American actor Amber Heard told London’s High Court on Monday that her ex-husband Johnny Depp had threatened to kill her many times during years of abuse, denying she had made up her allegations of domestic violence. Depp is suing News Group Newspapers, publishers of Britain’s Sun newspaper, over a 2018 article which labelled him a ‘wife beater’ and questioned his casting in the Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them franchise. The 57-year-old actor, who played Captain Jack Sparrow in the lucrative Pirates of the Caribbean series – told the court last week that all of Heard’s allegations of physical and verbal abuse were untrue. He says her accusations are a hoax and accuses her of domestic violence against him.
Heard told the court she loved Depp but was terrified of “the monster”, a violent alter ego he became when under the influence of drink or drugs, which she described as the “third party in the relationship”. In a written statement, she said some incidents were so severe that she was afraid he would kill her, deliberately or by losing control.