Johnny Depp and Amber Heard news LIVE: Pirates of the Caribbean star victim of ‘career-ending’ allegations, court hears as actor’s libel trial against The Sun enters final day

Johnny Depp is the victim of "career-ending" false allegations, his lawyer has claimed on the final day of the star's libel case over an article published in The Sun.

Mr Depp, 57, is suing the tabloid’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN) and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over a 2018 article which labelled him a “wife beater”. NGN relies on 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence against the star by ex-wife Amber Heard. Mr Depp denies the allegations of violence and claims Ms Heard, 34, was the one who was abusive.

The Hollywood star accused Ms Heard of severing his finger by throwing a vodka bottle at him when the pair were in Australia in 2015. Ms Heard said the injury to Mr Depp’s finger took place during what she described as a “three-day hostage situation”, and in her statement she said she “figured it might have happened when he was smashing the phone on the wall by the fridge”.

Mr Depp also claims that Ms Heard "or one of her cohort" defecated in his bed as a "prank", an event which he calls a "fitting end" to their relationship. Ms Heard strenuously denies the accusation and maintains it must have been one of their pet dogs.

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27 July 2020

Report that Ms Heard had been arrested for domestic violence in 2009 a 'red herring', court hears

Ms Wass told the court: “The approach taken by Mr Depp from the time Ms Heard obtained a domestic violence restraining order against him on May 27 2016 was as follows: to deny that he ever assaulted Ms Heard, to accuse Ms Heard of being the violent party and to reverse his role with hers.”

The barrister also referred to “the story released to the media and published in early June 2016 suggesting that Ms Heard had been arrested for domestic violence in the past, that incident dated back to 2009”.

She added: “It was no coincidence, we suggest, that this emerged within days of Ms Heard being granted protection of the court by way of a restraining order.

“Shortly before that article was published in the press, Stephen Deuters, Mr Depp’s assistant, was receiving information from people by text who had clearly been prying into Ms Heard’s relationship with (her ex-partner, Tasya) van Ree.”

Ms Wass said: “No charges were brought against Ms Heard following her arrest and Ms van Ree herself has denied that any assault took place.”

She added: “This aspect of the case is a red herring.”

27 July 2020

First year of Heard and Depp' relationship 'was idyllic', court hears

Ms Wass said a victim may be “motivated to protect” the perpetrator and that the court would also bear in mind the “shame and humiliation” some victims of domestic violence may feel.

She said: “The relationship between domestic abusers and their victims is far from logical or straightforward.

“Ms Heard loved Mr Depp. Her first year with him, during which he was clean and sober, was idyllic.”

Ms Wass reminded Mr Justice Nicol of an email Mr Depp sent to Elton John in 2012, in which he said he would have been “swallowed up by the monster” were it not for the musician, which she said shows he was “well aware that he was prone to uncontrolled outbursts”.

She said it was not until March 2013, when Mr Depp was abusing illegal drugs and alcohol, that the actress first became aware of “the monster”.

The barrister said that, by the time Ms Heard realised that Mr Depp drank and took illegal drugs to excess she was “committed” to the relationship.

27 July 2020

Depp 'subject to irrational mood swings', court hears

Sasha Wass QC continued: “Evidence of the claimant’s drug and alcohol-fuelled lifestyle provides a backdrop to the events in question. The relevance of the substance abuse by Mr Depp is two-fold.

“Firstly, it demonstrates that the claimant was subject to irrational mood swings and abnormal behavioural patterns, which would not have been present when Mr Depp was clean and sober, and Mr Depp has a name for this metamorphosed entity, namely ‘The Monster’.

“The other aspect which is important in terms of substance abuse is Mr Depp’s recollection of his own disgraceful conduct, which is so severely impaired by drug misuse that he may not even have been aware of the extent of his violence and terrifying behaviour which, on more than one of these pleaded incidents, put Ms Heard in fear of her life.”

The barrister told Mr Justice Nicol: “Each and every pleaded incident is supported by the testimony of Ms Heard herself and if my lord finds her to be a truthful and plausible witness, doing her best to recount what must have been extremely traumatic events, then Ms Heard’s evidence alone is sufficient to establish the defence of truth.”

27 July 2020

NGN begins closing submissions

Johnny Depp’s libel case against The Sun newspaper over allegations he was violent to his ex-wife Amber Heard entered its closing stages at the High Court on Monday morning.

