Abuse accusations by ex-wife are ‘outlandish’

WASHINGTON

Actor Johnny Depp testified on May 25 at his defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard that it has been “unimaginably brutal” to listen to her “outlandish” accusations of domestic abuse.

“No human being is perfect, certainly not, none of us, but I have never in my life committed sexual battery, physical abuse,” the 58-year-old Depp said.

Taking the witness stand as the six-week-long trial in Fairfax, near the U.S. capital, nears an end, Depp was asked by his lawyers what it had been like to listen to Heard’s testimony.

“It’s insane to hear heinous accusations of violence, sexual violence, that she’s attributed to me,” the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star said. “All these outlandish, outrageous stories of me committing these things.

“Horrible, ridiculous, humiliating, ludicrous, painful, savage, unimaginably brutal, cruel and all false,” he told the jury. “All false.”

Depp said no one “enjoys having to split themselves open and tell the truth” but he needed to address “what I’ve been carrying on my back, reluctantly, for six years.”

Earlier on May 15, British model Kate Moss, Depp’s ex-girlfriend, dismissed reports he once threw her down a flight of stairs.

“He never pushed me, kicked me or threw me down any stairs,” said Moss, testifying as a witness on behalf of Depp.

Heard, during her testimony, had mentioned the reports that Depp was alleged to have once pushed Moss down a flight of stairs.

That reference provided an opening to Depp’s lawyers to call Moss and she testified by video link from England.

The 48-year-old Moss said she had a romantic relationship with Depp from 1994 to 1998.

She was asked about an incident which occurred during a vacation the couple took to a resort in Jamaica.

“There’d been a rainstorm and as I left the room I slid down the stairs and I hurt my back,” Moss said. “And I screamed because I didn’t know what had happened to me and I was in pain. He came running back to help me and carried me to my room and got me medical attention.”

Moss’s testimony lasted just three minutes and Heard’s lawyers declined to cross-examine her.