When Johnny Depp and Amber Heard strolled from their black Range Rover and into a Gulfstream jet waiting on the tarmac at Brisbane Airport they held hands like any other celebrity couple, but it now appears their marriage was actually slipping away.
The disheveled Hollywood hell-raiser’s bandaged right hand was the only sign back in 2015 that all was not well at home, as rumours swirled over how he hurt himself.
Was it a go-karting accident? Did he punch a wall? Was it a filming mishap?
The smile that beamed across the stunning actress’s face on the tarmac five years ago was nowhere to be seen as she entered the High Court in London on Tuesday.
Depp, 57, is suing The Sun newspaper for labelling him a ‘wife beater’ in a 2018 article and sordid details about how his marriage to Heard capitulated on Australian shores was laid bare and as part of evidence in the blockbuster libel case.
The trip Down Under, which Heard described as a ‘three-day hostage situation’ amid allegations of flying vodka bottles, claims of infidelity and financial threats appears to be a flash-point in their descent into marital misery.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard arrive at Brisbane Airport in 2015 for what would turn out to be a volatile trip that saw them accused of smuggling in their dogs Pistol and Boo. Their journey to Australia came just weeks after they were secretly married on a private island in the Bahamas
Depp is taken to hospital with a severed finger after it was allegedly severed when Heard threw a glass vodka bottle at him during an incident in Queensland in March 2015. The star actor also claims his wife put out a lit cigarette on his cheek after the argument over a post-nuptial deal
When the pair first flew into the Gold Coast in March 2015 they were among the most sought after celebrities on the planet.
Just weeks earlier they had tied the knot in secret on a private island in the Bahamas.
Eager for privacy away from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales set, they rented the waterfront mansion of Australian MotoGP legend Mick Doohan.
The 18-hectare resort style home with an infinity pool, tennis court, elevators, dirt bikes and go karts has become a go to for visiting VIPs.
Most recently it was home to Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson during their lockdown after both contracting COVID-19.
The confines of the sprawling mansion quietly masked the chaos which was allegedly unfolding between its towering walls.
While the pair had long been rumoured to have a volatile relationship, it was not until a picture emerged of Depp lying on a stretcher inside a Queensland hospital almost two years later that the scale of the incidents on their whirlwind trip became clear.
The actor was rumoured to have broken his right wrist go-karting on a private track at Doohan’s property while movie buffs speculated it was a injury sustained on set.
The incident caused filming of the $250 million Jerry Bruckheimer epic, in which Johnny reprises his iconic role as Captain Jack Sparrow, to be delayed.
In giving evidence to the High Court on Tuesday, Depp described the period of time in Australia in March 2015 when he says Heard severed his finger – an injury which she says came about after he smashed a telephone into a wall.
He claims that Heard heard him talking to his lawyers about a potential post-nuptial agreement.
After he poured himself a glass of vodka she picked up the bottle and threw it at him, before hurling another one, he told the court.
‘Amber severed my finger with the second of two thrown vodka bottles at me in the early afternoon of Sunday March 8. Amber claims this was on the second day of a “three-day hostage situation”,’ he said.
‘Amber claims that during these three days, I subjected her to a variety of what sounds like torture and other abuse. These sick claims are completely untrue.’
Depp said Heard did not sustain any injuries at all that weekend, while he meanwhile sustained ‘grievous’ injuries including the severed finger ‘and a cigarette stubbed out on my cheek’.
He said that at some point after she threw the bottle that cut off his finger tip, she put a lit cigarette out on his cheek.
Depp (left) and Heard (right) arrive at the High Court in London on Tuesday. Depp, 57, is suing The Sun newspaper for labeling him a ‘wife beater’ in a 2018 article
Amber Heard walked arm in arm with her sister, Whitney, (left) and Australian lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, (right) who also represents Julian Assange, as she arrived at the High Court today for the start of a three-week libel trial. In the white coat is her US attorney, Elaine Bredehoft
Depp seen in an image drawn by a court artist as he was giving evidence from a witness box at the High Court in London today
During their visits to Australia in 2015, the couple stayed in this sprawling mansion owned by former MotoGp champion Mick Doohan
Court documents state that Depp tried to avoid Heard by taking the spiral staircase down into the bar.
