Court documents from the Depp-Heard trial have been unsealed. Here's what they say.

This post deals with allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault, and could be triggering for some readers.

The allegations of abuse between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp played out in the most public of ways.

Their latest court battle was an AU$68 million defamation case, brought by Depp, who claimed Heard defamed him in a December 2018 opinion piece in The Washington Post about being a survivor of domestic abuse. 

The article never mentioned Depp by name, but Depp's lawyer Benjamin Chew told jurors in May that it was clear Heard was referencing her ex-husband.

When their four-year relationship ended in divorce in May 2016, Heard obtained a temporary restraining order and alleged in a court declaration that Depp had been both verbally and physically abusive. 

In the six years since, there have been avalanches of allegations on both sides, and multiple lawsuits and trials which have seen the disturbing ins and outs of the relationship broadcast around the world.

After six weeks in court, lawyers for both Depp and Heard delivered their closing arguments to the jury. And after roughly 13 hours of deliberation, jurors returned a verdict in favour of Depp, with the actor awarded compensatory damages of $US10 million and a further $US5 million in punitive damages.

And this week, court documents from the Depp-Heard trial were unsealed, opening pandora's box.

Some quick context.

Depp and Heard met on the set of their 2011 film The Rum Diary, and began dating in 2012. They married in a 2015 civil ceremony.

In mid-2016, Heard filed for divorce from Depp.

At the time, court documents from the settlement were obtained by the press which revealed Heard was seeking a temporary restraining order against Depp, alleging she’d been subjected to verbal and physical abuse after a drunken argument in their LA apartment.

The court documents claimed that Depp "became extremely angry", throwing a phone at Heard, 36, hitting her cheek and eye "with extreme force".

Image: Getty. 

Depp, 58, vehemently denied the allegations – he still does – and no charges were laid.

In August 2016, the former couple settled their divorce and the domestic abuse case against Depp after Heard withdrew her request for a temporary restraining order.

"Our relationship was intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love," the former couple said in a statement.

As part of the settlement, Depp paid Heard US$7 million, which she split evenly between two charities.

In December 2018, The Washington Post published her op-ed about her experience with domestic abuse.

Though Heard didn't mention Depp by name, she gave insight into what happened when she became "a public figure representing domestic abuse", and how she was left to endure "the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out".

In early 2019, Depp sued Heard for US$50 million for defamation over the op-ed she wrote, which "depended on the central premise that Ms. Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr. Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her."

It is this suit that was being heard in Virginia.

It comes after Depp lost a similar defamation case in the UK, which he brought against the publishers of The Sun newspaper, News Group Newspapers.

An article also written in 2018 by The Sun's executive editor Dan Wootton referred to Depp as a "wife-beater" in the headline.

Following a 16-day trial in July 2021, a judge found the content of the article to be "substantially true".

The US defamation lawsuit.

Depp's multimillion dollar defamation lawsuit against Heard began in Virginia on April 11, 2022. 

Depp's lawyers say Heard's 2018 article falsely implied she was physically and sexually abused by Depp when they were married, even though it does not name him.

Depp said the accusations have made it difficult for him to get the roles he once did.

Depp's testimony.

For four days the actor underwent gruelling questioning from his and Heard's legal teams.

In concluding his statements, Depp's lawyer played an audio recording in which Heard suggested no one would believe Depp if he came forward with domestic violence allegations.

"Tell the world," Heard said on the recording. "Tell them, Johnny Depp — 'I Johnny Depp, a man, I am a victim too of domestic violence, and I know it's a fair fight,' and see how many people believe or side with you."

His lawyer then asked the actor if he was a victim of domestic violence.

"Yes, I am," he responded.

Throughout the four days, Depp stated that he never struck Heard and was challenging her accusations in part to protect his children from false information about his behaviour.

Depp said it was a "complete shock" about six years ago when Heard "made some quite heinous and disturbing" allegations that he became violent during their relationship.

"Never did I myself reach the point of striking Ms Heard in any way, nor have I ever struck any woman in my life," he said.

"I felt it my responsibility to stand up not only for myself in that instance but stand up for my children."

Johnny Depp outside London's High Court in July 2021. Image: Getty. His two children from a previous relationship were in high school at the time, he said.

"It's very strange when one day you're Cinderella so to speak, and then in 0.6 seconds you're Quasimodo. I didn't deserve that, nor did my children, nor did the people who believed in me for all these years. I didn't want any of those people to believe that I had done them wrong or lied to them or that I was a fraud. I pride myself on honesty.

"Truth is the only thing I'm interested in," he added.

