Amber Heard tells jury of mashed potato on door and ‘blood everywhere’ after alleged drink-drug rampage by Johnny Depp
Actress describes damage to house during ‘hostage situation’ trip to Australia
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Amber Heard has told a jury there was mashed potato rubbed over a door and “blood everywhere” following an alleged drink and drug rampage by her former husband Johnny Depp in Australia.
Ms Heard was asked on Thursday about an alleged incident in March 2015, in which she said Depp had taken MDMA and drunk heavily, as part of the actor’s libel case against The Sun newspaper.
Sasha Wass QC asked Ms Heard to describe the damage to the house following the incident, which occurred during a trip to Australia previously described by the actress as a “three-day hostage situation”.
“When I first opened the door that last morning, there was what appears to be mashed potatoes and gravy or something rubbed all over the door... I remember there was a bird, which scared me to death,” Heard said.
“I started seeing all this blood on the carpet... which I thought was [from] my feet, but there was drops of it. There was blood everywhere.”
She added: “There was paint, what I thought was paint because it was a brownish colour, on the walls and then it started to become clear to me that they were letters or messages, words. It was heavy at first and then it kind of faded into a, like, milky brown colour.
“I started to make out words, English words, but it didn’t make sense. Then it appeared to be a different kind of writing next to it, but these are on the walls leading down this kind of covered stairwell.”
She said she was not responsible for any of the damage to the house, other than one bottle she broke on the floor.
The evidence came as part of Depp’s High Court case against The Sun over a 2018 article which called him a “wife beater”.
Heard has accused Depp of being verbally and physically abusive through their relationship, alleging that he punched, slapped, kicked and choked her, and displayed “extremely controlling and intimidating behaviour”.
However, Depp has said he was not violent towards her and claimed she was violent towards him.
The actor’s lawyers have argued the 2018 article in question suggested there was “overwhelming evidence” Depp had assaulted Heard on a number of occasions and left her “in fear for her life”.
News Group Newspapers (NGN), which publishes The Sun, has defended the article as true and argued Depp was “controlling and verbally and physically abusive towards Ms Heard, particularly when he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs”.
The case, which is the biggest English libel trial of the 21st century so far, is due to finish next week with closing submissions from both sides’ legal teams on Monday and Tuesday.
Additional reporting by PA