amid dueling defamation lawsuits between the now-ex-spouses and Hollywood stars, Pirates of the Caribbean actor Depp and Aquaman actor Heard. Depp is suing Heard for $50 million for allegedly 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.
Travis McGivern, Depp’s bodyguard, could be seen testifying via video link on Law & Crime Network’s live-streamed coverage of the trial unfolding in a Fairfax, Virginia courtroom.
In one instance, McGivern said he saw Heard punch Depp in the face in March 2015.
“I heard and saw a closed [fist] contact Mr. Depp in the left side of his face,” he said.
When asked by a lawyer whose fist it was he saw, McGivern said, “That was Ms. Heard’s fist. Amber Heard’s fist.”
McGivern said he also saw Heard throw a red bull can that “struck Mr. Depp in the back.”
Throughout the trial, Heard’s side of the narrative has been that she was physically abused by Depp. But Depp’s point of view is just the opposite: she abused him, and not the other way around.
A former marriage counselor had previously testified she believed the pair engaged in “mutual abuse.”
Heard’s 2018 op-ed for the Washington Post, where she described herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse,” is at the center of Depp’s lawsuit. Heard doesn’t name Depp in the article, but Depp claims the piece nevertheless implied him as the abuser.
Last week, Depp wrapped up his four-day-long testimony. Heard is expected to take the stand, as well, sometime this week, just days after firing her public relations team, according to a recent report.
