Elon Musk and not Johnny Depp may have given Amber Heard cuts and bruises to her face during an affair as her marriage to the Hollywood actor crumbled, building staff at the former couple’s LA penthouse have suggested.
The sensational allegations have been made by two members of staff who worked at the apartment block where Depp lived with ex-wife Heard in a penthouse on the 13th floor.
In sworn video statements Alejandro Romero and Trinity Esparza say they saw no injuries to Heard’s face after Depp allegedly threw a mobile phone at her ‘like a baseball pitcher’ during a blazing row on May 21.
Ms Esparza, who owned the concierge company at the exclusive Eastern Columbia Building, said she saw Heard throughout the week after the alleged phone-hurling assault and the actress — who wore no make-up — showed neither bruises nor cuts.
Then, on Friday, May 27 she ‘had a red cut underneath her right eye and red marks by her eye’.
Elon Musk visited Amber Heard ‘night after night’ in April and May 2016 as her marriage to Johnny Depp collapsed, according to a concierge who works in the building where the Hollywood actor had a penthouse
The 57-year-old actor (left arriving at court today) has accused Heard (right today), 34, of having an ‘extra-marital affair’ with the SpaceX billionaire – which Musk vehemently denies and insists their relationship began only after she filed for divorce
Amber Heard arriving at the High Court in London for a hearing in Depp’s libel case against the publishers of The Sun
Ms Esparza also alleges that on June 4 – two weeks after Depp left the penthouse – she saw Heard with further injuries; a bruise on her left check and two on either side of her neck in the shape of fingers and ‘little less than quarters in size.’
When asked by Depp’s legal team, where Depp was during this period, she replied: ‘Out of the country.’
She is then asked who Heard had been ‘interacting over this time Ms Esparza replied: ‘Elon Musk.’
When asked if there was anybody else, she replied: ‘No.’
Adam Waldman, Depp’s lawyer, said: ‘Johnny Depp left the country after Ms Heard’s most notorious abuse hoax where she claimed he threw a phone into her right eye. Yet two weeks later, the head concierge at the building testified she saw Ms Heard with a bruise under her other eye, finger shaped bruises on her throat and a bandaged arm.
‘It was Elon Musk who had been coming up to Mr Depp’s penthouse during his two-week absence.’
Amber Heard showing bruises she claims were inflicted by Johnny Depp as he allegedly smashed her iPhone in her face at her LA home in May 2016, a month after Heard allegedly ‘defecated’ in their marital bed on her 30th birthday
Mr Romero, the building’s security officer, says Musk visited Heard late at night ‘several times a week’ while Depp was away from home filming prompting staff at the building to speculate that they were having an affair.
He also claims that the tech billionaire Musk usually arrived at around 11pm and would not leave by the time his shift finished at 1am.
When asked if Depp was at home during Musk’s visits, Mr Romero replied: ‘No.’
Mr Romero’s and Ms Esparza’s dramatic testimony is due to be heard at the High Court this week as part of Depp’s libel claim against the Sun newspaper over allegations that he was violent towards his ex-wife.
It will be delivered via video link with both in Los Angeles.
Depp, 57, is suing News Group Newspapers, publishers of the Sun and executive editor Dan Wootton over a 2018 article which referred to him as a ‘wife beater’ with Heard as the main witness claiming that he was physically and emotionally abusive to her during their stormy three-year relationship.
The statements by the two officials from the penthouse building was initially submitted as part of a separate $50 million case Depp is bringing against Heard, 34, in the US about how she survived domestic abuse.
But it has proved to be so powerful that the Hollywood actor’s legal team are also relying on it in their case against the Sun.
It was revealed at the libel hearing in London that Depp and Heard had a blazing row in April 2016 after he had been delayed at a business meeting and arrived two hours late for her 30th birthday party.
The Hollywood legend had received some bad news about his financial affairs and smoked some cannabis to relief his stress.
Depp and Heard pictured leaving the Southport Magistrates’ Court in Gold Coast, Australia in April 2016
The Musk revelations are the latest salacious details to emerge from Depp’s libel trial as he sues The Sun. Musk and Heard were first romantically linked in July 2016, about a month before Heard’s divorce was finalized. The couple split in August 2017 and rekindled their relationship in January 2018 before breaking up a second time a month later
Trinity Esperanza’s statement (left and right) was initially submitted as part of a separate $50 million case Depp is bringing against Heard, 34, in the US about how she survived domestic abuse
Sasha Wass, QC, representing the Sun alleged that Depp threw a magnum of champagne at heard before leaving a note reading ‘Happy F***ing Birthday’ and went to bed.
Depp told the court he decided to divorce Heard after she allegedly defecated in their bed that night, ‘as a prank’.
He left the penthouse that morning and returned to the property on May 21 with two of his security staff to collect his belongings.
