Johnny Depp’s bodyguard recalled witnessing Amber Heard insulting the actor and punching him during an explosive altercation at the couple’s penthouse in Los Angeles.
Travis McGivern was the first witness to be called on Monday when the high-profile defamation lawsuit between feuding exes entered its fourth week.
The security guard, testifying via live video, described how fighting between the couple escalated in March 2015 when Depp and Hurd returned from Australia, and how he was forced to intervene when a particular dispute became physical.
He told the court that Depp and Hurd had been arguing “every other night” and that Depp sometimes called McGiver at the penthouse he shared with Hurd because he usually wanted to “get out of there.”
McGivern said that while he usually tried not to listen to the couple’s quarrels, he often heard “many shouts” and “f-bombs” aimed at Depp.
Asked what Hurd would say during the argument, McGivern sighed and said, “Oh, darling,” causing Depp to laugh.
‘Oh my God. It would vary, and I honestly tried not to pay attention. “I was there to get Mr. Depp out,” he said.
In the defamation trial against Amber Heard and Johnny Depp on Monday, testimony was heard from the security guard of the actor, who was forced to intervene in a nasty quarrel between the two in 2015.
Depp, 58, sat quietly and at times could be seen laughing as his bodyguard described working for the former couple.
Testifying through a live video link, security guard Travis McGivern described how fighting between the couple escalated in March 2015 when Depp and Hurd returned from Australia, and recalled hearing Hurd verbally insult her ex-husband.
McGivern, who seemed hesitant at first, then went on to say in court that he would hear Hurd make insulting remarks to Depp, calling him, among other things, “a ** royal dead father.”
“I’ve heard Mrs. Hurd call him a terrible father, if I may say so. I apologize to the court, “he said before continuing:” Damn, washed … af ** king c ** t. You call him, she spits it out.
McGivern said there were several times he stepped in to remove Depp, when things escalated, that Hurd “didn’t like my involvement in the situation” and at one point let him know in a “long, one-sided conversation.” .
“She essentially humiliated my career choice. He called me “damn it, man.” Honestly, there were parts [when she would say] ‘How would you feel if someone was involved in your relationship?’ which, you know, I sympathized with, but it definitely overshadowed me and my chosen career.
McGivern went on to describe a battle on March 23, 2015 – a few weeks after the couple returned from Australia – that came to mind.
He said Depp sent him a message at about 4 a.m. that day asking him to come to their apartment, and McGivern said he came across Hurd in the lobby talking to security.
As McGivern went upstairs to see Depp, Depp’s nurse, Debbie Lloyd, stayed downstairs with Hurd.
McGivern said: “I was hoping to get him out of there before Mrs. Hurd came back from past experience.
“When they argue, she will try to stop us from going to the point – she has held the elevator and before, she physically tried to stop Mr. Depp from leaving by holding his hand. I wanted to get out of there to avoid that.
‘Mr. Depp, sitting by the front door of Maisonette Five, had a few bags, as if ready to go. I greeted him, tried to get him out of there.
Hurd and Depp, who have been married for only 15 months since 2015, are halfway through the explosion process, which is expected to end on May 19. The couple was pictured in November 2011.
Hurd and Depp lived together in the Eastern Columbia building in downtown LA, where the actor owned three penthouses.
Hurd and Lloyd arrived and they all entered the penthouse.
McGivern said Miss Hurd was on the second floor of the penthouse, the office.
He said: “At one point I witnessed Mrs Hurd throw a box at Red Bull. Mr. Depp was downstairs, which is the kitchen area. There is a middle area, an office for Ms. Hurd and the upper level, which is closest to Ms. Hurd.
‘Miss. Hurd and her sister Whitney were in the middle, and I saw Mrs. Hurd throw a box of Red Bull from her position, which hit Mr. Depp in the back.
“I approached Mr Depp. I didn’t want my client to be hit with anything else. I stopped right next to Mr. Depp. The verbal attack continued by both. Mr. Depp was giving as well as he had. He was angry and excited. Mrs. Hurd tossed something else, a purse or bag, that she had there. I managed to knock him down so he wouldn’t hit him. She spat it out. And then a lot of verbal aggression from both.
Asked what Hurd said, McGivern said, “God!
He said, “Everything and everything. There was ‘you ** krl wash.’ “You’re a terrible devil,” which he also called her. Again the dead father s ** t. I don’t remember what the battle was about … the word f was my favorite word and they threw it to the point where I felt uncomfortable.