He then recalled growing up surrounded by "constant" abuse from his mother, in the form of items like ashtrays or telephones being thrown around or used to beat him.

He also spoke about an opioid addiction after suffering a back injury from performing an action scene on 2011's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Graphic text messages.

During the trial, the court was shown text messages in which Depp used vulgar language and spelled out ways he wished he could get revenge against Heard, including an exchange between Depp and British actor Paul Bettany, where they discussed "burning" Heard and desecrating her corpse.

Elsewhere, he called Heard a "c***" and a "filthy whore".

Depp said his words embarrassed him.

"I am ashamed of some of the references made and embarrassed at the tone that in the heat of the moment, the heat of the pain I was feeling, went to dark places," he said. 

"Sometimes pain has to be dealt with humour, and sometimes dark very dark humour."

In another text, he wrote he had "fucked up and went too far in our fight", though he denied that was a reference to physical violence.

Depp was questioned about drug use.

Heard's lawyer, J. Benjamin Rottenborn, also showed the jury one of Depp's texts to Bettany in 2014 in which he referenced whiskey, pills and cocaine.

The texts were sent around the time of a private flight from Boston to Los Angeles, during which Heard had said that Depp became blackout intoxicated and assaulted her.

But Rottenborn also showed the jury Depp's expressions of contrition following the flight.

"Once again I find myself in a place of shame and regret," Depp wrote to Heard.

"Of course, I am sorry. I really don't know why, or what happened. But I will never do it again ... My illness somehow crept up and grabbed me ... I must get better. And I will. For us both. Starting today. I love you. Again, I am so sorry. So sorry." 

Depp also confirmed he has done drugs with disgraced rock singer Marilyn Manson.

Depp claimed Heard threw a bottle, severing his finger.

Depp told the court part of this finger was severed when Heard threw a vodka bottle at him during an argument in 2015. Heard has denied the claim. 

"She threw the large bottle, and it made contact [with his hand] and shattered everywhere," Depp testified.

"I don’t know what a nervous breakdown feels like but that’s probably the closest I’ve ever been. Nothing made sense, and I knew in my mind and in my heart, this is not life. This is not life. No one should have to go through this."

Audio documents abuse claims.

In audio played for the jury, Heard acknowledged "hitting" Depp during a fight.

"I was hitting you, not punching you," she was heard telling Depp. "You're a f***ing baby. You are such a baby. Grow the f*** up."

In another clip, Heard told Depp she had broken up with him "a f***ing week prior after you beat the sh*t out of me".

"I made a huge mistake," he responded, though it is not clear what he was referring to.

A psychologist testified on Heard's health.

With Depp's testimony concluded, his team brought forward a forensic psychologist who testified that Heard has borderline personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder.

The psychologist, Shannon Curry, said she reached her diagnosis during 12 hours of interviews with Heard, as well as from reviewing her mental health records.

Curry also testified that Heard did not suffer post-traumatic stress disorder from her relationship with Depp, as Heard had claimed.

The two personality disorders were similar, Curry said. Borderline personality was a disease of instability, she said "driven by an underlying fear of abandonment". She said people with the disorder "will make desperate attempts to prevent that from happening".

Histrionic personality disorder, Curry said, was associated with "drama and shallowness," and a need to be the centre of attention.

On cross-examination, Heard's lawyers questioned Curry for potential bias, noting she had dinner and drinks with Depp and his lawyers at Depp's house before she was hired. 

Actor Johnny Depp leaves the courtroom at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Va., Thursday, May 19, 2022. Image: Shawn Thew/Pool Photo via AP.

Heard's testimony.

Heard then took to the stand to provide her testimony.

The day prior, Heard's first witness, psychologist Dawn Hughes, testified in court that Depp tried to rape Heard. Hughes also said Heard was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a claim that was refuted by Depp's witness, psychologist Curry. Hughes acknowledged Depp suffered verbal and physical trauma from Heard.

In Heard's opening remarks, she spoke of the pain of reliving the alleged abuse.

"I struggle to find the words to describe how painful this is," she said.

"This is horrible for me to sit here for weeks and relive everything, to hear people that I knew, some well, some not, my ex-husband with whom I shared a life, speak about our lives in the way they have.

"This has been one of the most painful and difficult things I’ve ever gone through, for sure."

She then went on to describe her upbringing.

"I would help [my dad] - I was a crash test dummy - when you train a horse, a wild animal, they don't necessarily like to be ridden. There are people out there crazy enough to pick that as a profession.

