Amber Heard called co-star James Franco “rapey” and said she had been forced to run away from his sexual advances, Johnny Depp told the High Court.
Depp said he was “shocked” when Heard had agreed to make the 2015 film The Adderall Diaries with Franco, claiming she had made “negative” comments about her experience in the creation of the film Pineapple Express with the actor.
He said the news made him “jealous”, telling the court: “It shocked me she was suddenly so friendly and happy with him.
“She told me many things that were very very negative about Mr Franco, that he had tried to kiss her and made sexual advances towards her on the previous film they had made together. She said he was a creep and a rapist. She said he was quite aggressive in his advances towards her.”
Sasha Wass QC asked if he meant to say “rapist”, telling him: “You have made an extremely important statement just now.”
Depp replied: “It’s just a word that came out for the actions of Mr Franco, as described to me by Ms Heard, which were sexual advances, him leaning over and saying I’m going to kiss you.
“She had to sort of run from the advances at one point, that he was kind of non-stop, she felt he was creepy and rapey so I said a rapist.”
Depp said he was “uncomfortable” with them working together, and added that it did not fit with her stated desire to not be a “sex object” in films.
“She was hoping to do better films with more meat in the part, she didn’t want to be objectified and didn’t have to do nude scenes any more”, he said.
“I was of course uncomfortable with the idea of her doing nudity.”
Ms Wass read a message from Heard to her assistant asking for the details of her filming schedule with Franco to be kept from Depp and his team, including sex scenes, saying that she fears it could prompt Depp to “lose it”.
Depp denied an allegation that he had been violent towards his partner on a private jet flight in 2014 while in a “blind rage” about her work with Franco. He is accused of striking her across the face, kicking her in the back, pelting her with ice cubes, and hurling a tirade of foul-mouthed insults.
“You were in a blind rage demanding to know how much she like getting off with James Franco and she refused to answer”, suggested Ms Wass, accusing Depp of calling her a “go-getter slut and a whore”.
“You were so angry you slapped her across the face in front of everybody.”
Depp replied: “There is a possibility Ms Heard and I had a fight where those words came out of my mouth, but I didn’t go into a rage and start screaming at her in front of all those people.”
The star denies violence on the plane and said he went to go and sleep in the aircraft’s bathroom to avoid a row, disputing that he had passed out on the toilet.
However, he later admitted he may have “blacked out” the 2014 flight from Boston to LA, but insisted his security team would not have allowed any violence.
Depp changed his account when shown a text he sent to Mordecai co-star Paul Bettany after the incident.
“I’m gonna properly stop the booze thing, darling”, he wrote in the text. “Drank all night before I picked Amber up to fly to LA, this past Sunday... Ugly, mate... No food for days... powders... half a bottle of whiskey, a thousand red bull and vodkas, pills, 2 bottles of Champers on plane and what do you get???
“An angry, aggro Injun in a f**kin’ blackout, screaming obscenities and insulting any f**k who got near.”
Depp added: “I’m done... I am admittedly too f**ked in the head to spray my rage at the one I love... For little reason, as well I’m too old to be that guy. But, pills are fine!!!”
The star apologised for giving an inaccurate account to the court earlier, accepting he had taken cocaine and been drinking heavily.
“It sounds like I overdid it, it sounds like a very self-destructive moment”, he said. “I was incorrect that I hadn’t taken cocaine and things of that nature, I can only say my apologies to the court.
“I didn’t remember the entire flight being such a nightmare.”
Depp added: “I can’t say I have had a full blackout because I have some memory of the flight.”
“Part of the flight are blacked out?”, asked Sasha Wass QC. Depp replied: “Apparently that’s what I’m saying to Mr Bettany.”
The court also heard a recording, said to be of Depp groaning on the flight. However he said it was impossible to identify his own voice.
He denies being violent to Heard on the plane and says he went to sleep on the toilet floor in the plane to end an argument.
Sasha Wass QC, for News Group Newspapers, said of the clip: “You are that animal, in pain because of the consumption of drugs and alcohol that happened on the flight.”
Earlier the court heard how Depp and his Mortdecai co-star Paul Bettany joked in text messages about burning and drowning Heard to see if she was a witch.
The exchange began with a joke from Bettany, who Depp said did not get on with Heard, saying they should set up a money-making website together.
“First of all buy Amber a pet beaver then you take a picture of you shaving said beaver”, he wrote. “All that is left to do is create a domain name ‘Johnny Depp shaves Amber Heard’s beaver’, sell advertising space like f***ing crazy. Clearly there are many spin-offs, you could poke, strike, punch”.
Depp admitted in court it was “not the most respectful way to speak about Ms Heard”, adding that Bettany and his then-partner “didn’t like each other very much”.
Bettany followed it up by texting “let’s burn Amber” and then suggested she should be drowned instead.
Depp then wrote: “Let’s drown her before we burn her. I will f*** her burned corpse afterwards to make sure she was dead.”
Bettany replied: “My thoughts entirely, let’s be certain before we pronounce her a witch.”
Depp told the court he had shared with Bettany details of his arguments with Heard, and Depp said he himself was “resentful” of her stance she took against his drinking and drug-taking.
“I’m afraid she didn’t like me all that much”, he added. “She was constantly harping on about things that don’t exist.
“She didn’t like me using alcohol or drugs because she had some delusional ideas that they turned me into this said monster.”
The trial continues