‘(But) she followed him, screaming at him abusively,’ the court heard.
‘The severity of these injuries brought about the personal realisation of the severity of the abuse that Ms Heard had inflicted upon me for so long. I couldn’t believe that we had come to this. I wondered what more she could do to me.
However, Depp’s version of events inside Doohan’s mansion differ greatly to Heard’s.
Heard alleged in a domestic abuse case against her ex-husband in 2016 that Depp had cut his own fingertip off while ‘drunk and high on ecstasy’.
Depp had been speaking with Heard on the phone while she was filming The Danish Girl in London when they began to fight and he threw the phone at some glass, causing the injury.
The court papers in the 2016 case claimed that Depp then took his bloody finger and dipped it in blue paint before using the mixture of the two liquids to write ‘STARRING Billy Bob’ and ‘Easy Amber’ on the wall.
‘Billy Bob’ is Billy Bob Thornton claims Heard, who had starred in the 2008 film The Informers with the actress and then London Fields.
Whichever way the extraordinary row unfolded, it did not stop the couple returning to Queensland together just a few weeks later.
This time however they were infamously joined by a pair of companions – Pistol and Boo, their pet dogs.
Depp and Heard snuck the Yorkshire Terriers into Australia onboard a private jet and did not declare them to customs officials.
In fact authorities were completely unaware they dogs were in the country until their local groomers posted a photo to Facebook.
This outraged then-deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce who threatened to destroy the dogs if they were not taken out of the country.
The lavish home features an infinity pool, tennis court, elevators, go karts and dirt bikes, and is a regular for VIPs staying on the Gold Coast
A photo of Depp’s finger in the aftermath of an incident which he claims was caused by Heard throwing a glass vodka bottle at him – but which she claims occurred when Depp cut off his own fingertip in a ‘fit of rage’
In a domestic abuse case from 2016, Heard claimed that after cutting his own finger Depp had mixed his blood with ink and written on a mirror accusing her of having an affair with ‘Billy Bob Thornton’
Depp was one of the world’s biggest stars at the time he and Heard arrived on the Gold Coast in 2015 to film the fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. He is pictured on set signing autographs for thrilled fans
‘It’s time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States,’ Mr Joyce said.
‘He’s now got about 50 hours left to remove the dogs. He can put them on the same charter jet he flew out on and fly them back out of our nation.’
Heard was charged with breaching Australian customs laws but those charges were later dropped after she and Depp issued a bizzarre video apology.
Mr Joyce also eventually backed down on his threats.
The incidents that allegedly occurred during Depp and Heard’s time in Australia is set to form a major part of The Sun’s defence against the Hollywood star.
Depp told the court on the first day of his blockbuster libel case that the allegations were ‘sick and completely untrue’.
But the most sensational revelation from Depp was that he decided to divorce Heard after faeces was left in their bed.
In a written statement, the actor said Heard or ‘possibly one of her friends’ was responsible for the incident, but claimed she dismissed it as ‘just a harmless prank’, and he said it was the final straw in their deteriorating marriage.
Today, he took to the stand to deny ever hitting Heard, as a series of newspaper stories alleged, and said it was ‘inconceivable’ that he would ever hit a woman, citing his Southern upbringing and saying he considers chivalry ‘very important’.
He said: ‘It is a strong and central part of my moral code that I would never strike a woman, under any circumstances, at any time. I find it simply inconceivable and it would never happen.’
While denying attacking Heard he also launched a blistering attack on her, accusing her of being a ‘calculating, narcissistic sociopath’ who married him to further her career.
The court also heard of an incident where Heard shouted at Depp in 2015.