"I was the son he never had, so it was my job to stay on. With training horses I guess the key things are to not show fear, not get intimidated, be tough and stay calm."

Heard describes her first meeting with Depp.

The pair met in 2009 on the set of Rum Diary in Puerto Rico.

"We talked about books and music, poetry. We like a lot of the same stuff. Obscure writers and interesting books and pieces of poetry I haven't heard anyone else know or reference or like. He was really well-read and charismatic," Heard testified.

"I knew who he was. I wasn’t a fan of his work. I wasn’t familiar with him, but I knew who he was. I knew he was one of the most famous people in the world.

"It was weird, because he’s twice my age and this famous actor, and here we are getting along about old books and the blues. I thought it was unusual and remarkable. I left there feeling like, 'wow.'"

The development of their relationship.

It was after they shared their first on-screen kiss that their romantic relationship began to develop.

"We didn't have a whole lot of interaction until we did a scene that involved kissing. It didn't feel like a normal scene anymore, it felt more real - there are certain things you do in the job to be professional," Heard said.

"Like when you do that sort of scene, you don't use your tongue if you can avoid it, you maintain a certain line - but it felt like those lines were blurred. He pulled me in and really kissed me."

Heard described an instance where they were in Depp's trailer.

"I’m going to get back to set and he kind of kicked his foot up in the air and lifted the back of my bathrobe up. He picked up the back of my robe with his boot. I didn't know what to make of it."

She said Depp playfully pushed her on the bed and said, "Yum."

This is important because Depp's testimony had Heard as the one who initiated the relationship with a kiss in his trailer.

While there was "chemistry" during filming, nothing else happened between them, Heard testified. It was during the press tour in 2011 that things escalated.

They met in Depp's hotel room at the start of the press tour. "It felt like there was an electricity. He grabbed both sides of my face. He kissed me and I kissed him back," she said. "It was on, I'll put it that way."

Heard testified that their relationship was kept a secret because he was in the middle of a separation from his wife, Vanessa Paradis.

"I felt like this man knew me and saw me in a way that nobody else had. He made me feel seen, made me feel like a million dollars. That kind of feeling where he just lavished gifts, lavished expressions of love, and how he’d never met a woman like me," Heard said.

"I remember he took the foil off of this bottle and put it on my ring finger, and I had only been with him, like, days, maybe it was weeks at the time. It just felt very intense."

Heard recounted the first time Depp allegedly hit her.

After testifying to a mostly loving relationship with Depp, Heard said he began to change after he started drinking again. He had previously abstained from drinking due to health issues.

Heard said the first time Depp hit her was when she asked what his "Wino Forever" tattoo said. [The tattoo was modified from "Winona Forever" years ago after he and Winona Ryder parted ways.]

"I just laughed, because I thought he was joking. And he slapped me across the face. And I laughed. I laughed, because I didn’t know what else to do. I thought, 'This must be a joke.'"

She said he slapped her again and said, "You think you're a funny b**ch." 

Heard then said he slapped her a third time, and she fell off the couch and onto the carpet.

"I will never forget it. It changed my life," she said.

"I didn't want to have the man I was in love with, I know you don't come back from that. I'm not dumb. I knew it was wrong, and I knew that I had to leave him. And that's what broke my heart, because I didn't want to leave him."

Accusations of infidelity.

Heard said she confided in her mother about the alleged abuse. "At first I just wanted someone to talk to about how scary it was. The rage and the uncontrolled violence," she said.

"I felt safe talking to my mom, because I knew she understood these dynamics and she wouldn't judge me for staying with him, for loving him, even though this was happening."

She recounted a fight with Depp that occurred in 2013. He allegedly became jealous about a picture her ex-partner had made for her and accused her of infidelity.

"He wasn't making sense. He seemed to decide that the painting was an affair he couldn't forgive me for," Heard said.

"In these arguments, me walking away is [what he would consider] me leaving him. It went from that to pulling me in by my arm. I was trying to defuse the situation by telling him I'm not sleeping with that person."

Heard testified that Depp backhanded her during March 2013 as they fought numerous times about infidelity. She said that since he wore many rings on his hand, the slap felt like her "teeth went into her lip and a little blood spattered onto the wall."

Explanation of bruise on arm.

Heard was asked by her team to describe an image shown to the court of her with a bruised arm. She said she sent the photo to her mum after an incident where Depp hit her.

"He grabbed me by the arm and kind of just held me on the floor screaming at me. I don't know how many times he hit me in the face," she said.

"I remember being on the floor of my apartment, and I remember thinking, 'How could this happen to me again?'"

