Johnny Depp ended his testimony on Monday for his ongoing defamation trial with ex-wife Amber Heard with his continued insistence that he's never physically struck her or any woman, no matter how volatile the couple's fights might have gotten. Alleging that false accusations of domestic violence made by Heard had cost him his roles in the Pirates of the Caribbean and Fantastic Beasts franchises, Depp is suing his ex for $50 million in damages. Heard is counter-suing for $100 million, claiming that Depp is the one defaming her.
On Monday, audio recordings of a phone call were played with the couple speaking about the joint statement they had released at the time of their divorce. Depp can be heard questioning why Heard went public with accusations of abuse, to which the Aquaman actress claimed she was "forced" to by Depp's legal team.
"The abuse thing is... we've got to deal with that," Depp says in the audio. "We've got to deal with that, Amber... Why did you put that out there?"
After arguing that she's "lost all my credibility," Heard responded, "I did not! You forced me, your team forced me to by going on the offense."
At another point in the audio recordings, Depp describes a violent incident between the two that resulted in the actor losing the tip of his finger, which required surgery to correct. In previous testimony, Depp accused Heard of causing the injury by throwing a vodka bottle at him. The new audio that was played in the courtroom seems to reveal Heard telling Depp that no one would ever believe him if he were to go public with his alleged abuse.
"Amber, I lost a f***ing finger man, come on. I had a f***ing, a jar, a can of mineral spirits thrown at my nose," Depp says.
"You can please tell people that it was a fair fight, and see what the jury and judge thinks," Heard responds. "Tell the world Johnny, tell them Johnny Depp, I, Johnny Depp, a man, I'm a victim too of domestic violence, and I know it's a fair fight, and see how many people believe or side with you."
Johnny Depp Said His Bizarre Texts About Amber Heard Were Abstract Humor
From the start, Johnny Depp has refuted Amber Heard's claims that he was abusive. The actor admitted that he has engaged in self-destructive behavior, such as his past drug use, which has gotten a lot of attention during the trial, but it doesn't mean he's abused anyone else. Depp also described how he felt like he was labeled as guilty from the start, following comments he made about Disney's firing from the Pirates of the Caribbean films leaving him feeling betrayed.
"The only person I've abused in my life is myself... I was guilty until proven innocent."
Along with his drug and alcohol use, Heard's lawyers have grilled Depp about text messages about Heard he had sent to Avengers and WandaVision star Paul Bettany. One such text suggested that they should "burn Amber." A follow-up text from Depp stated that they should first "drown her" before burning her along with doing unspeakable things with her corpse to "make sure she is dead." On the stand, Depp explained that these texts were not serious threats to Heard's health. Per AOL, he stated that it was a Monty Python reference, and using "abstract humor" was his way of coping with the stress of what was happening at the time.
"The text that is about burning Ms. Heard, it's directly from Monty Python in the sketch about burning witches and then drowning the witches. This is a film we all watched... it's just irreverent and abstract humor, that's what we were referring to in those texts."
Depp is finished with his testimony, but Heard is expected to also take the stand at some point during the trial.