Howard Stern has hit out at Johnny Depp, saying his testimony against Amber Heard - in which he told jurors that she had emotionally and physically abused him - is "overacting".
Pirates of the Caribbean star Depp is embroiled in a $50 million defamation trial, in which he is suing his ex-wife Heard for claiming to be a domestic abuse survivor in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed.
Yesterday, the actor finished his final day of testimony against his former wife.
Previously, he had defended himself against Heard's accusations by sharing details of his abusive childhood.
Depp, 58, also recounted an incident where he saw fecal matter on his bed after an argument with Heard.
However, Depp's recollections of his volatile marriage to Heard did not convince everyone. Comedian Howard Stern slammed the actor during an episode of his SiriusXM radio show, accusing him of televising the trial to try and win back public favor per The Independent.
According to Yahoo Entertainment, Heard's legal team tried to prevent the trial from being live-streamed - a decision that was approved by Judge Penny Azacarate. Depp's team, meanwhile, did not publicly challenge the decision to stream court proceedings.
Stern claimed that Depp had wanted the trial to be broadcast because he is a "huge narcissist". "They think they can talk their way out of anything. I think Johnny Depp is a huge narcissist and what I mean by that is — he figured, 'I’ll put this on TV and because I’m so persuasive and because I’m so smart, I’m such a wonderful guy,'" Stern said.
The radio host went on to say that Depp was "overacting" during his testimony, saying: "I’ll play you some clips from the Johnny Depp trial. If he isn’t acting — I mean, he’s so overacting because he’s writing his own material as he goes along."
"You know, I gotta tell you, he’s wrong. He shouldn’t be putting this on TV in any shape," Stern added.
He went on to agree with his co-host Robin Quivers that the trial wouldn't save Depp's career. As a result of his ex-wife's allegations, the actor has been dropped from big-budget projects including the Pirates of the Caribbean films and the Harry Potter prequel franchise Fantastic Beasts.
"That’s what narcissists do, [they say], 'I will charm the pants off of America at the trial.' No you won’t! This will not go well. It’s not going well for you, it’s not going well for her. It’s not going well for anybody. You sound like two battling children," Stern said, adding: "It’s just coming off really badly."
Depp's cross-examination concluded yesterday (April 25). Heard is set to testify in the coming days.
