Editor’s note: Some testimony contains graphic language and descriptions of sexual and physical assault.
Closing arguments are set for Friday in the civil libel trial between actors Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard. The case will likely go to the jury later in the day, the final stage in what has been so far six weeks of courtroom drama that peeled back the curtain on the stars’ troubled marriage.
Depp is suing Heard in Fairfax County Circuit Court in Virginia for $50 million over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” His lawyers say he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned his name. Heard is countersuing for $100 million, claiming Depp’s attorney defamed her by calling her abuse allegations a hoax.
POOL / REUTERS
Testimony concluded Thursday after Heard returned to the stand as a rebuttal witness called by her attorneys.
Heard said she is “harassed, humiliated, threatened every single day” thanks to Depp and his attorney Adam Waldman’s statements about her.
Depp has denied he ever struck Heard and says she was the abuser in the relationship. Heard has testified about more than a dozen separate instances of physical abuse she says she suffered at Depp’s hands.
Depp’s legal team rested its case earlier Thursday after calling its own rebuttal witnesses, including Depp himself.
Depp testified Wednesday, calling Heard’s accusations “insane.”
Both actors each testified extensively earlier in the trial.
