Johnny Depp's sister testifies the movie star swore to never 'repeat' domestic violence after their mother physically abused them

• Johnny Depp's sister Christi Dembrowski testified Tuesday in his defamation trial against Amber Heard, who accused him of domestic violence.
• Their mother physically abused her and Depp during their childhood, she testified.

One of Johnny Depp's sisters took the stand at his defamation trial Tuesday, telling jurors that he had sworn to never perpetuate domestic violence after he was a victim of it himself.

Testifying at the Fairfax County courthouse in Virginia, Depp's sister Christi Dembrowski detailed their experience with a mother who was "high strung, nervous," and often "angry" in a way that boiled over into violence.

Their mother, Betty Sue Palmer, often beat her husband and children, Dembrowski testified. Depp never fought back and always tried to "keep the peace," she said. And years later, she said, they told each other they would never treat their own families the same way.

"As we were older, we decided that once we had our own home, that we were never going to repeat in our own home anything similar to our childhood," Dembrowski testified Tuesday afternoon.

Dembrowski, who is three years older than the 58-year-old Depp, is the first witness to testify in the trial, which began with opening statements earlier Tuesday. Depp brought the case in 2019 against his ex-wife Amber Heard, who divorced him in 2016, alleging she defamed him when she described herself as a victim of domestic violence in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed.

In turn, Heard filed a counterclaim against Depp and alleged he beat her on at least 10 different occasions, often while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Depp's lawyers have said that the claims were fabrications and that Heard was the true abuser in the relationship.

Depp has already lost a lawsuit in the UK, where he sued The Sun, a British tabloid, for calling him a "wife beater" based on Heard's claims. His new lawsuit, filed against Heard in Fairfax County, Virginia, faces long odds, experts say, given how the UK has much friendlier libel laws for plaintiffs.

But the lawsuit may be the only way for Depp to clear his name and save his career. The trial begins just as "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" enters theaters. The "Harry Potter" movie was once set to star Depp — he played one of the main characters in the previous film, "The Crimes of Grindelwald" — but was replaced in November 2020 by Mads Mikkelsen. Warner Bros. asked Depp to resign from the series around the time of his UK trial, when Heard testified against him.

In addition to losing the "Fantastic Beasts" role, Depp — once one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood — lost a starring role in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, which Disney announced it would discontinue shortly after the publication of Heard's Washington Post op-ed. In court filings, Depp blames Heard for his career failures.

Under questioning by Depp's lawyer Benjamin Chew, Dembrowski said her and Depp's mother often hit them and hurled objects at them. She said that whenever their mother wanted to beat them, she'd tell them to get a switch that was "nice and green" from a tree outside the house.

"Those didn't break," Dembrowski said. "If you got a dry one, it would snap."

Dembrowski ultimately left the household at the age of 17, she testified, when she married and got pregnant. Her father left her mother shortly afterward after years of abuse, she said.

"Our father one morning decided to pack up everything and leave, early in the morning," she said. "We didn't know it at the time."

An extra hotel room

Years later, Depp took care of their mother. As she dealt with neurological health issues, Depp moved her to homes where she'd be more comfortable, flew her to medical specialists across the country, and hired private nurses, Dembrowski said. While he was away filming movies, Dembrowski sent him daily updates about their mother's condition, she said. The two took it upon themselves to see after her health, she testified.

"Mom softened as she aged," she said.

Depp, Dembrowski said, had succeeded in transforming his life and making sure there would be no pattern of domestic violence. He was a devoted father.

"Everything in life was about the children. When he was with the kids — the attention he would give them, it was just constant playing with them, listening to them, laughing with them, reading to them. Parties — you name it and he was there.

When Depp and Heard moved in together, Dembrowski testified, his mood changed. He seemed "sadder," she said. Depp and Heard often argued, and Dembrowski said she made sure there was always an extra hotel room booked when they traveled together.

"I saw a repeating pattern happening in life. When we were kids, and arguments and fighting would start to happen, our first thing was to hide and get away from it," Dembrowski said. "Since I recognized what felt to me a pattern that was a repeat, a pattern from his childhood, I wanted to make sure there was a place he could do just that."

She said that Heard — who was in her 20s at the time of the relationship — derided Depp and called him "an old fat man." When Depp told Heard that Dior wanted to do a campaign with him, her reaction was "disbelief and disgust," Dembrowski said.

"She said, 'Dior? Why would Dior want to do business with you? They're about class and they're about style and you don't have style,'" Dembrowski said. "It was an insulting — taking away that one moment, that insult is there. I have seen the insults multiple times."