Johnny Depp-Amber Heard Trial: Attorney Accuses Actress Of Staging “Role Of A Lifetime” With Abuse Allegations: “She Has Bren Living And Breathing This Lie For Years Now”

Johnny Depp’s attorneys told jurors that “his name is associated with a lie,” characterizing his ex-wife Amber Heard’s claims of domestic abuse as false accusations that lack any evidence and even suggesting that her 2018 Washington Post op-ed was written to reap publicity from her upcoming movie Aquaman.

Reading from her written notes, attorney Camile Vasquez told jurors that when Heard “took on the role of a lifetime” when she accused Depp of abuse and “painted herself before the world as a representative of abuse victims everywhere.”

“She can’t back down. She has been living and breathing this lie for years now. And she has been preparing to give the performance of her life in this trial. But this trial is about the evidence. It is about the evidence. It’s about a man’s reputation.”

In his statement, attorney Benjamin Chew signaled that his team would focus on the veracity of her claims that he was physically abusive with her during an argument on May 21, 2016, after he said he wanted a divorce.

“The evidence will show that six days after Mr. Depp requested a divorce, and he did so politely, and three days after Ms. Heard’s lawyer threatened Mr. Depp with claims of abuse if he did not agree to her financial demands, Ms. Heard arrived at the courthouse in Los Angeles, California to file for a restraining order alleging abuse,” Chew said. “The evidence will show that Ms. Heard showed up with a mark on her face that mysteriously appeared six days after she last saw Mr. Depp and six days before she publicly filed a request for a domestic violence restraining order alleging abuse.”

He added, “The evidence will show that her publicist and the paparazzi were there at the courthouse to document the event, to make sure that Johnny Depp’s name was forever associated with the image of an innocent, battered woman.”

Two years later, in December, 2016, Heard wrote an op ed in The Washington Post, “I Spoke Up Against Sexual Violence.” Although Depp was not mentioned in the article, Chew said that the connection was clear.

“A false allegation can devastate a career and it can devastate a family,” Chew said. “And the evidence will show that Ms. Heard’s false allegations had a significant impact on Mr. Depp’s family and his ability to work in the profession he loved, and loved to bring joy to everyone.”

As Chew spoke, Heard was on the other side of the courtroom, peering down at a legal pad. Depp, in a black suit and shirt and white tie, occasionally swiveled in his chair.

Another attorney for Depp, Camille Vasquez, said that Depp himself was a survivor of his mother’s angry rages. “You will learn from Mr. Depp’s sister, Christie, and from Mr. Depp, that their mother, Betty Sue, lived in a constant state of anger that would boil over daily in viscous words and violence directed and her husband and the children.” She said that Depp “coped with that abuse in the same way his father did — he just took it. The evidence will show that Mr. Depp learned that the best way to deal with violence was to leave.

Vasquez also said that they would challenge the veracity of photos of Heard’s injuries, and that it was Heard who was violent.

She became so violent, in fact, she threw a vodka bottle at him that hit his hand and exploded. It severed the end of one of his fingers,” Vasquez said. As she described Depp’s injuries, he flinched for a half second.

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