Johnny Depp has opened up about the "blinding hurt" he felt after Amber Heard's 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post was published.
Depp, 58, is in the middle of a defamation trial with his ex-wife Heard, 36. The former is suing the latter for $50 million after Heard claimed to be a victim of domestic violence in the op-ed. The Aquaman actress is countersuing for $100 million.
During his fourth day at the stand on Monday, the Pirates of the Caribbean star was asked by his lawyer how he felt after he read the op-ed.
"Shock," he responded, per The Guardian. "Because I, at that point, it had been a good, solid, two or so years of the accusations, of the allegations, planted firmly on my back. Something I had to carry with me and I just couldn't believe it was continuing in such a way."
Johnny Depp says he felt "blinding hurt" following the publication of Amber Heard's op-ed:"It was clear that the more bad press, the more hit pieces that came out on me, the more of these stories of Ms. Heard and her righteous chase against me ... it wasn't stopping," he continued. "It's difficult to, once you've chewed on it for a couple of years, it becomes difficult to swallow anymore, as it was completely untrue."
When pressed further about how the piece had made him feel, he went on to say: "Hurt. Blinding hurt."
"It was like somebody hit me in the back of the head with a 2x4 and, as I said, I had had no ability to speak prior to ... because even if I'd done an interview to try and explain myself, it turned into a hit piece. So my mouth was shut," he added. "And this was the opportunity where I thought, something's gotta be done. I couldn't take it anymore."
His attorney then asked the actor when he learned Disney wouldn't be continuing his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in future Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Depp said it was about two or three days after the op-ed was published.
The Fantastic Beasts star also referred to an interview Disney's Sean Bailey did with The Hollywood Reporter, in which it was suggested that the movie giant would be continuing the franchise without their main star.
Depp said: "Captain Jack Sparrow was a character I built from the ground up and was something that I, of course, put a lot of [myself] into the character and also having worked on these films with these people and added much of myself, much of my own re-writing of the dialogue and scenes and jokes.
"I didn't quite understand how, after that long relationship and quite a successful relationship certainly for Disney, that suddenly I was guilty until proven innocent."
