The defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard began April 11. On April 19, Depp took the stand and testified over the course of four days. The prosecution showed considerable evidence of Heard’s “abuse.” Meanwhile, during cross-examination the defense brought up text messages, recordings, and his past alcohol use applying this information to conclude he was the perpetrator of the violence.

Afterwards, Depp’s witnesses, Los Angeles police officers, and psychologist Dr. Shannon Curry, took the stand. Dr. Shannon Curry, was hired by Depp’s legal team. She met with Heard on two occasions to conduct her evaluation. She said they spent roughly 12 hours together. Dr. Curry said, “The result of Ms Heard’s evaluation supported two diagnoses – borderline personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder.” She also went on to say Heard has a “desperate fear of abandonment”…“when somebody is afraid of being abandoned, by their partner or by anybody else in their environment and they have this disorder, they’ll make desperate attacks to prevent that from happening”…“And those desperate attempts could be physical aggression, it could be threatening, it could be harming themselves, but these are behaviors that are very extreme and very concerning to the people around them.”

Dr. Curry also went more into depth concerning the borderline disorder She explained those with it can be charming and well-liked, meanwhile unaware of all the damage being caused around them. They can be cruel, and won’t admit their faults, which can lead to violent and abusive reactions to stop their partners from leaving.

“One of the most common tactics that they’ll use is actually physically assaulting and then getting harmed themselves, but mostly, we call this ‘administrative violence.’ Essentially this is saying that they’ll make threats using the legal system,” Dr Curry said.

On April 25, ACLU executive Terence Dougherty took the stand. When Depp and Heard had originally reached their divorce in 2017, Heard publicly said she would donate all ($7 million) to a charity, half to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and half to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Dougherty explain Heard only donated $1.3 million, with $500,000 from a fund tied to Elon Musk, Heard’s boyfriend at the time.

Dougherty stated in 2019, he learned Ms. Heard would not be able to complete the rest of her pledge because she was having “financial problems.”

In court this week, Heard’s lawyers also made a point that Depp was claiming no drug and alcohol abuse after 2014, but that wasn’t true according to Tara Roberts, manager of Depp’s private island in the Bahamas. Roberts said, “I recall he was passed out on the beach,” she also explains, when asked, that Depp’s son had seen him that way.

During Depp’s testimony, the audio clips, recorded during their relationship, revealed Heard admitting to “hitting” Depp and mocking him and calling him a “baby” afterwards. Depp would return with his words and yell disrespectful things to her about things like her weight. In one recording taken almost at the end of their marriage Heard said “Tell the world, Johnny”…“Tell them I, Johnny Depp – a man – I’m a victim too of domestic violence.” Depp responded with “Yes, I am.”