McGivern said Depp was “angry, upset, especially after she tried to spit on him,” and retaliated.
‘Mr. Depp went upstairs and rearranged her closet, probably throwing away every rack of clothes and shoes. Throw at least one down the stairs. He was upset, “he said.
Hurd and her sister returned and continued the argument.
He said: “We were at the office level, at the middle level. She was excited. Mr. Depp was excited. I felt it was time to get Mr Depp out of the situation. I went in between Mrs Hurd and Mr Depp, telling Mr Depp that we were leaving and it was no longer up to him.
“At that moment, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a fist and a hand crossing my right shoulder, and I heard and saw a closed fist touching Mr. Depp on the left side of his face.
Jack Wigham, talent manager for American actor Johnny Depp, is seen on a monitor as he testifies remotely in the Fairfax County Courtroom on Monday.
Actor Johnny Depp listens as Jack Wigham, Depp’s talent manager, is seen on a monitor as he testifies remotely in a courtroom in Fairfax County Court.
McGivern said Hurd’s fist hit Depp.
Asked how Depp reacted, he said: “The initial look on his face reflected mine, a shock, where did this come from? I would not let Mr Depp be hit further, so I moved him to a lower level and told him that we were leaving, it was no longer up to him, only for his safety. I would let him be hit by a Red Bull box, I would let him be hit.
When they left, Depp hit “right in my face” and pointed to the left side of his face, saying, “It’s your fault,” McGivern said.
There was “a nice little glow on Depp’s face, definitely swollen and red.”
Depp was later seen laughing in his testimony, while McGivern said he saw him use marijuana “more times than I can count, every day.”
Cocaine use left Depp level, McGivern said.
He also said he had never seen Depp retaliate against Hurd during their arguments.
McGivern described another battle between Depp and Hurd in April 2016 after a party for her 30th birthday at the penthouse.
He said it was a “verbal dispute” and it was “clarified that some phones were thrown out the window or something like that.”
‘Mr. Depp was ready to leave, with several bags over his shoulders. He wanted to grab some of the valuables we always grabbed when that happened, some framed letters from Hunter C. Thompson or Marlon Brando about the late author and actor Depp was friends with.
In a cross-examination by Hurd’s lawyer, Benjamin Rothenborn, McGivern insisted that his account of the Red Bull incident was correct.
Rothenborn said Depp “reached for Amber’s hair while trying to hit her” with a plaster cast on his right finger from the Australian incident.
McGivern said, “That’s not right.”
Depp is suing his ex-wife, Amber Heard, for defamation in Fairfax County Court after she wrote an article in The Washington Post in 2018 calling her a “public figure representing domestic violence.”
Depp and Hurd see each other in September 2015 in Venice, Italy – the same year as the Battle of Australia
McGivern said it was wrong for Whitney Hurd to stand between Depp and Hurd because that’s where he positioned himself.
Rothenborn said, “Have you seen Mr. Depp push or push Whitney Hurd?”
McGivern said, “Absolutely not.”
Rothenborn said, “Only after Mr. Depp pushed Whitney away did Miss Hurd step forward and punch him in the face?”
McGivern said, “That’s not right.”
The next witness was Johnny Depp’s agent, who told the court that Hurd’s publication, published in the Washington Post in December 2018, was “catastrophic” for his career.
Jack Wigham said the song was “quite shocking because it was the first time I’ve heard an allegation of sexual assault.”
Witnessing live via video link, Wigam was asked what impact he had on Depp’s career.
He said: “It was catastrophic for Johnny because he came from a first-person account, he wasn’t a journalist, he wasn’t someone watching, he was someone who said it happened to me.”
In the two years since its release, Depp has appeared in “zero” studio films, Wigham told the court.
Depp did not appear in Pirates of the Caribbean 6, although he has a $ 22.5 million deal with Disney for the role of Captain Jack Sparrow.
Monday’s third witness, Richard Marks, an entertainment lawyer who has worked in Hollywood for decades, told the jury about his assessment of the impact of Hurd’s article on Depp’s career.
Disney decided it was going “the other way” and the studio was looking to develop a “Pirate Project” for actress Margo Robbie instead of involving Depp – the film has not yet been made.
Even Minimata, an independent film starring Depp, struggled after the article came out.
Wigam …
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