The Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial resumed on Monday following a one-week recess.
Heard concluded her testimony on Tuesday after being cross-examined by Depp attorney Camille Vasquez.
On Monday, Vasquez asked Heard if Depp had looked her in the eye at any point during the trial.
She confirmed that he had not, and Vasquez suggested that there was good reason for that,
Vasquez played a recording that was made by Depp when Heard visited him shortly after filing for a restraining order.
At the time, Heard sought affection from Depp but was rebuffed.
“You will not see my eyes again,” the actor said to her in the recording.
True to his word, Depp wore dark-framed glasses and kept his eyes on the desk in front of him throughout Heard’s testimony.
But Heard had a very different theory about her ex’s lack of eye contact, theorizing that Depp is avoiding her gaze because he feels guilty.
“He can’t [look at me],” Heard told Vasquez.
“Mr. Depp hasn’t looked at you once during this trial?” the attorney asked.
“Not that I have noticed,” Amber replied.
During Tuesday’s redirect, Heard’s attorney Elaine Bredehoft also asked about Depp’s refusal to look at Heard.
Again, the actress asserted that Depp feels “guilty,” adding, “Otherwise, why can’t he look at me?”
The question resulted in one of the most unexpectedly dramatic moments in the trial, with Heard becoming emotional as she recalled her tumultuous and allegedly abusive relationship with Depp.
“I survived,” Heard said on the stand.
“I survived that man, and I’m here, and I can look at him.”
It was one of many moments in which Heard lashed out at Depp while making allegations of physical and psychological abuse that she says took place throughout their relationship.
During last week’s testimony, Heard claimed that Depp sexually assaulted her with a glass bottle during a fight in Australia.
“I felt really vulnerable, I’m naked. At one point I’m up against the wall, and he’s screaming at me that he hates me, that I ruined his life,” Heard recalled of the fight, which took place whle Depp was filming Pirates of the Caribbean 5
Heard concluded that portion of her testimony by stating that while she was lying on her back during the fight, she felt “pressure on her pubic bone.”
She told the court that Depp “shoved” an discarded bottle inside her vagina and repeated the motion “over and over again.”
Heard recounted several other incidents in which Depp allegedly became violent with her, including one incident in which he performed a “cavity search” after accusing her of stealing and hiding his cocaine.
Heard concluded her testimony on Wednesday and was followed on the stand by iO Tillett Wright and Raquel “Rocky” Pennington, both of whom are longtime friends of the actress’.
Both witnesses have offered very unflattering depictions of Depp and have coroborrated several of Heard’s specific claims about her marriage.
Depp is suing Heard for $50 million, alleging that she did irreparable damage to his career with a Washington Post op-ed in which she identified herself as a victim of domestic violence.
The trial is expected to conclude on May 27.
We’ll have further updates on this developing story as more information becomes available.