Their trip to Queensland in April 2015 reached infamy after police charged Heard (pictured) in relation to her and Depp smuggling their dogs into the country without alerting customs. It led Australia’s then-deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce to threaten to euthanase the animals
Authorities were completely unaware they dogs were in the country until their groomer posted a blurry photo to Facebook
Johnny Depp leaving the High Court this afternoon after a dramatic day of giving evidence in a libel case against his ex-wife, Amber Heard
Amber Heard leaving the High Court after today’s hearing. She was wearing a red polka dot face covering due to Covid restrictions
Depp filed a defamation case against Heard in 2018, calling her accounts of abuse ‘fabricated’ and ‘categorically’ false. They are seen together in February 2016
Depp’s barrister David Sherborne read an extract from a tape in which Heard said to her husband: ‘You got hit… but I did not punch you. I did not f****** deck you. I f****** was hitting you’.
Heard was then heard to say ‘you are a f****** baby’, to which 57-year-old Depp said: ‘Because you start physical fights.’
Heard replied: ‘You are such a baby. Grow the f*** up.’
Depp also cited another incident in which she ‘repeatedly’ punched him in the face on a private jet in 2014 and claimed that she punched him again as he fled to the toilet.
In contrast, the actress’ lawyers painted Depp as a domestic abuser who repeatedly attacked her when he was drunk or high on drugs.
Depp on Amber Heard and their ‘rage-filled’ fights
Depp started his account of his relationship with Heard by describing how he first met her when she auditioned for The Rum Diary, and later reconnected with her when they were promoting the film.
In one of his witness statements filed as part of his libel case against The Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), Depp said: ‘She was then extremely friendly to me and keen to tell me about the break-up with her former partner that she had recently gone through.
‘If I had known then what I know now, I would have seen the red flag warning signs, but I did not. She was beautiful, seemingly incredibly interested in me and my work, and I fell for it. She bombed me with what appeared to be love.
‘It was not until much later that I understood that she had an agenda, namely to get married to me in order to progress her own career and/or to benefit financially, and she knew how to bring it about.
‘For example, at the time, she repeatedly told me how much she admired my films; however, later in our relationship she admitted that she had never seen any of my films. She knew what she wanted and I was an easy target.’
Depp said their time together was ‘incredibly unhappy’, adding: ‘She is a calculating, diagnosed borderline personality; she is sociopathic; she is a narcissist; and she is completely emotionally dishonest.
‘I am now convinced that she came into my life to take from me anything worth taking, and then destroy what remained of it.’
Depp said the pair sought the help of a marriage counsellor who he says confirmed to him that Heard had a ‘borderline, toxic narcissistic personality disorder and is a sociopath’.
According to Depp’s statement, Heard ‘continuously belittled’ him and called him a ‘fat old man’. He said he found it ‘devastating and heartbreaking’ to hear Heard call him a ‘horrible father’.
Depp wore a black bandanna face covering as he arrived at London’s High Court to fight claims he was a wife beater. Heard is pictured on the right
Heard pictured with her entourage outside the entrance of the Royal Courts of Justice, which will host the momentous trial
‘The monster’ and how Elton John helped him go sober
During cross-examination from Sasha Wass, she began using the term ‘the monster’ to describe Depp’s drunken alter ego, as she revealed how Elton John helped him go straight.
The lawyer referred to an email Depp sent to Sir Elton on March 22 2012 with the subject ‘100 days’.
The email read: ‘My dearest Elton, 100 f****** days of clarity for an old reprobate t**t like me. No one would ever have believed it possible but for a select few, most importantly you.’
The message also referred to his ‘brain and liver resembling Mrs Thatcher’ – referring to the former prime minister – and spoke of the ‘eternal savagery against myself’.
It concluded: ‘I would have been swallowed up by the monster were it not for you.’
Ms Wass continued that ‘the monster’ was Johnny Depp’s ‘alter ego’ and said the reference to it was ‘not a coincidence’.
But Depp said it was ‘a simple fact’ that he ‘would have been swallowed up by the monster were it not for you (Sir Elton John)’.
He explained that he meant he ‘would have been consumed by this poison – the monster here is death’.
Ms Wass continued: ‘You had a relationship with alcohol which was toxic… this is the story of your adult life, isn’t it? The fight between sobriety and alcohol and drug abuse.’
