Johnny Depp’s PA tells court he never saw Amber Heard with injuries and claims SHE subjected him to ‘years of abuse’
JOHNNY Depp's personal assistant knocked back claims the actor abused Amber Heard in the High Court today.
Stephen Deuters claimed he had never seen any injuries on the 34-year-old actress - and alleged it was instead Heard who had subjected Depp to "years of abuse".
The claims come after a string of allegations around the couple's turbulent relationship have been heard in the High Court over the past four days.
Depp is claimed to have attacked Heard 14 times over three years, with allegations that the star threw a magnum of champagne at her, pulled her by her hair and slapped her.
The 57-year-old has consistently denied the charges, launching a libel case against The Sun over allegations of domestic violence by his ex-wife.
And today Mr Deuters, who is now European president of Depp's production company, Infinitum Nihil, claimed it was in fact Heard who had abused Depp during the relationship.
In his written witness statement, Mr Deuters said: "At no point did Ms Heard ever mention any physical abuse and I never saw evidence of any injury to Ms Heard."
He added: "In contrast, Mr Depp told me on multiple occasions that Ms Heard had attacked him or abused him physically and verbally."
The High Court heard today:
- Johnny Depp claimed Amber Heard was the aggressor in the relationship
- The actor claimed he contracted a bacterial infection after severing his finger in Australia
- Depp denied he had been violent to his then wife on their honeymoon
- The Pirates of the Caribbean star was told he had lost $650 million before going to his wife's 30th birthday
- A photograph emerged of Depp covered in ice cream after passing out the day he was due to enter detox
The High Court was told today that Mr Deuters referred to Heard as a "show-pony", "Mike Tyson" and "a b****" when the couple divorced in 2016.
Quizzed on the witness stand today, Mr Deuters denied claims that Depp kicked Heard while on a flight from Boston to LA in 2014.
But he did saw he had seen Depp ";raise his leg" towards Heard, it had been "playful" adding it had been a "jokey" attempt to "tap Heard on the bottom".
In text messages read to the court after the alleged incident, Mr Deuters told Heard Depp was "appalled".
Ms Wass QC then read out text messages that Mr Deuters had sent to Heard after the flight, saying: "He's just texted you... He know he's done wrong."
He said in another message: "He was appalled. When I told him he kicked you, he cried.
"It was disgusting. And he knows it."
He told the court today: "I wasn't comfortable in this position or sending these texts, all I said was to say what I thought people wanted to hear, to be quite honest."
Speaking in the witness box today, he said he feared the relationship would drive Depp "into an early grave".
Depp, who finished a lengthy 23 hours on the stand over five days, was today shown photographs of Heard's injuries and claimed it was the first time he had seen them.
He today told the court Heard was instead the aggressor, with a recording of the pair talking in July 2016 where the actor is heard telling his ex "you f***ing haymakered me, man"'.
It comes after the court was told Heard wrote an email to herself claiming Depp had called her a "w***e" after the plane incident in 2014.
The actress claimed her then husband had "mocked her tears" after the alleged attack on the plane.
And after Depp's mother Betty Sue died in 2016, the court was told Mr Deuters messaged the actor's friend Paul Bettany, saying: "At least the b****is gone. Yes, I do mean Amber - not the Mom.
"Poor Betty Sue (Mr Depp's mother) has been on her way out for the last six months - it was a relief to all, most of all herself."
The next message by Mr Deuters, apparently describing Ms Heard, read: "Sociopathic show pony. Machiavellian overlord.
"Talentless c***. Good riddance to bad s***. Yes, I do mean Amber not the Mom, even though she was a devil herself."
The previously unseen email was read out today as Sasha Wass QC, who is representing News Group Newspapers, questioned Depp's former assistant Stephen Deuters over the plane flight from Boston to LA.
Mr Deuters denied claims that the actor had been "acting like a monster" on a flight.
Depp himself has claimed the allegations against him are part of a "hoax" against him by his ex-wife.
The High Court last week heard allegations including:
- Amber Heard was left with a bruised face after Johnny Depp hurled a phone at her in a row over poo left in their bed
- The 57-year-old allegedly threw a magnum of champagne at Heard after her birthday
- Depp scrawled 'I love u' in his blood with a severed finger stump after a furious row
- The Pirates of the Caribbean star texted Heard's dad to say sorry after he headbutted her during a bust-up
And he today told the court he had been left with a "painful" infection after slicing off the top of his finger while in Australia.
The High Court had last week heard Depp used his severed stump to write 'I love u' on a mirror after the argument.
In the stand today, Depp said: "I flew back from Australia to LA to have surgery on the finger and, at that time, they had put a pin in it, in the broken bone, the fractured bone, but to no avail."
He added that he "ended up getting MRSA, it's quite a painful disease".
Heard has claimed her ex suffered the injury after smashing a phone on the wall while Depp said it was sliced after she threw a vodka bottle at him.
The court heard that Depp used his severed finger, dipped in paint, to scrawl graffiti in the house in Australia.
Mr Deuters today said he had been told to stay the star "caught his finger in the door" if asked after being told Heard had been responsible.
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The actor’s case against NGN and executive editor Dan Wootton came after an article was published in 2018 with the headline “Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”.
NGN is defending the article as true and says Mr Depp was “controlling and verbally and physically abusive towards Heard, particularly when he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs” between early 2013 and May 2016, when the couple split.
The pair met in 2011 and began living together in 2012 before marrying in Los Angeles in February 2015.
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He finished giving evidence today after spending about 23 hours in the witness box - joking "I'm going to miss this".
If you are affected by domestic abuse, please call the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.