Johnny Depp had once purportedly told a friend over text that he hoped Amber Heard's "rotting corpse" was "decomposing", People reports.
The messages were revealed in Fairfax County court on Wednesday, during the second day of the $50 million defamation trial in which Depp is hoping to prove that his ex-wife libeled him when she claimed to be a survivor of domestic abuse in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed.
Yesterday's proceedings in the trial were kicked off by Depp's longtime friend and neighbor, Isaac Baruch, who was called to the stand by the actor's lawyers.
When Heard's attorney Elaine Bredehoft came to cross-examine Baruch, apparent text messages between himself and the Pirates of the Caribbean actor from October 2016 were revealed.
One text appeared to show that Depp - who was in the process of divorcing Heard at the time - said he hoped his then wife's "rotting corpse is decomposing in the f***ing trunk of a Honda Civic."
The actor also sent a separate message to Baruch, in which he apparently wrote of Heard: "That c*** ruined such a f***ing cool life we had for a while."
Baruch corroborated that the messages were written and sent by Depp. He then became emotional while recalling the impact Heard's allegations had had on the star. In the wake of Heard's scandalous claims, Depp has been blacklisted by much of Hollywood and dropped from big-budget projects including the Pirates of the Carribean movies and Harry Potter prequel franchise Fantastic Beasts.
"It's not fair. It's not right what she did and what happened for so many people to get affected from this. It's insane how this happened," Baruch told the court.
Meanwhile, when asked whether Depp had ever assaulted Heard to his knowledge, Baruch responded: "I never saw or witnessed whatever type of claim that is being said. Ever."
Baruch's testimony came after the trial's explosive first day on Tuesday, when both actors' attorneys gave the court brutal details of their volatile marriage.
Jurors heard claims that Aquaman star Heard was verbally and emotionally abusive to her husband, who allegedly used to lock himself in the bathroom to escape her rages.
Meanwhile, they were also given an alleged account of how Depp viciously beat his wife and sexually assaulted her with a liquor bottle during a drunken blackout in Australia.