American actress Amber Heard told London’s High Court that her ex-husband Johnny Depp had threatened to kill her, testifying on Monday as a witness in the Hollywood star’s libel action against a British tabloid.
Depp is suing News Group Newspapers, publishers of the Sun newspaper, over a 2018 article which labelled him a “wife beater” and questioned his casting in the “Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them” franchise.
“HE EXPLICITLY THREATENED TO KILL ME MANY TIMES”
The 57-year-old actor – who earned a fortune from his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie series – told the court last week that all of Heard’s allegations of physical and verbal abuse were untrue. He denies ever being violent with her or with any other woman.
In a sworn written statement to the court, released as she began her oral evidence in the witness box, Heard said she had been severely abused by Depp. “Some incidents were so severe that I was afraid he was going to kill me, either intentionally or just by losing control and going too far,” she said in the statement. “He explicitly threatened to kill me many times, especially later in our relationship.”
“The physical abuse included punching, slapping, kicking, head-butting and choking me, as well as throwing me into things, pulling me by my hair, and shoving me or pushing me to the ground. He threw things at me, especially glass bottles.” she said.