American actress Amber Heard told London’s High Court that her ex-husband Johnny Depp had threatened to kill her, as she appeared on Monday as a witness against the Hollywood star in his libel action against a British tabloid newspaper.
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.
The London court has already heard two weeks of evidence, including five days of testimony from Depp himself, which has laid bare the couple’s volatile relationship and some shocking claims from both parties.
Depp (57) denies ever being violent with Heard or any other woman. He says Heard (34) was abusive towards him.
In a sworn statement to the court, released on Monday as she entered the witness box, Heard said the abuse she suffered at Depp’s hands was extreme.
“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.”
Heard said the actor would obsess about her appearance and would call her “a slut”, “fame-hungry” and “an attention whore” if she wore certain outfits.
“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.
