Amber Heard speaks of death threats during trial as testimony closes – “It’s easy to forget I’m a human being”
Amber Heard returned to the stand as testimony ended yesterday (26th May) in the highly publicised defamation case. Asked how she’s been affected by the Depp-Waldman statements at the centre of her counterclaim, Heard said: “I am harassed, humiliated, threatened, every single day. Even just walking into this courtroom, sitting here in front of the world, having the worst parts of my life, things that I’ve lived through, used to humiliate me.”
“People want to kill me, and they tell me so everyday. People want to put my baby in the microwave, and they tell me that,” she continued, adding, “Johnny threatened, promised, promised me, that if I ever left him, he’d make me think of him every single day,” she added before being interrupted by an objection from Depp’s team.
“My friends have to live with a set of unspoken rules about how to not scare me, how to not touch me, not to surprise me. My intimate partners have rules about how they can deal with me, how they can touch me. I have rules for doctors and medical professionals I see, gynaecologists I see.” The Aquaman actor told the jury
She testified that “the damage that I have to live with every single day” impacted her ability to train for combat scenes in the DC movie. “If a combat scene, and a trigger happens, I have a meltdown and I have to deal with that, the crew would have to deal with that because of the damage I walk around with, every day,” she continued.
Dr Shannon Curry, A psychologist hired by Johnny Depp’s legal team refuted Amber Heard’s diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. Testifying for Amber Heard’s defence, psychologist Dr Dawn Hughes said that the actress does suffer from PTSD as a direct impact from domestic violence. “I diagnosed Ms Heard with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the cause was the intimate partner violence by Mr Depp,” Dr Hughes said.
Depp is currently battling it out in court with Heard over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed she penned in which she claimed she was a victim of sexual violence. While Heard did not mention Depp by name, the Edward Scissorhands star claims the article tarnished his reputation and career.
Depp, who was married to Heard from 2015 to 2017, has denied his ex’s claims. The defamation trial’s closing arguments are expected today (27th May).
