Featured Image Credit: Law and Crime Network
Topics: Johnny Depp, US News
Daisy Phillipson
Johnny Depp took the stand as a witness in his defamation trial against Amber Heard today (19 April) where he denied ever striking his ex-wife in any way.
Depp is suing Heard in a defamation lawsuit over abuse claims she made in a 2018 article in The Washington Post.
Speaking at Fairfax County courthouse in Virginia today, the 58-year-old actor said: "Never did I myself reach the point of striking Miss Heard in anyway, nor have I ever struck any woman in my life."
He added: "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."
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Depp went on to discuss his children, who were 14 and 16 at the time the allegations gained international attention, saying he thought it was 'diabolical' that they'd have friends or people at school approach them with the People magazine cover that featured Heard with a bruise on her face.
He continued: "I was always a very private person, so for me to come up here and sit before you all and spill the truth is quite exposing, and it's unfortunate that it's not only exposing for myself, it's exposing for my family, it's exposing for Miss Heard, it never had to go in this direction."
But the actor said that he can't say it's embarrassing, adding: "I know I’m doing the right thing."
Prior to this, Depp described Heard's allegations as 'quite heinous and disturbing', saying they were 'criminal acts against me that were not based in any species of truth'.
When questioned about his childhood, Depp opened up about the abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother, Betty Sue Palmer.
As well as 'constant' physical abuse, he said there was a lot of verbal abuse in the form of 'bullying' and 'name-calling'.
"The verbal abuse, the psychological abuse, was almost worse than the beatings," he said.
"The beatings were physical pain, and the physical pain you learned to deal with, you learned to accept it... but the psychological and emotional abuse, that's what kind of tore us up I think."
This was discussed by Depp’s sister Christi Dembrowski when she spoke in the trial last week (12 April), telling the court that Depp had sworn never to perpetuate domestic violence after experiencing it from their ‘high strung, nervous’ and ‘angry’ mother.
“Mom would scream, yell at him, she would hit him, call him names, that kind of thing," she said at the time.
Depp is seeking $50 million in damages after Heard claimed she was a victim of ‘sexual violence’ in The Washington Post piece.
Despite the op-ed article not naming Depp, he claims the piece ruined his reputation and career.