Amber Heard and Johnny Depp may be battling it out in a vicious defamation trial. But entries from their shared 'love journal' - which have been shown to the court in Fairfax, Virginia - suggest that the celebrity exes weren't always at each other's throats.
Pirates of the Caribbean star Depp is suing his ex-wife for $50 million over a 2018 op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post, in which she claimed to be a survivor of domestic abuse.
Depp alleges that he was the real victim in their turbulent marriage and that Heard's op-ed ruined his reputation and career. Heard, meanwhile, is countersuing for $100 million and citing several occasions when she claims Depp was physically abusive during their relationship.
While many of the stories that have been shared in court have painted a nightmarish picture of Depp and Heard's time together, on Monday (May 16) jurors were given a rare look at the loving side of their marriage.
Messages written by Heard to her then-husband in a 'love journal' (which they would both read and write in) were shown to the court. In one diary entry from May 22, 2015, the Aquaman star wrote: "True love isn't about just the madness of passion or picking the safety of peace."
The message continued: "It's about having both. I have seen in you the true bones of friendship and respect but I still more than ever want to rip you apart, devour you and savor the taste."
Another note from August 1, 2015, read: "I couldn't wait to tell you how much I adore you. I couldn't have imagined a more gorgeous honeymoon."
A few weeks later on August 17, 2015, Heard appeared to apologize to her then-husband in an entry, writing: "I'm sorry I shook the wheel so hard. God damn I love you Johnny, I'm tied to you forever. Let me try to fix this, let me try to patch this. You deserve it. I need you… You're my cornerstone, my heart, my all. I hate it when we fight."
In another note on April 8, 2016, Heard again wrote an apologetic entry that read: "I am sorry I can get crazy. I am sorry I hurt you. Like you, I can get wicked when I get hurt."
After the love journal was shown, Heard explained to Depp's lawyer Camille Vasquez that it "was more of a love note book and part of communication."
"It was important for me to try to nurture as much peace as we possibly could," she added.
When Vasquez questioned whether it was "also an opportunity to apologize to Mr. Depp for your behavior?", Heard reiterated that to her it was "important to apologize."
