Publications
Even though Amber Heard was found guilty of defaming ex-husband Johnny Depp, she's continuing with her efforts to prove to the world that he abused her during their volatile marriage.
In an interview with US investigative show Dateline, the actress shared a binder filled with notes taken by her therapist that detail all the times Johnny allegedly assaulted her.
“There’s a binder worth of years of notes dating back to 2011, from the very beginning of my relationship, that were taken by my doctor who I was reporting the abuse to,” Amber tells host Savannah Guthrie in a preview of the interview.
“Her notes represented years, years of real-time explanations of what was going on.”
Amber (36) and her legal team have chosen to go public with the file after the judge in the defamation case ruled that the notes were hearsay and refused to make them available to the jury.
The binder contains several descriptions of violence that Amber allegedly suffered at the hands of Johnny (59), according to Guthrie, who investigated the notes along with her reporting team.
Notes from January 2012 reveal that the Pirates of the Caribbean star “hit her, threw her on the floor”. Eight months later he “ripped her nightgown, threw her on the bed”.
The following year Amber reportedly told her therapist that he “threw her against the wall and threatened to kill her”.
READ MORE | Trial by internet: how Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s vicious court battle has divided social media
In her interview with Guthrie, The Stand actress maintains she’s not a vindictive person and says she’s sharing her therapist’s records in the hopes it will soften the public’s view of her.
“This would be a really lousy way to get vengeance,” she says.
“As silly as it is to say this out loud, my goal, the only thing I can hope for at this point . . . I just want people to see me as a human being.”
Amber adds that the only reason she became violent towards her ex was to protect herself.
“When you’re living in violence and it becomes normal, as I testified to, you have to adapt. You adopt strategies to cope with it.
“If it meant – as I testified to – if it meant the difference between a broken nose or a sore cheek, I'd do it.”
READ MORE | A mangled finger, faeces in his bed and brutal texts – Johnny Depp’s revelations during trial against Amber Heard continue
The Aquaman star was ordered to pay Johnny $10,4 million (R166m) after a jury found her guilty of defaming him for an opinion piece she wrote for The Washington Post newspaper in 2018. In the piece Amber details the alleged abuse she suffered while married to the Minamata actor, although she never names him.
The couple divorced in 2017 after two years of marriage.
In the recent court case, Amber was awarded $2m (R32m) for a statement made by one of Johnny’s attorneys that was found to be defamatory to her.
When asked by Guthrie what she'd tell her 14-month-old adopted daughter, Oonagh, about the trial when she’s older, Amber said she’d use it as a lesson on standing up for yourself.
“I think no matter what, it will mean something,” she says.
“I did the right thing. I did everything I could to stand up for myself and the truth.”
SOURCES: DAILYMAIL.CO.UK, INDEPENDENT.CO.UK, TODAY.COM