Depp told the High Court his drug use started ‘at a very young age’, beginning when he took one of his mother’s ‘nerve pills’.
Depp also revealed that he spent £3 million ($5 million) firing the ashes of late author Hunter S Thompson from a canon, prompting Mr Justice Nicol to express surprise at the amount as he asked the actor to repeat the figure
Sasha Wass, QC, representing The Sun, listed a series of drugs she claimed the actor had been taking since his childhood, including cocaine, cannabis, LSD, alcohol, cannabis and prescription drugs.
The lawyer spent the entire morning grilling the actor over his notorious drug taking, which she claimed changed his character and made him violent.
Asked about his interest in drugs, the actor claimed he enjoyed learning about ‘the counter-culture’ and followed in the footsteps of his ‘literary heroes.’
The actor said: ‘I’ve always been interested in the counter-culture and many literary heroes of mine* have been opium users. It has been a subject that I have learned about.’
After admitting that he had regularly taken ‘every drug known to man’, Depp replied: ‘My experience of alcohol and stimulants began at a very young age. It was not a particularly stable or safe home life, there was a lot of unpleasantness in the house.’
He added: ‘I remember my mother used to ask me to get her nerve pills. Around the age of 11 it dawned on me that these pills calm your nerves and I brought them home and took one. That began what was the only way to numb the pain.’
The Sun’s lawyers and Heard allege that drugs and alcohol turned Depp into a ‘monster.’
Ms Wass claimed: ‘We see you now very charming, polite and softly spoken but there’s another side of you Depp that’s less charming? There’s a nasty, angry side to your character.’
Depp replied: ‘I’m well aware that there’s been a lot of pain the way I was raised. When you are trying to figure out what it’s all about, when success and notoriety and all these things come to you and you don’t quite understand why you have them and you don’t feel very worthy, it’s very confusing.’
Depp denied that he had a tendency towards ‘destructive and violent’ behaviour or that he had problems managing his anger.
Heard was spotted leaving a California court in 2016 with facial bruising (above) after she was granted a temporary restraining order against Depp just days after claiming he attacked her
Heard’s lawyers submitted this photo to Los Angeles Superior County Court in 2016 and claimed Depp had caused the injuries. Speaking at the High Court today, Depp denied ever being violent towards Heard and said any claims he hit her were ‘lies’
Depp revealed that he considered Keith Richards a ‘friend and icon’ along with Hunter S Thompson and Marilyn Manson.
He told the court: ‘I have been very close to all three of them, they have been wonderful friends.
‘Keith Richards has been a role model for me. He’s one of my favourite guitarists and a great role model, yes.’
Depp also revealed that he spent £3 million ($5 million) firing the ashes of late author Hunter S Thompson from a canon, prompting Mr Justice Nicol to express surprise at the amount as he asked the actor to repeat the figure.
Depp added: ‘Hunter S Thompson was an idol of mine. He extolled the virtues of psychedelic drugs.’
Borrowing a quote from the late author, there was laughter in court as Depp declared: ‘I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.’
When asked about Manson, Depp admitted that they had taken drugs together but that their friendship was mainly based on music.
When asked by Ms Wass about his interest in drugs, Depp replied: ‘I have always been interested in the counter-culture and many literary heroes of mine, including Chaucer, who was an opium addict and Thomas De Quincey, author of ‘Confessions of an English Opium Eater, were into this subject.
‘It is a subject, as there are many other subjects, that I also have an interest in.’
Depp also claimed he ‘dabbled in drugs’ with the Avengers’ Paul Bettany – who played ‘Vision’ in the recent superhero franchise.
Ms Wass asked Mr Depp: ‘You would supply Paul Bettany with whatever medication of controlled drugs he asked for, is that right?’
Mr Depp replied: ‘If he was feeling anxious or he was feeling unpleasant, I would give him what he asked for.’
Ms Wass asked: ‘You would give him cocaine?’
He replied: ‘Yes, ma’am.’
Depp on trashing a hotel while staying with supermodel Kate Moss
The court heard Depp had wrecked a New York hotel room in 1995 causing $10,000 worth of damage while his then-girlfriend, understood to have been Kate Moss, was present.
