Friend recalls Johnny Depp ‘screaming, spitting and cursing’ at him on night of Amber Heard penthouse fight

Johnny Depp was reportedly “screaming, cursing and spitting” at a former friend on the last night that he allegedly violently abused Amber Heard, according to damning courtroom testimony.

A pre-recorded deposition from Josh Drew on 11 November 2019 was played in the courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, on Wednesday, during the Hollywood actors’ multi-million-dollar defamation trial.

In it, Mr Drew claimed that Mr Depp smashed a bottle against the door to his apartment and burst in, got up close in his face in an “aggressive” way and was “screaming, cursing, spitting in my face”.

While Mr Drew testified that he just “calmly” walked out of his home, he said that Mr Depp’s behaviour caused one of their other friends to “bolt” away from the Pirates star and run upstairs to “hide from him”.

Mr Drew is the former husband of Raquel Pennington, who used to be Amber Heard’s best friend.

The couple, who are no longer together, were neighbours of Johnny Depp and Ms Heard, living in one of the penthouses in the same downtown Los Angeles building as the former couple.

Mr Drew gave testimony about his account of the aftermath of the alleged incident between Ms Heard and Mr Depp at their penthouse on 21 May 2016.

The violent incident came just two days before Ms Heard filed for divorce and six days before she filed for a domestic violence restraining order.

Photographs shown in court reveal Ms Heard’s bruised face which she claims was caused by Mr Depp that night.

During the day of 21 May 2016, Mr Drew said that his wife was getting set up for a jewellery show with Ms Heard and another friend, Elizabeth Marz, while he was in and out of the building throughout the day.

Later that night, he said he heard a door open in the hallway and, seconds later, heard “a really loud slam which he later learned was a wine bottle being smashed into the door” of his own apartment.

Mr Drew testified that he heard Mr Depp shouting to his security: “Open this f***ing door! Get me in here!”

At that point, Mr Depp allegedly burst in and “beelined” for him “screaming, cursing and spitting” at him.

“He came in, caught eyes with me right away and beelined for me screaming, cursing and spitting in my face,” Mr Drew testified.

“I walked calmly to leave, realised I had forgotten my keys and dog so walked back to turn around to go get both.

“He stayed and followed with me, walking, pacing, screaming, cursing, spitting in my face. And I left calmly.”

Mr Drew testified that Ms Marz was also in the apartment and that the “last look I saw of her she bolted round the corner and ran up the stairs to hide” from Mr Depp.

When asked how close Mr Depp was to his face during the incident, Mr Drew said “close enough to be aggressive” but insisted that he did not feel threatened, pointing out that the actor’s security guards were present at the time.

Mr Depp is suing his ex-wife for defamation over a 2018 op-ed she penned for The Washington Post where she described herself as a “a public figure representing domestic abuse”.

The Pirates of the Caribbean actor is not named in the article, which is titled “I spoke up against sexual violence – and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change”.

However Mr Depp claims that it falsely implies that he is a domestic abuser – something that he strongly denies – and that it has left him struggling to land roles in Hollywood. He is suing for $50m.

Ms Heard is countersuing for $100m, accusing Mr Depp of orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her and describing his lawsuit as a continuation of “abuse and harassment”.