Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s marriage counsellor says Heard would ‘initiate’ fights, claiming that her former partner would ‘de-escalate’ them.
Depp, 58, is suing his 35-year-old ex-wife Heard in a $50 million (£38.2 million) defamation lawsuit over domestic abuse claims she made in an article in The Washington Post. A trial began earlier this week at Fairfax County Court in Virginia, and is expected to run into May.
Today (Thursday 14 April), the couple’s marriage counsellor claimed Heard would ‘initiate’ a fight, while Depp would be the one to ‘de-escalate’ the situation.
In a video deposition to the court, Dr Laurel Anderson explained: “It was a point of pride to [Heard] if she felt disrespected to initiate a fight... If he was going to leave her to de-escalate [a] fight, she would strike him to keep him there.
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"She would rather be in a fight to keep him there.”
Anderson, a counsellor based in Los Angeles, said she saw Depp and Heard for a total of four sessions, recalling how, at one point, one of the pair walked out – although she could not remember who it was, saying both had threatened to do so. She added that the couple did not visit together on their first session.
She said she believed there was ‘mutual abuse’ in their relationship, saying: “Heard had a jackhammer style of talking. She was very amped up. He had trouble talking at the same pace. Their dialogue, he had trouble keeping up ... He couldn't keep up with her rapid fire way of her conversation. And so he was really overwhelmed.”
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Anderson continued: “They engaged in, what I saw as, mutual abuse. I know she led on more than one occasion, and started it ... Abandonment and having him leave was her worst nightmare.
“And I think he may have initiated it on occasions. But that I am less sure of.”
Anderson went on to say that she did not witness abuse between Depp and Heard, but said she did see bruises on Heard, which she believed were around her eyes. Describing the injuries that Heard had shown her, the counsellor said there were bruises that were 'not purple, green [or] blue', but 'a darkening'. She also used her fingers to indicate that the 'grey/blue' marks measured approximately an inch wide.
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Topics: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard