Jealous Depp kicked me over Franco 'affair' - Heard

Amber Heard says a perceived affair with fellow actor James Franco led to ex-husband Johnny Depp assaulting her on a cross-country flight in 2014.

Taking the stand for a second day as part of a multi-million dollar defamation trial, Ms Heard cast Mr Depp as deeply troubled by jealousy and drugs.

Mr Depp is suing Ms Heard for $50m (£40m) over an article in which she said she was a victim of abuse.

She is countersuing for $100m.

On Thursday, Ms Heard alleged that much of her ex-husband's anger was caused by his belief that she was seeing James Franco, whom she said Mr Depp "hated".

Mr Franco starred alongside Ms Heard in Pineapple Express and The Adderall Diaries.

That jealousy, she claimed, led an angry Mr Depp to repeatedly question her on a flight from Boston to Los Angeles, in which he allegedly kicked her.

"He just kicked me in the back. I fell on the floor," she said. "No one said anything. No one did anything. It's like you could hear a pin drop on that plane."

The court also heard a recording allegedly of Mr Depp on the flight, which Ms Heard said showed him "howling" while suffering from the effects of drug use.

Jurors have repeatedly heard about the incident on the flight. In his own testimony, Mr Depp said that he took Oxycodone pills and fell asleep to avoid Ms Heard.

Ms Heard alleged she had the fight with Mr Depp after a "famous musician" was allowed to spend the night with his daughter, who was about 14 at the time.

She added that Lily-Rose was also introduced to marijuana around this time. "She was so young," Ms Heard said. "I felt protective."

Additionally, Ms Heard also detailed their surprise engagement and a previous discussion over a prenuptial agreement with Mr Depp.

She claims that Mr Depp told her that "the only way out of this is death".

"I didn't care either way, but I did feel it [the agreement] would eliminate suspicion or doubt, and it would make things easier," she added.

Earlier in the trial, Mr Depp claimed he never struck Ms Heard, or any women. Instead, he said she was often abusive herself and had a "a need for conflict".

The defamation cases stems from a December 2018 opinion piece in the Washington Post, in which she said she was a victim of abuse but did not name Mr Depp.

His lawyers have said that the piece "incalculably" damaged his career prospects. 

 

BBC