FAIRFAX, Va. (CN) — Before a packed and at times unruly courtroom, Johnny Depp concluded his testimony Monday in the defamation case he brought against his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard.
In his fourth and final day on the witness stand, Depp claimed he lost his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise because of his ex-wife Amber Heard's op-ed about sexual violence, which The Washington Post published in 2018. While Heard never mentioned Depp by name, he argues that she was talking about him when she wrote that she had become a "public figure representing domestic abuse" two years earlier — when the two were still married.
Depp said the news that he had lost the part shocked him.
"Captain Jack Sparrow was a character that I had built from the ground up," he said, asserting that he rewrote much of his dialogue. "I didn't quite understand how after that long relationship and quite a successful relationship certainly for Disney, suddenly I was guilty until proven innocent."
He again said that Heard's claims were false and painful. "It was like somebody hit me in the back of the head with a two-by-four."
Spectators, including fans of the actor, lined up well before 7 a.m. to get a limited number of wristbands that allow them to watch the case either in the courtroom or in an overflow room. Now in its third week, the trial has drawn a steady flow of observers. And although the underlying issue in the case involves serious allegations of domestic violence, the crowd has become increasingly apt to chortle at Depp's remarks.
On Monday, one of Depp’s attorneys asked the actor how many roles he had taken in franchise films.
“Alice in Wonderland,” he began, but then paused. “I’m so pathetic when it comes to knowing what movies I’ve done. I’m sorry. I just don’t watch them. What was the question again?”
The spectators laughed, but presiding Judge Penney Azcarate was unamused. “Order in the court or I will have you removed,” she warned.
Depp’s direct testimony spanned two days, and he spent another two days under cross examination from Benjamin Rottenborn, one of Heard’s attorneys. On Monday morning, Rottenborn presented articles published before Heard's op-ed — all reporting issues with Depp on the job.
Throughout the trial, a picture has formed of the briefly popular power couple, whose marriage lasted 15 months, swiftly spiraling into bickering and dysfunction. Rottenborn played recordings in which Heard accuses the actor of beating her up and putting a cigarette out on her.
"When Ms. Heard tells you in that recording to go put your cigarettes out on someone else, you don't deny that," Rottenborn said. "Instead, you simply say 'shut up, fat ass.' Is that correct?"
"I think that was another grossly exaggerated moment of Ms. Heard's," Depp responded. "I did not put a cigarette out on her or throw a cigarette at her." The actor subsequently said he may have flicked ashes at her.
Later, the court heard another recording in which Depp said Heard would not let him leave. Heard, he said, was "screaming like a banshee and then telling me to calm down."
Besides Depp, today's witnesses included Ben King, a property manager who was with Depp while the actor was in Australia in 2015 filming "Pirates of the Caribbean 5." It was during this time that Depp's fingertip was severed. Depp says he lost the finger when Heard hurled a vodka bottle at him. But Depp also reported telling emergency room doctors that he chopped the finger off.
Not long after the incident, King said Heard asked him, "Have you ever been so angry with someone that you lost it with them?"
King said he had not.
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