The jury at Johnny Depp's defamation trial heard yesterday how the actor allegedly joked about punching Amber Heard soon after the pair tied the knot.
iO Tillett Wright, who had been a friend of both Depp, 58, and Heard, 36, made the explosive claim in a prerecorded March 10 testimony, which was played in the Virginia courthouse.
Wright spoke about the wedding party Depp and Heard had hosted for friends and family on the former's private Caribbean island in February 2015.
He said: “As we were walking back from the ceremony ... I was walking with Johnny and congratulating him that they pulled it off, that they did it. And then he said, ‘We’re married; now I can punch her in the face and nobody can do anything about it.’”
Wright, a multi-hyphenate producer, became friends with the couple while he worked as a photographer for The New York Times about 10 years ago, he recalled. He even described himself as having been a confidante for both actors.
Testifying against Depp, Wright claimed that the Pirates of the Caribbean star would often belittle Heard and made it clear that he thought that her ability to book movie roles was due to her looks as opposed to her talent. Wright said Heard would fight back verbally.
He stated that he had never witnessed with his own eyes Depp striking Heard, but he did see a clump of blonde hair on the carpet, which was allegedly torn out by Depp during a heated argument.
Wright also claimed he saw Depp throw “glasses and dishware” at Heard, adding: “which I would characterize as violent,”
Depp stated in his testimony last month that he had never physically struck Heard or any other woman. He claims that he was, in fact, the victim in his relationship with the Aquaman star.
He is suing his former wife for $50 million because of an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post, titled: I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture's wrath. That has to change.
In response, Heard is countersuing him for twice as much. She claims she was both sexually and physically assaulted by her ex-husband.
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