The six-week defamation trial between actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard has been filled with graphic allegations, contentious moments and differing accounts of what transpired during their relationship.
The seven-person jury at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse began deliberations Friday after hearing testimonies from both Depp and Heard. The trial saw Depp accuse Heard of often turning violent toward him, while Heard claimed Depp repeatedly abused her and struggled with substance abuse.
Depp, 58, sued Heard, 36, for $50 million, claiming he was defamed by a 2018 op-ed published by the Washington Post in which Heard called herself a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” Heard didn’t name Depp in the op-ed but had previously accused the actor of domestic violence, which he denies.
Heard filed a $100 counterclaim over comments made by a Depp attorney that painted her abuse accusations as a hoax.
As the jury nears its verdict, here are the key moments from the trial that has attracted worldwide attention and throngs of fans attending each day’s proceedings.
April 11: The trial begins
Seven jurors and four alternates were selected.
Neither Depp nor Heard testified during the first week, but the legal battle garnered instant attention as fans traveled to the courthouse, including a group of women waving pirate flags in an apparent show of support for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star Depp.
April 19: Depp begins his four-day testimony
Depp’s first day on the witness stand saw him deny Heard’s abuse accusations, saying the claims are “not based in any species of truth.”
“Never did I, myself, reach the point of striking Ms. Heard in any way, nor have I ever struck any woman in my life,” Depp said.
He also referenced his history of substance use, contending that he’s “not some maniac that needs to be high or loaded all the time.”
April 20: Depp claims Heard threw bottle that severed his fingertip
Several of Depp’s most explosive accusations came during his second day of testimony, during which he claimed to suffer a severed middle finger when Heard hurled a bottle that struck his hand during a 2015 argument in Australia.
Depp also detailed a dispute he had with Heard on the night of her 30th birthday party in April 2016. He claimed he left the home that night and was informed the following morning that “human fecal matter” had been left on his side of the bed.
“It was a photograph of the bed, our bed, and on my side of the bed was human fecal matter, so I understood why it wasn’t a good time to go down there,” Depp said. “My initial response to that was, I mean, I laughed. It was so outside, it was so bizarre, and so grotesque that I could only laugh.”
April 21: Heard’s lawyers share graphic texts sent by Depp
Heard’s legal team read aloud multiple graphic texts sent by Depp that referenced Heard as they cross-examined the actor, including one message that said, “Let’s drown her before we burn her.”
Another made reference to having intercourse with her corpse “to make sure she’s dead.”
April 27: Responding cop testifies
Los Angeles Police officer Tyler Hadden said during a pretaped testimony that he didn’t observe an injury on Heard when he responded to her home following a May 2016 incident.
Hadden said Heard had been crying and told the jury, “Just because I see a female with pink cheeks and pink eyes doesn’t mean something happened.”
Fellow officer Melissa Saenz said she also didn’t observe an injury during her testimony a day earlier.
May 4: Heard begins her testimony with abuse allegation against Depp
During her first day on the stand, Heard claimed the first time Depp struck her occurred after she laughed about his tattoo reading “Wino Forever.”
The tattoo had originally read “Winona Forever” for actress Winona Ryder, whom Depp had dated.
“I just laughed because I thought he was joking, and he slapped me across the face,” Heard testified. “And I laughed. I laughed because I didn’t know what else to do. I thought, ‘This must be a joke.’ ... He said, ‘You think it’s funny, b---h? You think you’re a funny b---h?’ And he slapped me again.”
May 5: Heard accuses Depp of sexual assault
Heard claimed during her second day of testimony that Depp sexually assaulted her using a liquor bottle in Australia in 2015.
“I’m on the countertop, he had me by the neck,” Heard told the jury. “I just remember being really still, not wanting to move.”
It was one of multiple accusations of violence that Heard detailed against Depp that day. She also claimed Depp struck her in the face after he accused her of flirting with a woman at the 2014 Met Gala.
May 16: Heard denies feces allegation
The trial returned from a hiatus, with Heard retaking the witness stand and denying Depp’s fecal matter accusation. She said their dog Boo had bowel issues and sometimes relieved itself in their bed.
“I don’t think that’s funny,” Heard said of Depp’s allegation. “I don’t know what grown woman does. I was not, also, in a pranking mood. My life was falling apart.”
May 17: Heard’s testimony concludes
The final day of Heard’s initial testimony saw Depp lawyer Camille Vasquez grill the actress about the Australia incident, asking if Heard was claiming that Depp held her down and sexually assaulted after his finger was severed.
Heard says Depp injured his finger by smashing a telephone, and contended, “I have never claimed that I can remember the exact sequence of these things.”
“I didn’t assault Johnny in Australia,” Heard said. “I didn’t assault Johnny ever.”
She told the courtroom that Depp was “lying” in his testimony before leaving the stand.
May 24: Depp’s team is denied motion for Heard’s counterclaim to be dismissed
Judge Penney Azcarate said it’s not her role “to measure the veracity or weight of the evidence” as she turned down Depp’s lawyers’ request to dismiss the countersuit.
May 25: Kate Moss testifies
Depp’s lawyers called the British supermodel to the stand after Heard referenced hearing a rumor that Depp once allegedly pushed Moss down a set of stairs.
Moss, who dated Depp during the 1990s, said during a three-minute testimony that Depp “never pushed me, kicked me or threw me down any stairs.”
Later that day, Depp returned to the witness stand for his final day of testimony and claimed Heard’s accusations are “all false.”
“It’s insane to hear heinous accusations of violence, sexual violence, that she’s attributed to me, that she’s accused me of,” Depp said.
May 26: Heard says she wants Depp to “leave me alone.”
Heard gave her final day of testimony a day after Depp, telling the jury that she felt “humiliated” during the highly publicized trial.
“I receive hundreds of death threats regularly, if not daily,” Heard said. “Thousands since this trial has started. People mocking my testimony about being assaulted. It’s been agonizing. Agonizing, painful and the most humiliating thing I’ve ever had to go through. I hope no one ever has to go through something like this.
“I just want Johnny to leave me alone,” Heard said. “I just want him to leave me alone.”
May 27: Closing arguments
The sixth week of the trial ended with Depp and Heard’s lawyers making their closing arguments, and the jury beginning their deliberations.
Jurors were sent home after two hours of deliberating and will resume Tuesday after the long Memorial Day weekend.
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