Lawyers for the tabloid’s publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN) will be making closing submissions on Monday, before Mr Depp’s lawyers make their closing submissions on Tuesday.

Sasha Wass QC, for NGN, told the court: “The article complained of in this defamation action referred to Mr Depp as a ‘wife beater’. The defence is one of truth, namely that Mr Depp did indeed beat his wife.

“For the defence of truth to be substantiated, the defendants need to prove on a balance of probabilities that Mr Depp assaulted Ms Heard on at least one occasion.

“During the last two weeks, the defendants have established that many more than one incident of wife-beating took place over the course of the relationship between the claimant (Mr Depp) and Amber Heard.”

27 July 2020

Amber Heard arrives in court

Amber Heard waves as she enters the High Court this morning (Getty Images)

27 July 2020

The trial so far: Johnny Depp had nicknames for Amber Heard’s male co-stars

Ms Heard said Mr Depp accused her of having affairs with stars including Leonardo DiCaprio, who he nicknamed “pumpkin-head”.

Ms Heard said she had to justify to Mr Depp why she accepted film roles and said the situation was “much worse” if there were sex scenes or kissing.

She has alleged that Mr Depp would “taunt” her and had nicknames for all of her male co-stars that he considered a “sexual threat”.

In her witness statement, she said: “For example, Leonardo DiCaprio was ‘pumpkin-head’, Channing Tatum was ‘potato-head’ and ‘Jim Turd Sturgess’.”

27 July 2020

The trial so far: The defecation incident in the bedroom

The question of who left faeces in Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s bed – and whether it came from man or beast – has occupied much of the court’s time, and the trial heard that jokes including “Amber Turd” and “Amber in the dumps” emerged from the episode.

The now infamous “defecation incident” occurred the day after Ms Heard’s 30th birthday party in April 2016, when excrement was found in the bed at the couple’s penthouse in Los Angeles’ Eastern Columbia Building.

Mr Depp told the court it was “a mystery” who defecated in the bed, adding he was “convinced” Ms Heard “or one of her cohort” was involved.

He also opined that the incident was “a fitting end to the relationship”.

But Ms Heard said the suggestion she left the excrement is “absolutely disgusting” and that it is “unimaginable” that one of her friends had done it, adding, she “can’t fathom what adult would ever do such a thing”.

She has claimed that one of the couple’s dogs, Pistol and Boo, may have been responsible for the mess.

27 July 2020

The trial so far: Johnny Depp and his severed finger during “three-day hostage situation”

Mr Depp accused Ms Heard of severing his finger by throwing a vodka bottle at him when the pair were in Australia in 2015.

He said he “ended up getting MRSA” after having surgery to put a pin in the broken bone.

Ms Heard said the injury to Mr Depp’s finger took place during what she described as a “three-day hostage situation”, and in her statement she said she “figured it might have happened when he was smashing the phone on the wall by the fridge”.

During the trial, Eleanor Laws QC put it to Ms Heard that the injury was caused by her “throwing a bottle in his direction, smashing it down and severing the tip of his finger with glass,” to which Ms Heard replied: “No.”

The court heard that Mr Depp used his severed finger, dipped in paint, to scrawl graffiti in the house.

27 July 2020

The trial so far: Amber Heard claimed she heard a “rumour” that Johnny Depp pushed Kate Moss down the stairs

Ms Heard told the High Court she rushed to her sister’s aid after she remembered the “information” during an alleged “nasty row” with Mr Depp, when she thought he was going to push her sibling down a flight of stairs.

Telling the court she “did strike Johnny that day in defence of my sister”, Ms Heard said: “He was about to push her down the stairs and, the moment before that happened, I remembered information I had heard (that) he pushed a former girlfriend – I believe it was Kate Moss – down the stairs.

“I had heard this rumour from two people and it was fresh in my mind.”

Eleanor Laws QC, representing Mr Depp, said Ms Heard had never mentioned the story about Ms Moss before and accused her of “making this up as you go along”.

27 July 2020

The trial so far

Although Johnny Depp’s claim against News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The Sun newspaper, and its executive editor Dan Wootton, is over an April 2018 article which labelled him a “wife beater”, the case has had twists and turns with each day bringing with it unexpected revelations.

From the defecation incident dubbed “Amber Turd” to the Yorkshire Terrier eating cannabis to the case of the severed finger, here are some of the trial’s most memorable moments.

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