Johnny Depp and Amber Heard
Amber Heard told jurors on Thursday (May 26) that the harassment campaign launched against her by ex-husband Johnny Depp has humiliated and intimidated her with multiple death threats, adding that she just wants to ‘Leave me alone Johnny Huh.’ Heard was expected to be the final witness in the six-week libel trial brought by Depp against his ex-wife. With cameras in the courtroom, millions have followed the trial, and as the weeks went by, interest grew and both Depp and Heard testified about the ugly details of their relationship.
Online and on the courtroom, Depp’s fans have dominated the narrative, with groups queuing up all night to get one of the few spots in the courtroom and wave as Depp goes in and out. As she enters and exits the courthouse, she is heard by onlookers in the street.
“The harassment and humiliation, the campaign against me that resonates on social media every day, and now in front of cameras in showrooms – every single day I have to re-live the trauma,” Heard said, fighting back tears. Johnny Depp trial: Kate Moss says actor didn’t push her down stairs when they dated
“It’s probably easy to forget that I’m a human. Depp has filed a lawsuit for defamation in Fairfax County Circuit Court in a December 2018 op-ed, calling himself “a public figure representing domestic abuse” in the Washington Post. His lawyers say that the article defames him, although his name was never mentioned in it.
Hurd said he hoped the lawsuit would allow him to regain his voice, adding that he had a “right as an American” to publish an article describing his experiences and How to relate to the national debate on domestic violence. “Johnny has raised my voice a lot,” she said.
“I have a right to tell my story.” Depp denies that he ever hit Heard, and says she was the abuser in the relationship. Johnny Depp defamation case: Witness calls Amber Heard ‘jealous and mad’ before trial
Heard has testified to more than a dozen separate instances of physical abuse she says she suffered at the hands of Depp. The final witness for Depp’s side on Thursday morning was a hand surgeon, Richard Gilbert, who said he believed the injury to Depp’s middle finger may have been as Depp describes it.
The tip of the finger was cut off during a quarrel between the couple in Australia. Depp says it happened when Heard threw a huge bottle of vodka at her. Heard says Depp did this to himself in a drug-fueled rage one night when he also sexually assaulted her with a bottle of alcohol.