Johnny Depp's security guard says he paid a homeless man $420, chicken tacos, and Fiji water to get the actor's phone back after Amber Heard threw it out the window during a fight

• Johnny Depp's security guard Starling Jenkins testified in the actor's defamation trial Thursday.
• Jenkins said Amber Heard admitted to throwing Depp's phone out the window during a fight in 2016.

Amber Heard threw Johnny Depp's phone out the window during a fight in 2016, one of Depp's security guards testified in court on Thursday.

Depp has taken his ex-wife to trial as part of a defamation lawsuit claiming she ruined his career and reputation by insinuating in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed article that she had been the victim of domestic violence. Though she didn't name Depp in the article, Heard has stood by her accusations, saying Depp physically assaulted before and during their marriage.

On Thursday, Starling Jenkins, a longtime member of Depp's security staff, testified. He spoke about the aftermath of a fight the couple had on Heard's 30th birthday on April 21, 2016. The argument has become a focal point of the trial — marking the point when the couple began to separate.

Jenkins was working security the night of Heard's birthday party. His shift ended at 11:15 p.m., by which point he said Depp had not shown up. Depp's lateness is said to be what sparked an argument between the couple that ended with Depp leaving the apartment for one of his other homes later that evening.

Jenkins says he arrived back at the couple's main home, in the Eastern Columbia Building in downtown Los Angeles, the next morning at about 7:45 a.m. He says that he spoke with Heard on arriving and that she told him she "got in a fight with Johnny last night" and threw his phone, wallet, credit cards, and passport over the balcony and onto the street below.

Jenkins said he then used the Find My iPhone program to track down Depp's phone to Skid Row, a neighborhood known for its homeless population, not far from Depp and Heard's apartment building.

Jenkins said he approached a homeless man about the phone who "was honest" and "returned it."

"I gave him a reward for it: $420, chicken tacos, chips, apples, and Fiji water," Jenkins said.

On cross-examination by Heard's lawyers, Jenkins said Heard told him that Depp threw her phone out a window first and that she responded by doing the same.

Jenkins said he didn't look for Heard's phone because she had already recovered it.