Amber Heard didn't have any marks on her face after allegedly being hit by Johnny Depp, his friend and neighbour said.
Depp's $50 million (£38m) defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife kicked off in Virginia this week, centred on a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which Heard claimed she had become 'a public figure representing domestic abuse'.
Depp's attorneys have accused Heard of orchestrating an elaborate 'hoax' with the 'clear implication' he was an abuser. In 2020, the Pirates of the Caribbean star lost his libel case against The Sun because the judge ruled claims he was a 'wife-beater' to be 'substantially true'.
Isaac Baruch, Depp's childhood friend and former neighbour when they lived in the Eastern Columbia Building in Los Angeles, took the stand yesterday (13 April).
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Depp had earlier supported Baruch in his artistic endeavours, even giving him around $100,000 (£76,115), according to Deadline.
Baruch said he never witnessed any physical violence between the couple, but he did hear verbal arguments. However, he couldn't attest to Heard's claims from 21 May, 2016, when Depp allegedly assaulted her in their apartment.
Baruch recalled Heard telling him: "Johnny came by last night and he became violent.” He asked: "He hit you?” She replied: "Yeah. He threw a phone at me and hit me."
After looking at her face, he asked Heard to point out where she'd been hit. "I am looking at the whole thing and I don’t see anything... I don’t see a cut, bruise, swelling. It’s just Amber’s face," he said, adding that she wasn't wearing makeup.
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Baruch continued: "Well, I don’t see anything, but maybe all the beauty from one side of the face is outshining everything. And she is laughing, smiled. And I just looked at everybody and said, ‘Hey, this sounds nuts'."
He then discovered she'd filed for divorce after seeing a photo of Heard "wearing a black mourning dress with a brown mark on her cheek... surprised is not the word – what the hell is this, what’s going on?"
Over the course of his testimony, Baruch managed to make Depp laugh and even elicited a smile from Heard when discussing his relationship with the couple. He said he 'fell in love with her just like Johnny', describing her as 'totally respectful and gracious' and having 'great teeth'.
However, when asked if he was still angry over Heard's claims, he said: "Am I angry anymore? What I am is tired, and I want this all to end, her to go heal, him to go heal.
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"So many people have been affected by this malicious lie that she started and she created, and it has gone out the door and around the world."
If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence 24 hours a day to the national domestic violence helpline Refuge on 0808 2000 247
Topics: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, Film and TV, Entertainment
