UK

Johnny Depp joked about punching Amber Heard in the face, court hears

Actor’s legal team claim ‘anonymous source’ sent them footage that contradicts evidence

US actor Johnny Depp arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Britain, on Friday. Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

Fri Jul 24 2020 - 19:17

Actor Johnny Depp’s lawyers submitted to the UK high court on Friday a video from “an anonymous source” which they say shows that Amber Heard “attacked” her sister.

On Friday morning, the Pirates of the Caribbean star's barrister David Sherborne said the lawyers had received a video from a "confidential source" on Thursday night, after Whitney Henriquez gave evidence earlier on Thursday that her sister had never attacked her.

The claim was made at the outset of the 14th day of Mr Depp's libel claim against The Sun over allegations he was violent to Ms Heard, his ex-wife.

On Thursday, Ms Henriquez denied Ms Heard had ever hit her, or that she was “frightened” of her sister.

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She also gave evidence that she saw Mr Depp punch Ms Heard "really hard in the head . . . multiple times" in Los Angeles in March 2015 in the so-called "stairs incident".

Ms Henriquez admitted that Ms Heard had punched Mr Depp on that occasion, but only did so because she believed the actor was going to push Ms Henriquez down the stairs.

Mr Sherborne told the court on Friday that Ms Henriquez had “tailored” her evidence “to meet her sister’s evidence”.

The barrister added that Mr Depp’s legal team had been provided with “material which we say demonstrates Ms Whitney [Henriquez] was lying yesterday”.

Mr Depp (57) is suing The Sun's publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor Dan Wootton over an April 2018 article which labelled the actor a "wife beater" over claims he attacked Ms Heard (34) during their relationship.

NGN is defending the article as true, and says Mr Depp was “controlling and verbally and physically abusive towards Ms Heard, particularly when he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs”.

‘History of violence’

At the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Friday, Mr Sherborne said: “After she [Ms Henriquez] gave evidence yesterday, one of our team was contacted by an individual, on the basis of being kept confidential.

“We were contacted to explain that Ms Amber Heard had a history of violence and attacking people and this video, which was attached, of her sister Whitney [Henriquez] was taken shortly after Amber Heard had attacked her and Ms Whitney [Henriquez] was filmed with people commenting on the bruises on her face and body.”

He said that, on Thursday, Ms Henriquez was asked “whether Ms Amber Heard was violent” and had said that “the stairs incident” in Los Angeles in March 2015 was a “one-off”.

Mr Sherborne said Ms Heard’s evidence is that “she was never violent, she [has not] physically attacked Mr Depp . . . and the only occasion is said to be when she was acting in self-defence”.

He told the court: “We are entitled to put [allegations of] violence to Ms Whitney [Henriquez] . . . we want to play the video tape to her and ask her about the incident in which Ms Amber Heard attacked her.”

After legal argument on whether the video was admissible as evidence, it was played to the court. It shows Ms Henriquez, by a poolside with friends, talking, with one person heard to say: “Did you get in a fight?” and then “I can’t believe Amber beat your ass.” One woman appears to inspect Ms Henriquez’s cheek and arm, and Ms Henriquez says she is not going to talk about it.

Mr Sherborne said the video was a clip captured during the filming of a reality television show and was not for broadcast, but was “the rushes”. He later said it was filmed in 2006 or 2007.

When questioned on the video, Ms Henriquez replied: “We were referencing a verbal argument my sister and I had got into the night before.”

Ms Henriquez denied that it was a physical fight and said her friends were “inferring, trying to make a storyline, albeit a bad one, interesting, nothing more”.

‘Nervous wreck’

Also on Friday, the court heard claims from Ms Heard’s former acting coach that Ms Heard became a “nervous wreck” about choosing film roles because she was “so worried” about Mr Depp’s reaction.

Kristina Sexton alleged the actor "dictated" his ex-wife's work and told her not to take certain jobs because he did not want her doing "whore parts". In a written witness statement, Ms Sexton also claimed the actor did not want Ms Heard modelling, saying it made her look like a "cheap whore".

Ms Sexton claimed: “I remember her telling me that they had ‘confrontations’ about her choice of parts, after which she would decide not to submit her tape.

“She told me he was particularly concerned about her taking roles involving sexuality and/or sex scenes.

“She started telling me that he was accusing everyone of being in love with her and accusing her of wielding her sexuality all the time.

“She also told me that he was constantly upset about her ex-partners. She told me he was worried about her having affairs with co-stars.”

The court heard from a friend of Ms Heard, Raquel Pennington, who alleged she felt “an obligation to stay close” to Ms Heard for Ms Heard’s safety.

In a written statement, Ms Pennington claimed she was concerned that Mr Depp might “accidentally kill” the actor.

The court also heard an allegation from a friend of Ms Heard that Mr Depp joked about punching Ms Heard in the face after their wedding ceremony in the Bahamas.

iO Tillett Wright, the final witness in the trial, and who was Ms Heard’s best man at the February 2015 ceremony, claimed he already knew Mr Depp was “hitting” her when the alleged comment was made.

In a written witness statement, Mr Tillett Wright said: “The first thing Johnny said to me after the ceremony, as we walked to the reception, was ‘Now I can punch her in the face and no one can do anything about it.’

“He probably intended it as a joke, but it is only a joke if it’s not real – and by then I knew he was hitting her.”

In his statement, Mr Tillett Wright said it was in late 2013 or early 2014 that he understood Mr Depp was allegedly “physically violent” towards Ms Heard.

The case, the biggest English libel trial of the 21st century, is due to finish next week with closing submissions from both sides’ legal teams on Monday and Tuesday. – PA

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