Johnny Depp once sent messages about his ex-wife Amber Heard’s “rotting corpse,” according to texts revealed in court during his $50 million defamation trial.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star launched the defamation lawsuit against Amber in 2019, after she wrote about being an alleged victim of domestic violence in an op-ed for the Washington Post in December 2018.
While the actor’s name was excluded from the piece, his legal team have argued that the op-ed implied that he “perpetrated domestic violence against her.”
On Wednesday, Johnny’s longtime friend and neighbor Isaac Baruch took the stand at the Fairfax County Courthouse in Virginia.
During a cross examination by Amber’s lawyer Elaine Bredehoft, text messages between Johnny and Isaac from October 2016 were revealed, including one in which Johnny referred to Amber’s “rotting corpse.”
In the text, Johnny wrote that he hoped Amber’s “rotting corpse is decomposing in the f***ing trunk of a Honda Civic.”
Isaac confirmed to the court that the text was sent: “Yeah, it was written.”
“It’s not right what she did!” #JohnnyDepp‘s longtime friend and neighbor Isaac Baruch took the stand Wednesday.
WATCH #CourtTV LIVE – Day 2: Depp v. Heard #DefamationTrial https://t.co/Ps5kNht0Fn pic.twitter.com/7G8IlPc4qR
— Court TV (@CourtTV) April 13, 2022
Johnny also texted about Amber: “That c*** ruined such a f***ing cool life we had for a while.”
Isaac got emotional during the cross examination when talking about how Amber’s allegations impacted Johnny and his loved ones.
Isaac said in court: “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.”
Amber’s lawyer then asked Isaac, “Mr. Baruch, you don’t know whether Mr. Depp has committed domestic violence of Amber Heard, do you?” and he replied, “I never saw or witnessed whatever type of claim that is being said. Ever.”
Amber’s attorney Ben Rottenborn told the courtroom on April 11 during his opening argument: “Tragically, it’s true. Amber did suffer sexual violence at the hands of Depp.”
He also claimed Amber suffered domestic abuse by Johnny that “took many forms,” including physical, emotional, verbal and psychological abuse.
Rottenborn said about Amber’s upcoming testimony: “You will hear in the most graphic and horrifying terms about the violence that she suffered.”
A spokesperson for Johnny has denied the sexual assault allegations, saying the actor believes it is not a coincidence these claims are coming out now.
Johnny’s spokesperson said in a statement to People on April 11: “These fictitious claims were never made at the onset of Amber’s allegations in 2016, and only advantageously surfaced years later once she was sued for defamation after noting in her op-ed that she was a victim of ‘sexual violence.’”
Johnny has already lost a different libel case in November 2020, when he sued The Sun for calling him a “wife beater.” However, a judge found the article to be substantially true.
Amber filed for divorce from Johnny in 2016, just one year after the couple tied the knot. She had also filed a domestic violence restraining order against Johnny, accusing him of abusing her.
She wrote in court documents obtained by E! News at the time: “During the entirety of our relationship, Johnny has been verbally and physically abusive to me.”
“I endured excessive emotional, verbal and physical abuse from Johnny, which has included angry hostile, humiliating and threatening assaults to me whenever I questioned his authority or disagreed with him.”
Taking to Instagram on the Saturday ahead of the trial, Amber wrote: “I’m going to go offline for the next several weeks. As you may know, I’ll be in Virginia, where I face my ex-husband Johnny Depp in court.”
“Johnny is suing me for an op-ed I wrote in The Washington Post, in which I recounted my experience of violence and domestic abuse.”
“I never named him, rather I wrote about the price women pay for speaking out against men in power. I continue to pay that price, but hopefully when this case concludes, I can move on and so can Johnny.”
Amber continued: “I have always maintained a love for Johnny and it brings me great pain to have to live out the details of our past life together in front of the world.”
“At this time, I recognize the ongoing support I’ve been fortunate to receive throughout these years, and in these coming weeks I will be leaning on it more than ever.”
“With love always, A,” she signed off.
