Falls Church, Virginia (AP) – Amber Heard told jurors Thursday that a harassment campaign against her by her ex-husband Johnny Depp has left her humiliated and frightened for her life by numerous death threats, and said she just wanted to “Johnny, let me go alone.”
Hurd was the latest witness in Depp’s six-week defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife. With cameras in the courtroom, millions of people followed the process, and interest seems to be gaining momentum over the weeks, and Depp and Hurd testified to the ugly details of their relationship.
Depp’s fans dominated the story online and in the courthouse, with supporters lining up overnight to get one of the few seats in the courtroom and waving at Depp as he walked in and out. Hurd was booed by spectators in the street as she entered and left the courthouse.
“The harassment and humiliation, the campaign against me that resonates every day on social media, and now in front of the cameras in the showroom, I have to relive the trauma every day,” Hurd said as he struggled with tears. “Maybe it’s easy to forget that I’m a human being.
In cross-examination, Depp’s lawyer, Camille Vazquez, told Hurd that “your lies have been revealed to the world” and questioned her about people who contradict parts of her accounts.
“I know how many people will come out of the window to support Johnny,” Hurd said.
Depp is suing Hurd for defamation in Fairfax County Court for a December 2018 post she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as a “public figure representing domestic violence.” His lawyers say he was slandered by the article, although his name is never mentioned.
Hurd said she hoped the trial would allow her to regain her vote, and said she had “the right as an American” to publish an article describing her experiences and how they relate to the national debate on domestic violence.
“Johnny took enough of my voice,” she said. “I have the right to tell my story.”
She said Depp had been focused on revenge since she filed for divorce and received a restraining order against him. She referred to earlier testimonies in which Depp sent an SMS to Hurd’s disgruntled former personal assistant and invited her to “come for a place in purple and we’ll fix what she’s given – nice and good !!!”
“Johnny promised me – he promised me – that he would ruin my life, that he would ruin my career. He will take my life from me, “Hurd said.
Depp denies hitting Hurd and says she was the bully in the relationship. Hurd has testified to more than a dozen individual cases of physical violence she says she suffered at the hands of Depp.
The last witness on Depp’s side Thursday morning was hand surgeon Richard Gilbert, who said he believed Depp’s middle finger injury could happen, as Depp described it.
The fingertip was cut off during a battle the couple had in Australia. Depp says it happened when Hurd threw a large bottle of vodka at him. Hurd says Depp did it to himself in a drug-fueled rage one night when he also sexually assaulted her with a bottle of alcohol.
The jury will hear the closing arguments on Friday.
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