Johnny Depp’s personal doctor has described the moment his chef found the actor’s fingertip after it was cut off during an incident in Australia.
Dr David Kipper gave a digital deposition as part of Depp’s defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, which started in Virginia last week.
Kipper previously described how he was hired by Depp in 2014 in order to help him recover from opioid addiction.
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On day four of the trial, he discussed an incident in March 2015 when he travelled to Australia after receiving a message from Depp about his injured finger.
During Depp’s previous libel case against The Sun, Depp and Heard’s team gave contrasting accounts of what unfolded during the 2015 incident amid a row between the former couple that reportedly led to the injury on Depp's finger.
Sasha Wass QC, representing Sun publisher News Group Newspapers, claimed at the time that Depp had thrown Heard against a ping-pong table and pushed her up against a fridge.
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Depp denied these allegations and previously said: “After the incident where Ms Heard threw the vodka bottle, the second vodka bottle at me, which severed the top of my finger and crushed the bones, that’s when I began what I feel was probably some species of a breakdown, a nervous breakdown or something.”
During the current trial, Kipper said the fingertip was found on the floor in the kitchen. It was also stated, however, that Depp told the emergency room doctor he had cut his own finger with a knife, and that Kipper did not put the fact Depp's finger was cut by a bottle in his notes. Kipper arrived at Depp's residence in Australia after the actor texted him to say what had happened and that he needed treatment.
Dr Kipper said Depp was in a car outside the property with his security team when he arrived. After arriving at the home, Kipper said: “I cleaned the wound to the best that I could with the supplies that we had and then took him [to the emergency room].”
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Prior to this, he said: “I went into the home… to instruct one of the people with him to look for the tip of the finger, hoping that we would be able to put it back.”
Describing who found the tip, he said, “I believe this man was their chef,” adding that ‘he said he found it in the kitchen area’.
In his deposition, Kipper said that he saw no visible injuries on Heard at the time of the incident, stating that she was ‘certainly upset’, but did not seek any medical attention.
He added that he saw blood and broken glass in the kitchen area where Depp’s finger tip was found, but not specifically ‘blood around the glass’.
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Under questioning from Depp’s team, the doctor said he ‘never’ witnessed abuse between the former couple over the six years that he worked for them.
Depp is seeking $50 million in damages after Heard claimed she was a victim of ‘sexual violence’ in the Washington Post in 2018.
Despite the op-ed article not naming Depp, he claims the piece ruined his reputation and career.
Topics: Johnny Depp, Crime
Daisy Phillipson