Trinity Esparza (above) says she saw no injuries to Heard’s face after Depp allegedly threw a mobile phone at her ‘like a baseball pitcher’ during a blazing row on May 21
Heard says he went to the penthouse ‘drunk and high’ and became enraged and threw a mobile phone at her ‘like a baseball pitcher’, which hit her on the right-hand side of the face.
Depp continually replied ‘no ma’am’ when asked about the incident, denying that he had been violent.
Melissa Saenz, a police officer who attended the LA penthouse after the alleged incident, ‘did not see any injuries’, the High Court has heard.
Cornelius Harrell, a concierge, was working on the front desk on the afternoon after the alleged assault on May 21.
Depp’s lawyers say he was captured by the building’s security cameras taking Heard to the post room to collect a package sent to her.
He testified under oath that she ‘did not have any bruises, cuts, scratches or swelling on her face’ and that — in his words — he was struck by how ‘beautiful’, ‘radiant’ and ‘refreshed’ she looked.
Mr Romero testified that, either on the Monday or Tuesday after the alleged attack, Heard asked him to accompany her to the penthouse as she feared there had been an attempted break-in.
He agreed and ‘throughout this interaction, Mr Romero said he got ‘a full shot’ of [her] face’ and saw no signs of injury either, says the lawsuit. Mr Romero testified that he ‘couldn’t believe’ her domestic abuse allegations, say Depp’s lawyers.
‘We watched the news and we saw the pictures . . . and the next day I saw her, I was like, ‘Come on, really?’,’ Mr Romero said in his deposition. The photos he saw showed Heard with a ‘big mark on her — on her eyes and her cheek’, but he hadn’t seen anything like it in the flesh, he said.
Musk was a regular visitor to the the exclusive Eastern Columbia Building where Heard and Depp lived, according to security staff there. He would arrive at 11pm – with Heard phoning security to ensure he got in – and regularly still be there at 1am
Isaac Baruch, a friend and building neighbour of the celebrity couple, is also cited in the lawsuit. He says on the morning after the alleged attack, Heard complained to him Depp had hit her. While she ‘stretched her neck’ to show him her alleged injuries, he said he couldn’t see anything, and continued to see her during the week with no signs of damage to her face.
Mr Baruch said he confronted Heard days later ‘about how upset he was at her false abuse allegations’, according to the lawsuit. ‘Amber then told me she did not want anything from Johnny and it was her lawyers who were doing all of this,’ he testified.
Musk and Amber dated for a year, splitting in late 2017. They have always maintained that the relationship started after she split from Depp.
But when asked in the video statement why Musk’s visits stood out in his mind Mr Romero replied: ‘I didn’t see it right…Because it was late at night.’
Pressed further, he added: ‘Well, she’s a female, he’s a male. Both of them by themselves upstairs is you know she’s married. I don’t know Elon Musk personally. I don’t know anything about his personal life.’
Mr Romero revealed that he also discussed Musk’s visits with Ms Esparza.
He revealed in his statement: ‘I told her like – we were talking about it, about Elon Musk and I told her it was really bad that I saw Elon Musk going inside the penthouse when Johnny Dep was not at home.’
The 34-year-old actress and her ‘Team Heard’ arriving at the High Court (far right, her lawyer Jennifer Robinson)
Heard is pictured arriving at the High Court with her squad, including her girlfriend Bianca Butti (back left, in sunglasses)
Romero. adds: ‘I told her (Trinity Esperanza) well I think it was wrong for Amber having someone else like – I didn’t know if he stayed but I told her staying the night there.’
Mr Romero, who has been working at the building for more than 10 years, revealed that he never saw Musk, 49 leave before his shift finished at 1am. He said that he was on friendly terms with Heard and that saw her ‘hundreds of times’ in and around the building.
In his dramatic testimony, Mr Romero alleged that prior to Musk arriving, Heard would always call him to ensure that he could gain entry.
Mr Romero added: ‘Well she (Heard) used to call me telling me his friend was coming and to give him access to the garage and into the building and send him up to the penthouse.’
Mr Romeo revealed that when Musk would arrive, he would physically walk him to the lift and use his fob to press the button for the penthouse, which was part of the security arrangements for the building.
Musk himself has maintained that his relationship with Heard didn’t begin until after she divorced Depp.
‘Elon and Amber didn’t start seeing each other until May 2016, and even then it was infrequent. Their relationship didn’t become romantic until some time later,’ his representative said in a statement.
Musk and Heard were first romantically linked in July 2016, about a month before Heard’s divorce was finalized.
The couple split in August 2017, citing their busy schedules, and rekindled their relationship in January 2018 before breaking up a second time a month later.
Depp has alleged that Heard and Musk began seeing each other much earlier, about a month after their 2015 wedding.