Actor Johnny Depp testifies in the courtroom at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Va., Thursday, April 21, 2022. Actor Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court after she wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington Post in 2018 referring to herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse." (Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool Photo via AP)
By Ben Finley
Attorneys for actor Amber Heard resumed their cross-examination of her ex-husband Johnny Depp in a Virginia courtroom on Thursday, taking aim at his alcohol and drug use as well as texts he sent to a friend about wanting to kill and defile his then-wife.
Heard’s attorneys are trying to derail Depp’s libel lawsuit against her after she wrote a 2018 Washington Post opinion piece that Depp says indirectly defamed him and ruined his lucrative acting career. In the article, Heard referred to herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”
Depp has testified that Heard was the aggressor in the relationship and that he never physically or sexually assaulted her, despite her claims. Heard’s lawyers argue that Depp can’t deny what happened because he was often drunk and high on drugs to the point of blacking out.
Heard lawyer J. Benjamin Rottenborn focused on a 2013 text exchange between Depp and the actor Paul Bettany in which Depp said: “Let’s burn Amber!!!”
Bettany responded: “Having thought it through I don’t think we should burn Amber …”
Depp texted: “Let’s drown her before we burn her!!! I will (expletive) her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she’s dead.”
Rottenborn also focused on another of Depp’s texts to Bettany in 2014 in which he referenced whiskey, pills and powders.
The texts were sent during a period in which Depp said he had stopped drinking. And they were sent around the time of a private flight from Boston to Los Angeles, during which Heard had said that Depp became blackout intoxicated and assaulted her.
Rottenborn presented texts that Depp sent to Bettany that said he drank “all night before I picked Amber up to fly to LA this past Sunday … Ugly, mate … No food for days … Powders … Half a bottle of Whiskey, a thousand red bull and vodkas, pills, 2 bottles of Champers on plane …”
Depp had previously testified that he took two oxycodone pills — an opiate to which he admits he was addicted at the time — and locked himself in the plane bathroom and fell asleep to avoid her badgering. He had also previously testified that he drank only a glass of Champagne as he boarded the plane.
To further bring doubt to Depp's claim that he was not a problematic drinker at that time, Heard’s attorney then showed the jurors a text that Depp had sent to musician Patti Smith regarding a visit to New York City in 2014 in which he recounted fighting with Heard, getting drunk and being “so disappointed in myself.”
Depp has been on the stand in Fairfax County Circuit Court since Tuesday afternoon. The actor has spent much of that time describing the couple's volatile relationship and denying that he ever abused Heard.
Heard never mentioned Depp by name in the article, but Depp’s lawyers said it was a clear reference to accusations Heard made when she sought a 2016 restraining order against him.
Depp said the accusations and the article contributed to an unfairly ruined reputation that made him a Hollywood pariah and cost him his role in the lucrative “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie franchise.
When cross-examination began late Wednesday afternoon, Rottenborn pointed to evidence that Disney made that decision months before the article’s publication.
Heard’s lawyers have argued that Heard's opinion piece was accurate and did not defame him. They have said that Depp’s ruined reputation was due to his own bad behavior.
On the stand Tuesday, Depp called the accusations of drug addiction “grossly embellished,” though he acknowledged taking many drugs. He said his drug use started at age 11 when when he secretly took his mother’s “nerve pills.”
It was 'game on' for sports bettors in the state of New York, as mobile betting kicked off on four major betting operating platforms Saturday. This comes at an exciting time for sports fans with some of the biggest NFL games of the season right around the corner. Cam Rogers - Host of Lock It In with Cam Rogers, Betting Analyst at the Bleav Podcast Network joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
The United States purchased over 600,000 doses of a monoclonal antibody treatment from Glaxosmithkline and Vir Biotechnology, bringing the total worldwide doses purchased to 1.7 million. This comes as the country attempts to ramp up treatment options as cases of the omicron variant continue to surge. Dr. Asha Shah, Director of Infectious Diseases at Stamford Health joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Former wide receiver for the New York Giants, Victor Cruz has partnered with Krystal Restaurants, a popular burger chain in the South, to bring the franchise to his home state of New Jersey. Cruz and Alice Crowder, CMO of Krystal Restaurants, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the venture. The five new locations will be known as "Victor Cruz's Krystal," decked out with memorabilia from his football career, with the former player explaining how "hands-on" he plans on being. "You never know, OK? You might walk in and Victor Cruz will be flipping a burger back there, and you might be getting it directly from the source," he said.
Max Bichsel, vice president at Gambling.com Group joins Cheddar News to talk about the growing sports betting industry, New York legalizing mobile betting, and 2022 predictions for the sector.
Cody Roark, NFL analyst at Pro Football Network joins Cheddar News to talk about NFL playoff predictions and which teams have a shot at the Super Bowl.
Mario Stefanidis, Vice President of Research at Roundhill Investments, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to break down the implications of the Take-Two deal to purchase Zynga, as the gaming giant looks to become a major player in mobile gaming.
Covid cases have started to spike again across the nation, and this time they seem to be hitting some of our youngest and most vulnerable - school-aged children. School districts across the nation - including the country's largest public school system in New York City- are all grappling with what to do as teachers and students alike continue to miss school in droves.
Katie Honan, reporter for the New York City-based non profit news organization, The City explains how educational leaders across the country are handling covid demands from both teachers and parents alike.
For the first time since September, Bitcoin fell below $40,000 early Monday. The currency's average short-term price has now dipped below its average long-term price, which is known by a rather dramatic term, a death cross. According to analysts, the indicator appears to be a result of mounting concerns of faster liquidity withdrawal by the US Federal Reserve. The crypto slump also follows a week of rough trading for equities overall. CEO Snickerdoodle Labs and Co-Founder of the Stanford Future of Digital Currency Initiative, Jonathan Padilla, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Throughout this pandemic, we witnessed a mass exodus of women in particular, from the workforce. A number of women say an increase in home and child care responsibilities forced them to make a decision they never thought they would; to simply quit their jobs. Many others had the decision made for them and were laid off. In fact, we did a LinkedIn poll today where 29 percent of women said their careers took a back seat. Reporting Fellow at Type Media Center and Author of "Work Won't Love You Back" Sarah Jaffe, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
David Bowie's entire catalog of songs has officially been sold to Warner Music Group by his estate for an estimated $250 million. This means the group now has the full rights to almost all of David Bowie's recordings. But Bowie, just the latest music mega deal. Just last month, Bruce Springsteen sold his entire catalog to Sony Music Entertainment at what in fact maybe be the biggest transaction ever for a single artist's body of work. In addition, John Legend also cashed in by selling rights to his songs from 2004 to early last year. Culture Correspondent at NPR, Anastasia Tsioulcas, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
