Under direct questioning by attorney Elaine Bredehoft on May 4, Amber Heard recounted the first time that Johnny Depp allegedly hit her. According to Heard, it was in the middle of a “normal conversation” early on in their courtship (per People). After Heard had asked Depp what the “Wino” tattoo on his arm meant, as it was “hard to read,” he explained, eliciting a laugh from her. That’s when Depp “slapped me across the face,” Heard alleged. Not knowing what to do, she claimed she simply “stared at” Depp, “thinking he was gonna start laughing too to tell me it was a joke. But he didn’t.”
Depp allegedly then called Heard a “funny bitch” and slapped her again, at which point she realized he wasn’t joking. With Heard still not reacting, she claimed that Depp slapped her “one more time, hard.” With tears in her eyes, Heard recalled falling to the floor. “I knew that I had to leave him, and that’s what broke my heart,” the actor said to the jury. “I wish I could sit here and say I stood up and I walked out of that house.”
The day prior to Heard taking the stand, her attorney Benjamin Rottenborn had stated to the courtroom that Heard “wins” if Depp “abused Ms. Heard physically, verbally, emotionally or psychologically even one time,” per The New York Times. According to the Daily Mail, Rottenborn claimed Team Heard has an “overwhelming and undisputed” log of evidence to prove so in the coming weeks.
