Amber Heard took the stand Wednesday as a witness in the $50 million civil defamation claim brought by ex-husband Johnny Depp.
“I am here because my ex-husband is suing me for an op-ed that I wrote,” Heard told the Fairfax, Virginia courtroom. “This is horrible for me to sit here for weeks and relive everything.”
She added, “This is the most painful and difficult thing I have ever gone through.”
Her appearance signals the case is heading toward a conclusion, and will be key to her $100 million counterclaim. Her attorneys requested Tuesday that the case be dismissed, but the judge’s denial of that motion set the stage for Heard to testify.
Over the past few weeks, Depp’s legal team put the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor, his doctors, accountants, former CAA agent, and several expert witnesses on the stand before resting their case on Tuesday. The defense began calling witnesses Wednesday.
Heard has claimed that Depp physically and emotionally abused her before their 2016 divorce, and in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed she wrote that she was a victim of domestic violence. Depp says he never once hit Heard. He and his team painted her as the abusive one – and said the Post article cost him career opportunities, including his iconic and lucrative “Pirates” role at Disney.
Depp spent four days on the stand earlier in the trial and had this to say.