Amber Heard reminds jurors ‘I am a human being’ as she returns to stand
The Aquaman star said she had received ‘thousands’ of death threats since proceedings began.
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Amber Heard has reminded jurors that “I am a human being” as she returned to the stand to detail the effects of Johnny Depp’s lawsuit on her life, on the penultimate day of evidence in the US trial.
The Aquaman star said she had received “thousands” of death threats since proceedings began and the process had been “agonising, painful and humiliating”.
Mr Depp is suing Ms Heard over a 2018 article she wrote in the Washington Post, which his lawyers say falsely implies he physically and sexually abused her while they were together.
He has denied all accusations.
Closing arguments in the 50 million dollar (£40 million) lawsuit are expected on Friday after six weeks of evidence from various family members, friends, colleagues and medical experts.
In her second round of direct evidence on Thursday, Ms Heard told the court she and her friends now had to live by a “set of rules” to ensure she did not have panic attacks following her “trauma”.
Describing the effect of the trial on her she said: “I am harassed, humiliated, threatened every single day.
“Even just coming into this courtroom sitting here in front of the world having the worst parts of my life, things that I have lived through, used to humiliate me.
“People want to kill me, they tell me so… they want to put my baby in the microwave and they tell me that.
She continued: “I’m not sitting in this courtroom snickering, I’m not sitting in this courtroom laughing. I’m not smiling and making snide jokes.
“I’m not. This is horrible.
“This is painful and this is humiliating for any human being to go through.
“And perhaps it’s easy to forget that, but I am a human being.
“Even though Johnny promised I deserve this… I do not deserve this. I want to move on.”
Ms Heard added that she wanted to “get my voice back” and had a right “as an American” to tell her story and share “my truth”.
The actress said that “a lot of people have come out of the woodwork to be part of the Johnny Depp show” as she underwent cross-examination from Mr Depp’s legal team, and was accused of calling previous witnesses “liars”.
She clashed several times with Camille Vasquez, who at times moved to strike parts of her answers.
Judge Penney Azcarate also warned people in the public gallery not to make comments during Ms Heard’s testimony, and that the court would be cleared if interruptions continued.
In his own second round of questioning on Tuesday, Mr Depp once again denied the “outlandish, outrageous” claims of abuse brought by Ms Heard and said he had “spoken up for what I have been carrying on my back reluctantly for six years.”