Amber Heard attacked Johnny Depp on island in 2015 and called him a "washed-up actor," witness testifies
The manager of Johnny Depp's private island in the Bahamas gave testimony Tuesday about an alleged altercation on the island between the actor and his ex-wife Amber Heard in 2015, while a forensic psychologist testified that Heard suffers from borderline personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder, as the civil lawsuit continues to wallow in the couple's personal issues.
Tara Roberts, who has been the manager of the island for around 15 years, said by video link to the court in Fairfax, Virginia, that Heard appeared to injure Depp with a can during a fight in 2015.
"Amber was telling him that he was a washed-up actor," said Robert. "He was going to die a fat, lonely old man. Then you heard. 'You hit me with a can,' you heard Johnny say, 'You hit me with a can.'"
Roberts testified that after the argument, Depp arrived at the cafe nearby with an injury to the bridge of his nose. Roberts said that Heard tried to stop him leaving by clawing at him and that she "didn't observe any" marks on Heard.
Depp has previously said that Heard hit him on multiple occasions and threw items like paint cans and vodka bottles at him.
Depp is suing Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court after she wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington Post referring to herself as "a public figure representing domestic abuse." The article doesn't mention Depp by name, but his lawyers say the article contains "defamation by implication" because it clearly refers to allegations of domestic abuse made by heard when she filed for divorce in 2016.
Also Tuesday, a forensic psychologist hired by Depp's legal team took the stand. The psychologist, Shannon Curry, said she reached her diagnosis during 12 hours of interviews with Heard, as well as from reviewing her mental-health records.
Curry also testified that Heard does not suffer post-traumatic stress disorder from her relationship with Depp, as Heard has claimed.
Depp's team hopes Curry's testimony bolsters their contention that Heard was the aggressor in the couple's troubled relationship. Depp just concluded four days on the witness stand and testified about Heard's "need for conflict" and her tendency to hound and pursue him during arguments when he tried to walk away and disengage.
The two personality disorders are similar, Curry said. Borderline personality is a disease of instability, she said "driven by an underlying fear of abandonment." She said people with the disorder "will make desperate attempts to prevent that from happening."
Evidence introduced earlier at the trial includes audio clips of Heard begging Depp not to leave, and to stay with her after he indicated a desire to break up or separate.
She also said that borderline personality disorder "seems to be a predictive factor for women who implement violence against their partner."
Histrionic personality disorder, Curry said, is associated with "drama and shallowness," and a need to be the center of attention.
She said there's a correlation in the disorder with people who are physically attractive and "utilize their looks to get that attention."
While the libel lawsuit is supposed to center on whether Depp was defamed in the article, most of the trial has focused on ugly details of the couple's brief marriage. Depp has denied ever striking Heard. Heard's attorneys say Depp physically and sexually abused her and that Depp's denials lack merit because he was often drunk and high to the point of blacking out.
Jurors previously heard an audio clip of a conversation between Depp and Heard in which she seems to taunt him and suggests he won't be believed or respected if he were to publicly cast her as an abuser.
"Tell them, I, Johnny Depp, I'm a victim of domestic abuse ... and see how many people believe or side with you," Heard says on the recording.
