“Never did I myself reach the point of striking Ms. Heard in any way, nor have I ever struck any woman in my life” – Johnny Depp testifies during Amber Heard defamation trial

By Bollywood Hungama News Network -

April 20, 2022 - 5:16 PM IST

Johnny Depp takes the stand in defamation trial against Amber Heard held in Fairfax, Virginia. Speaking softly and slowly for nearly three hours, Depp said it was a "complete shock" about six years ago when Heard "made some quite heinous and disturbing" allegations that he became violent during their relationship.

“Never did I myself reach the point of striking Ms. Heard in any way, nor have I ever struck any woman in my life” – Johnny Depp testifies during Amber Heard defamation trial

As People magazine reports, on Tuesday, the 58-year-old actor took the stand in to give his witness testimony, speaking about the domestic abuse allegations made against him by Heard. He said they escalated to scenarios that "were not based in any species of truth." (Heard's legal team is expected to cross-examine Depp on Wednesday.) "Never did I myself reach the point of striking Ms. Heard in any way, nor have I ever struck any woman in my life," he said under oath.

Depp added of Heard's abuse allegations, "Since I knew there was no truth to it whatsoever, I felt it my responsibility to stand up not only for myself in that instance but stand up for my children, who at the time were 14 and 16." Depp is dad to daughter Lily-Rose, now 22, and son Jack, now 20. "My goal is the truth," he said, adding that he hopes to "clear the record" of the allegations made against him by his ex-wife. He explained that "it killed me" to have his reputation tarnished and have people in his life "think that I was a fraud and had lied to them."

“It's been six years of trying times," he continued. "It's pretty strange when one day you're Cinderella, so to speak, then 0.6 seconds you're Quasimodo. I didn't deserve that, nor did my children, nor did the people who have believed in me for all these years. I didn't want any of those people to believe that I had done them wrong or lied to them or that I was a fraud. I pride myself on honesty. Truth is the only thing I'm interested in.” Heard and Depp met on sets of 2011 movie The Rum Diary and wed in 2015, broke up in May 2016, when Heard sought a domestic violence restraining order against him, accusing him of abusing her.

While Depp denied the claims, the former couple settled their divorce out of court in August 2016. In 2019, Depp had filed a defamation lawsuit against Heard, alleging she defamed him by describing herself as a victim of domestic violence in an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post and asked for $50 million in damages. Heard's article led to some news reports calling Depp a "wife beater" leading him to losing the role of Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts series, eventually ruining his Hollywood career.

During opening statements last week, Heard's attorney Ben Rottenborn said evidence will show she suffered domestic abuse by Depp that "took many forms," including physical, emotional, verbal and psychological, as well as "sexual violence at the hands of Depp." A spokesperson for Depp denies the allegation as "fictitious." As the report mentions, back in November 2020, Depp lost his highly publicized U.K. libel lawsuit case against British tabloid The Sun for calling him a "wife-beater." The court upheld the outlet's claims as being "substantially true" and Heard testified to back up the claims. In March 2021, his attempt to overturn the decision was overruled.

Also Read: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard engaged in ‘mutual abuse’ with escalating violence, says their former marriage counselor