Amber Heard Often Strode Around 'Naked', Had No 'Cuts or Bruises', Claims Ex-PA at Depp Libel Trial

Johnny Depp is suing ex-spouse Amber Heard for £38m ($50 million) in damages over a 2018 article she penned in The Washington Post where she said she had been a victim of domestic abuse, while not specifically naming the actor. She is counter-suing for £76m ($100 million), alleging that his claim that she is lying is defamatory.

Amber Heard, 35, would "quite often" stride around her home naked, but her body never displayed any injuries, her former personal assistant stated at the ongoing defamation trial between the bitter divorcees, Heard and Johnny Depp.

The Aquaman star “had no issue with walking around naked quite often", said Kate James at the Fairfax County District Court, Virginia.

James, who worked for Heard for three years while the actress claimed she was in an abusive relationship with Johnny Depp, 58, delivered a videotaped deposition to a seven-strong jury this week.

Johnny Depp in Queensland, Australia

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Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp is suing his ex-wife for $50 million, alleging she defamed him in an opinion column she published in The Washington Post (printed in Fairfax County) in December 2018.

At the time, Heard claimed to have been a victim of domestic abuse, while never directly naming Depp.

The actress had raised similar claims before, during divorce proceeding against Depp in 2016 in Los Angeles. However, the split-up between the celebrity couple, who tied the knot in February 2015, was settled out of court.

After the op-ed in The Washington Post, Depp and his lawyer at the time filed a suit in March 2019, which stated: “Ms. Heard is not a victim of domestic abuse, she is a perpetrator”.

Amber Heard then countersued Johnny Depp for $100 million, alleging she was defamed by her former husband’s lawyer, Adam Waldman, who called her statement a “sexual violence hoax”.

During her deposition at the multimillion-dollar US defamation trial, which started on 11 April, the PA said she never saw Amber Heard with any of the injuries the actress claimed to have suffered at Johnny Depp’s hands, such as cuts, bruises, black eyes, broken nose or clumps of hair ripped out.

James also claimed she had been present for "90%" of her "very dramatic" employer’s dress and costume fittings.

In response to Amber Heard’s lawyers insisting that the blonde actress used make-up to cover her alleged injuries, James told the court:

"She usually never wore make-up unless she was going to a special event".

‘Manic Episodes’ of Rage

According to James, she was privy to fits of "screaming", "yelling", and "abuse’" from Heard, with the woman cast as Mera, Aquaman's Atlantean queen, in the superhero film Justice League, once even spitting in her face in a "blind rage".

On the other hand, Johhny Depp was "peaceful", "calm", "passive", "very kind" and a "total Southern gentleman", according to the deposition.

The ex-personal assistant of Amber Heard, who also accused her employer of creating an abusive work environment, said the actress was "often intoxicated" on red wine. Heard had allegedly admitted to her PA that she had taken mushrooms, ecstasy, and cocaine.

James, who worked for Heard from 2012 to 2015 when she married Depp, claimed that when on drugs, the celebrity went into "manic episodes", becoming increasingly "disorientated" and "more and more belligerent".

Revealing that the actress sent her "barrages" of abusive texts between 2 am and 4 am which made "no sense", James believed that an “insecure” Heard targeted her simply as "someone to lash out at".

James noted earlier in her deposition that she was fired subsequently by Heard, who couldn’t afford her services anymore. However, the ex-PA "appeared to be a disgruntled employee as a result of her being fired by Miss Heard", a source familiar with the defence was cited by the media as saying. The source added that “her credibility is called into question, as she admitted asking Mr. Depp to be put on his payroll after her termination”.

Another witness at the defamation trial, the couple’s therapist Laurel Anderson, said Heard admitted to her she had been violent towards Depp. The actress purportedly said it was a "point of pride" for her to start a fight whenever "disrespected".

The therapist also stated that Johnny Depp insisted his ex-spouse "gave as good as she got" during their domestic ruckus.

"Mutual abuse" had persisted throughout the couple’s relationship, believed the psychotherapist.

Depp had difficulty keeping pace with “amped up” Heard’s "jackhammer style of talking" during their sessions, said the therapist. She added that Depp "didn’t have a voice".

While the actor had been “well controlled for decades”, he was “triggered” by Heard, believed the witness.

Earlier, it was said that the potential witness list for the libel trial standoff between the acrimonious divorcees read like a guest list for a Hollywood shindig, with actors, musician, directors, billionaires, and film studio representatives likely to be summoned.