Johnny Depp says he didn't tell doctors Amber Heard sliced off his finger because he 'didn't want to get her in trouble'
- Johnny Depp testified on Wednesday about the night the tip of his finger was sliced off.
- He said Amber Heard threw a glass vodka bottle at him but that he made up a fake story for doctors.
Johnny Depp testified on Wednesday that he lied to doctors about how the tip of his right middle finger was cut off rather than tell them Amber Heard threw a vodka bottle at him.
"I didn't want to disclose that it had been Ms. Heard that had thrown a vodka bottle at me and then took my finger off," he said on the stand in a county court in Fairfax, Virginia. "I didn't want to get her in trouble. I tried to just keep things as copacetic and easy as possible for everyone. I didn't want to put her into that mix."
Depp brought his lawsuit against Heard in 2019, accusing her of defamation when she described herself as a victim of domestic violence in a Washington Post op-ed. Depp's lawsuit alleged the reality was that Heard physically and verbally abused him on numerous occasions before their 2016 divorce.
Heard has denied the allegations and brought a countersuit against Depp, alleging he physically assaulted her at least 10 times throughout their relationship, including the night Depp's finger was severed.
The finger severance, which happened on an Australian island the night of March 7, 2015, has been a recurring subject throughout the trial.
Earlier this week, jurors heard testimony from David Kipper, a personal doctor who treated Depp for addiction, and Debbie Lloyd, a nurse working with Kipper. Neither witnessed the incident, but both came to the house Depp and Heard stayed in from their nearby yurts when Depp texted Kipper and said he sliced his own fingertip off.
"I cut the top of my middle finger off. What should I do? Except of course go to a hospital," Depp wrote to Kipper. "I'm so embarrassed for jumping into anything with her."
Kipper brought Depp to a hospital, while a chef found the tip of the finger in the kitchen and brought it later. A photo of Depp on a gurney with his right hand bloody and bandaged was entered into evidence on Wednesday, as well as a graphic photo of his bloody finger stump. While Depp said in text messages entered into evidence earlier in the trial that a finger on his left hand was severed, the photos and Depp's testimony Wednesday made clear that it was the middle finger on his right hand.
Depp, who continued with direct examination from his lawyers that began on the witness stand Tuesday afternoon, said the fight between him and Heard was triggered when he asked for a postnuptial agreement. He testified Heard flew into a fit of rage and hurled a glass vodka bottle at him, which he said shattered when it hit his hand.
Depp felt "heat" on his hand, he said, and realized his finger had been cut off. He said he saw the bone poking out and blood pouring out.
"I don't know what a nervous breakdown feels like, but that was probably the closest I've ever been," Depp said. "Nothing made sense."
In a sworn statement filed in court before the case, Heard described a different version of events. She alleged the fight came as Depp was on a three-day MDMA bender during which he terrorized her and assaulted her repeatedly.
Depp testified he later told Kipper about Heard throwing the bottle but that he lied to the medical professionals treating him. He said that the day after the incident, he went to a surgeon in Australia to reattach the finger.
"He asked me what happened to my finger, and I once again lied, and I stuck to the story that it was smashed on a large accordion door," Depp said. "And he looked at me as if I was lying. And the next thing I heard was, 'Sir, that is a wound of velocity.'"