Johnny Depp’s life ‘wrecked’ by legal dispute with Amber Heard, actor’s friend tells court during defamation trial

metro.co.uk:

Johnny Depp detailed how the long-running series of legal battles with ex-wife Amber Heard has ‘wrecked’ the actor’s life.The formerly married couple are countersuing each other in the multi-million dollar libel case, over a 2018 article Heard, 35, wrote for The Washington Post, in which she discussed her experiences of domestic abuse.However, Depp categorically denies the article’s implication that he was violent toward her.Isaac Baruch, an artist who has known Depp for 40 years, told Virginia’s Fairfax County Circuit Court that Heard’s ‘fake narrative’ had gone out the door and around the world,’ as he gave evidence on Wednesday.Baruch also expressed how ‘tired’ he was over the ‘drawn-out’ proceedings and claims that the Aquaman actress should ‘take responsibility, heal, and move on.’‘It’s not right what she did and what happened for so many people to get affected from this, it’s insane how this happened,’ Baruch told the court.Depp’s lawyers also argue that the article falsely implies Heard was physically and sexually abused by him when they were married.

However, the article does not mention the Pirates of the Caribbean actor by name and Heard’s lawyers say she is covered by the first amendment of the US constitution which protects freedom of speech.Baruch was asked about his encounters with Heard following an incident on May 21 2016, in which she claimed Depp ‘got violent’ with her.He said that he saw her the next day, and saw no signs of injuries, despite ‘inspecting’ her face.‘I’ve seen her (with) no make-up… with make-up, glammed out… for three-and-a-half years I’ve seen her in different forms,’ he said.‘She puts her head out, and I’m looking… I inspect her face… I’m looking at the whole thing and I don’t see.