Johnny Depp has taken ex-wifeAmber Heard to court, accusing her of making up domestic violence claims.- On Tuesday, Depp took the stand to deny Heard's "disturbing allegations."
Johnny Depp admitted that he and ex-wife Amber Heard argued frequently during their relationship, but that he never crossed the line to hitting her, as he took the stand on Tuesday in his defamation case against the actress.
The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star is suing Heard, claiming that she ruined his career and reputation by insinuating that she had been the victim of domestic violence at his hands. The defamation lawsuit asks for $50 million in damages.
Depp and Heard split in 2016 after just over a year of marriage, after Heard appeared in court with a bruised face and requested a restraining order against Depp.
Heard responded to Depp's lawsuit with a $100 million counterclaim alleging he assaulted her on multiple occasions before and during their marriage.
Depp took the stand Tuesday afternoon, speaking about Heard's allegations publicly for the very first time.
He called Heard's allegations "disturbing" saying they came as a "complete shock" to him.
"There were arguments and things of that nature, but never did I myself reach the point of striking Ms. Heard in any way, nor have I ever struck any woman in my life," Depp said.
Depp said he felt the need to speak up about the accusations when they started to permeate Hollywood, and felt himself starting to become a pariah.
"One day you're Cinderella, so to speak," he said. "Then in 0.6 seconds, you're Quasimodo. I didn't deserve that."
He said he especially felt the need to defend himself against the accusations on behalf of his two children, who were in high school when he and Heard got divorced. Depp has a son and daughter from his prior relationship with French actress Vanessa Paradis.
"I wanted to clear my children of this horrid thing that they were having to read about their father which was untrue," he said.
An abusive mother
While on the stand on Tuesday, Depp went into great detail about his turbulent childhood, which he said was filled with abuse from his mother, Betty Sue Palmer.
Depp said his mother could be "quite cruel" and was physically abusive in many ways, from flinging ashtrays at him to beating him with a high-heeled shoe.
Earlier in the trial, Depp's sister, Christi Dembrowski, testified about their childhood abuse, saying both she and Depp vowed to never perpetuate that abuse with their own families.
"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 earlier in the trial.
According to Depp and Dembrowski, their mother was frequently violent toward them, their siblings, and their father. Depp said they "never had any sense of physical safety or security" in their home. During his testimony, he raised his arms up to his face to demonstrate how he would flinch and protect himself from physical attacks when his mother was nearby.
"When she walked past, you shield yourself, because you didn't know what was going to happen," he said.
Depp's mother was emotionally abusive as well, he said. She mocked his brother for wearing glasses and having big front teeth, calling him "four-eyes" and "bucktooth," Depp said. And she made fun of Depp for having a "lazy eye" that required him to wear an eyepatch when he was younger, he testified.
Depp's father was often the target of Betty Sue's abuse. Depp said he was "a gentleman" who refused to be violent toward her.
"The most he would do is he would punch a wall," Depp said.
Betty Sue became less prone to outbursts later in her life, Dembrowski said earlier in the trial. According to Depp, when he was 15 years old, after their father left Betty Sue, she fell into a deep depression. She swallowed "a multitude of pills" in a suicide attempt, Depp testified. When she returned from the hospital after her stomach was pumped, she was never the same, Depp said.
"Her depression was so deep, she lived on the couch and weighed about 70 pounds," Depp said.
Depp has seldom spoken publicly about the details of his childhood before. In a 2016 interview with Classic Rock magazine about his music career, he said he spent much of his younger years holed up in his room listening to records to escape "nightmare home stuff."
Depp played in a band during his teenage years, he testified, until one day he met Nicolas Cage, who believed Depp could be a successful actor and introduced him to his agent, who ultimately got Depp cast in 1984's "The Nightmare on Elm Street."