‘Why did you trash this room?’ Ms Wass asked.
‘It had been a particularly bad couple of days and that day turned out to be the… apex of an unpleasant time,’ Depp replied.
‘I asked you a little while earlier, I asked you if you thought you had problems with anger management?’ the lawyer asked.
‘I don’t. I was angry, doesn’t mean I have anger problems. I was expressing my anger,’ Depp responded.
‘Right, so just so we’re speaking the same language, you express your anger through destructive behaviour?’ Ms Wass said.
‘I have at times in my life,’ Depp replied.
‘Yes, and this was not the only time by any means was it?’ the QC asked.
‘No,’ came the reply.
‘I also express myself by laughing, I don’t have a humour problem.’
Asked what had thrown him into such a rage that he caused $10,000 worth of damage, he said: ‘I had a friend who had been a friend for a very long time and he had for lack of a better word screwed me over if you will.’
‘And your then-girlfriend was there. Did you consider at the time she might be rather frightened by that?’ the lawyer asked.
‘She was in the bedroom asleep,’ Depp claimed.
‘She slept through the whole thing?’ Ms Wass asked.
‘Yes,’ Depp replied.
Reading from an interview about the incident, Ms Wass said: ‘It says after a spat with his then-girlfriend. What was all that about? The suggestion of the interviewer is that you had a spat with your girlfriend.’
‘That was the assumption of the media at the time because it makes for better press doesn’t it, but rather than assaulting a human being I assaulted a couch,’ Depp replied.
Ms Barkin, who was asked whether Depp’s behaviour ‘seemed out of control’ while she gave evidence in a separate US libel trial Depp has brought against Heard, said: ‘He threw a wine bottle across the hotel room in Las Vegas while we were shooting Fear and Loathing.’
When asked if his behaviour changed when he used drink and drugs, the court heard Ms Barkin had said: ‘He was not the same, he was high.’
Depp recalls River Phoenix’s drug death
Depp recalled the night young starlet River Phoenix tragically died of a heroin overdose at the famous Viper Room nightclub he owned in West Hollywood’s Sunset Strip.
Ms Wass, acting for The Sun, said: ‘River Phoenix was a young actor who collapsed and died in your club.’
Depp replied: ‘He passed away on the sidewalk just inside my club, yes.
‘From what I understand River began to feel unpleasant, he began to sweat and he went out of the door and once out of the door he collapsed.’
Ms Wass said: ‘You’re surrounded I suggest by people who will never really say no to you.
‘They will do anything you ask including supplying drugs to you.’
The actor replied; ‘No. There are people who work for me and work with me.’
Speaking about his drug-addled past, Depp said his dark relationship with substances began when his mother asked him to pick up her ‘nerve pills’ and he took one
Johnny Depp today spoke about how he had taken ‘every drug under the sun’ by the age of 14. He was was speaking during the first day of an explosive libel trial in London involving his ex-wife Amber Heard in which he denied ever hitting her. Pictured: Depp in 1989
Depp claimed he had suffered pain from feeling unworthy of his celebrity status when questioned about a ‘nasty, angry side to his character.’
‘We see you now as very charming and polite and softly spoken, but there’s another side to you Mr Depp that isn’t so charming,’ the lawyer said.
‘I’m afraid that wouldn’t be for me to judge,’ he said.
Depp on spending $43,000 on wine
Ms Wass referred to Depp enjoying red wine ‘hugely’ and an interview in which he described as ‘nonsense’ that he spent around $43,000 on wine ‘because the truth is it was considerably more than that’.
Depp said ‘it was’, but pointed out that he did not drink all of that wine himself.
As both big screen stars arrived at the High Court on Tuesday, Heard walked in hand-in-hand with Australian lawyer Jennifer Robinson.
Ms Robinson previously represented Wikileaks found Julian Assange, appeared at the International Court of Justice and gave expert evidence at the UN and in Parliament.
Her areas of expertise are free speech and civil liberties, and she regularly advises newspapers on media law.