Hurd’s lawyers are trying to make holes in Depot’s defamation lawsuit

Actor Aber Heard’s lawyers spent most of last week trying to portray her ex-husband Johnny Depp as a jealous and drunken abuser who can only blame himself for his Hollywood career.

After Hurd completed her testimony in the courtroom in Virginia on Tuesday, her lawyers presented the testimony of witnesses to people who were once close to Depp but came out of his orbit. Among them are former longtime Depp agent, actor Ellen Barkin and sister Hurd.

The lawyers’ goal is to undermine Depp’s defamation lawsuit against Hurd. The lawsuit alleges that she falsely portrayed him as a domestic abuser and cost him a lucrative film career, including the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

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Depp points to a 2018 Washington Post article in which Hurd called herself a “public figure representing domestic violence”. Depp’s lawyers claim that the article was defamatory, even though it never mentioned his name.

The court will enter the sixth week when it resumes on Monday. The following are excerpts from the testimony of some witnesses who were summoned last week by Hurd’s lawyers in an attempt to punch holes in Depp’s case.

HOLLYWOOD CAREER DEPOT

Depp blames Hurd’s 2018 article for the fact that his career has turned into a free fall. But Hurd’s lawyers argue that only Depp can be responsible for darkening his star at the Hollywood stronghold.

Tracy Jacobs, who has served as the actor’s agent for about 30 years, said Depp “appeared late to consistently star in almost every film” in the final years of their collaboration.

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“I was very honest with him and said,‘ You have to stop doing this – it hurts you, ’” Jacobs said while recording testimony that was previously recorded for the jury. “And so it happened.”

In the years before he fired her in 2016, Jacobs said Depp was becoming increasingly unprofessional while drug and alcohol use grew.

She also said Depp wore headphones on film so he could drop lines from the script.

“Originally the crews loved him because he was always so wonderful with the crew. But the film crew doesn’t like to sit for hours and hours waiting for the movie star to appear, ”Jacobs said.

“And it’s spread all over the city,” Jacobs added. – I mean, people say it’s a small community. And it made people reluctant to use it. “

Hurd’s lawyers also touched on reports of Depp’s loss of a role in the sixth film “Pirates of the Caribbean.” And they played a video of Tina Newman, CEO of Walt Disney Studios.

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Lawyers asked her, “Do you know any of the decision-makers at Disney who have ever said they won’t take Johnny Depp in Pirates 6 – or any other role – because of Amber Heard’s article? ? »

“No,” said Newman.

Depot alcohol and drug use

Depp testified that he never beat Hurd and that he was a victim of abuse by his ex-wife. Hurd’s lawyers deny that Depp abused her, both physically and sexually, and that he could not deny what had happened because he was often too drunk to remember.

The jury heard recorded testimony from the couple’s common friend, IO Tilett Wright, who said Depp confided in him that he hated sobriety.

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“He wanted sober for Amber,” Tilet Wright said. “He didn’t like being sober. It wasn’t fun and it was anxious, exhausting and very hard to do. He was very, very indignant that you need to be sober. “

Tilet Wright said Depp’s personality became angry and paranoid when he used alcohol or drugs.

Bruce Whitkin, a musician who has been friends with Depp for nearly 40 years, testified that he tried to help Depp in his abuse of toxins.

“He said, ‘I’m going to be fine.’ I will be fine, ”Vitkin said, recalling the conversation. “Well, you’re not all right.”

Actor Ellen Barkin, who met Depp for several months in the 1990s, said during her show that Depp “always drank or smoked joints” or used other illegal drugs.

WAS THE DEPOT A JEALOUS CHAMPION?

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Hear Barkin say – yes.

Barkin said Depp is in control, jealous and angry. She said Depp often asks her, “Where are you going? Who are you going with? What were you doing last night? ”

She added: “One day I had a scratch on my back which made him very, very angry because he insisted that I had sex with a man who was not them.”

Whitkin, a musician and former friend of Depp, said the actor has shown signs of jealousy in the relationship since the 1980s, when Depp was married to Whitkin’s daughter-in-law.

“When he was younger, he was jealous of Nick Cage and jealous of Adam Ant because my daughter-in-law knew them,” Vitkin said.

There have also been several instances where Depp has been jealous during his relationship with French singer Vanessa Paradis, “which was funny,” Vitkin said.

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“A lot of it was in his head, but it really wasn’t,” Vitkin said.

Depp’s jealousy of Hurd emerged when she starred in the movie “or did what he couldn’t be around to see what was going on,” Whitkin said. “I think it would work.”

HERD’S SISTER’S TESTIMONY

Amber Hurd’s sister, Whitney Hurd Enriquez, said she had personally witnessed Depp hit Hurd. Depp testified that he never beat Hurd.

Enriquez said the fight took place in March 2015 – a month after Depp and Hurd’s wedding – when Hurd found evidence that Depp already had an extramarital affair.

Enriquez said a drunken Depp accused Hurd of forcing him to an extramarital affair.

At one point, she said, she found herself between Depp and Hurd as he climbed the stairs to confront Hurd. Enriquez said she was hit in the back, and Hurd got angry and “attacked” Depp.

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One of Depp’s guards intervened, but “by then Johnny had grabbed Amber by the hair with one hand and punched her several times in the face,” Enriquez said.

Enriquez said it was the only time she had personally witnessed the physical assault. But she said she had seen the effects of other fights, including bruises on Hurd.

However, during cross-examination, Enriquez admitted that she sometimes sided with Depp in their disputes, and said she was working to keep the couple together, even after watching the physical assault on her sister.

“If my sister said she still wanted to be with Johnny, and if I could help with that, I would support her,” she said.