Johnny Depp’s friend has told London’s High Court that he did not see a “single mark” on Amber Heard’s face, after she accused the actor of hitting her.
Isaac Baruch, a longtime friend of 40 years, was the first witness to give evidence today on day nine of Johnny’s libel trial against The Sun’s publisher News Group Newspapers – over a 2018 article that labelled him a “wife-beater”.
The article also stated that there was “overwhelming evidence” that he attacked the actress during their relationship, however Johnny has vehemently denied this.
In a written statement, Isaac recalled meeting Amber after she got into an alleged row with Johnny on 21 May 2016.
The actress accused Johnny of throwing a phone at her face and hitting her during the row, but Isaac has claimed her face looked “natural and normal” following the alleged incident.
At the time of the alleged attack, Isaac was living in a neighbouring apartment owned by Johnny in Los Angeles.
In his witness statement, Isaac claimed Amber spoke to him the day after the incident, and she told him that Johnny had “hit her in the face and threw a phone at her”.
Isaac continued: “I then asked her where he had hit her and she stretched her neck and pushed out the right side of her head for me to look at her right eye. We both were standing in front of the open doorway of Penthouse 1.”
“With lights from the hallway and the sunlight that came in through the windows from Penthouse 1, which filled the room and spread into the hallway, it was very easy for me to get an excellent view of Ms Heard’s face.”
“I literally was around 12 inches from her, inspecting her face and I did not see a single mark or evidence of any marks, bruising, or swelling of any kind anywhere on her face.”
“She also definitely didn’t seem to be wearing any makeup at this time of day that could cover any marks or swelling,” he added.
“Her face looked to me just as natural and normal as all the other times I’ve seen it over the past three years while hanging out together around the apartments.”
Isaac then claimed to have seen the actress again a few days later.
“Again, I saw no marks of any kind on either side of her face. There were no bruises, scratches, redness, dark spots, or swelling of any kind,” he said.
The court is also due to hear from Katherine Kendall, an advocate for the #MeToo movement, who is set to tell the High Court in London that she was “misquoted” in an article which labelled Mr Depp a wife beater.
Johnny’s lawyers said that she will give evidence via video link to explain how annoyed she was that the article was presented as if she was “endorsing” a comparison between the actor and the disgraced Harvey Weinstein.
“The articles amount to a full-scale attack on the claimant as a ‘wife beater’, guilty of the most horrendous physical abuse,” lawyer David Sherbourne previously told the court.
“The author deploys a panoply of cultural and topical references – namely the #MeToo movement, the Time’s Up movement and the disgraced film mogul and serial abuser of women Harvey Weinstein – in order to convey the seriousness of what the claimant is alleged to have done.”
He went on to accuse Amber of creating “shocking lies” about him.
“From Mr Depp’s knowledge of her and her ability to tell convincing lies, and from material which has emerged in the aftermath of their marriage, it is clear that Ms Heard is someone who was prepared to go to extreme lengths when she was not getting her own way and to characterise herself as a spokesperson for domestic violence, exploiting the rising popular movement for speaking out against violence against women for her own ends,” he told the court.
Johnny has continuously denied allegations that he was abusive towards Amber, who filed for divorce in 2016.
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