Heard claimed Depp conducted a cavity search on her.

Heard testified that during a trip with friends in May 2013 in the desert, Depp accused her of stealing cocaine and performed a cavity search.

Heard alleged that Depp screamed at her and accused her of having an affair with a woman who was "touching her". She said the woman was just feeling the effects of the drug MDMA. 

"I went into the bathroom and as I come out, he asked me where it and how long I'd been hiding it," Heard said. She told him she did not know what he was talking about. Heard testified he then patted her down and ripped the front of her dress and underwear.

"He proceeds to do a cavity search. He said he was looking for his drugs - his cocaine, his coke. I was wondering how I, somebody who didn't do cocaine and was against it," she said.

"How could I, why would I hide his drugs? Like he was insinuating I was doing it or something?"

Heard wanted to leave Depp.

In her testimony, Heard said she wanted to leave Depp as their relationship deteriorated.

"In June, I wanted to leave him - I didn't want to leave. I wanted to want to leave him. I wanted him to get better. And he expressed to me so many times when he was in that period of getting clean and sober: 'You saved my life. Baby girl, you saved my life.' Everyone else is saying that to me, and I believed it," she said.

"I looked at that man - twice my age; I was 25 - looking at this man, I saw hope and, like, promise. I had so much hope.

"The whole thing, kids and growing old together... If it was just for this one thing he could do, which would save his life: to get clean and sober."

Depp threatened to "kill" Heard.

According to Heard, Depp threatened to kill her while they were in the Bahamas on a holiday with his children because Depp thought she was telling his kids about his addiction issues.

"He slams me up by my neck and holds me there for a second and tells me that he could f***ing kill me and that I was an embarrassment," she said.

Amber Heard during her testimony. Image: Getty. 

Heard alleged Depp argued about James Franco.

During a flight from Boston to Los Angeles, Heard said Depp was mad at her for filming The Adderall Diaries with James Franco in 2014.

"He hated, hated James Franco and he was already accusing me of kind of secretly having a thing with him in my past because we had done Pineapple Express together," she said.

She also testified that on the flight, while she attempted to walk away, Depp kicked her "in the back".

"I caught myself on the floor… I thought to myself, 'I don't know what to do'," Heard said. "I can't believe he just, he just kicked me."

She told the court she was embarrassed that he would do that in front of others, and those present "did nothing".

Heard alleged being sexually assaulted in Australia.

Heard said she visited Depp in Australia in early 2015, about a month after their wedding, when he was filming the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

On their first evening together, a planned dinner at the house Depp was renting turned into an argument, Heard said. Depp, who she said was drinking and using drugs, pushed her against the refrigerator and held her there by her throat.

Heard said she freed herself and retreated upstairs for a while, coming back later in her nightgown to find Depp still awake. She said she tried to get him to eat since they had never had their dinner, but he was "belligerent" and threw bottles that broke around her.

Depp took one of the bottles and inserted it into her vagina, she said.

"He was shoving it inside of me over and over again," said Heard, who looked down, shook her head and sobbed as she described the encounter. 

She said she kept thinking that she hoped the bottle was not one of the ones that was broken.

During the assault, Depp repeatedly said "I'll f***ing kill you," she told the jury.

"I was scared," she added. "I had just married him."

She recalled waking up the next day to the sound of Marilyn Manson music playing and discovered blood on the wall and later realised that Depp had injured his finger.

Photos of the writing and blood were shown in court.

"You could see where it looked like he ran out of blood, because the markings became clearly letters ... like, I could see where he had clearly run out of blood or wasn't bleeding enough and went and got paint," she said. "You could see both."

Heard said she hit Depp in defence of her sister.

Heard said the first time she "landed one" on Depp in a fight was in defence of her younger sister, Whitney.

During an argument, she retreated to the top floor of their apartment with her sister when Depp "bolted" up the stairs and grabbed the back of her head, Heard said.

"I just remember this brief struggle we had," she said. "Whitney, my sister, all of a sudden put herself in between."

Heard said that she saw Depp raise his hand to assault her and was scared her sister would fall down the stairs, so she "swung at him".

"In all my relationship to date with Johnny, I hadn't landed a blow. ... For the first time I hit him, like actually hit him square in the face. But he didn't push my sister down the stairs."

Heard said she had previously fought back at Depp, flailing her limbs and trying to block any blows, but never once "landed anything."

"Johnny kind of looked stunned and then laughed at me," Heard said. "And then he hit me again."

Heard said the abuse began earlier than what she previously testified.

Heard told the court the alleged abuse started in 2012, not 2013 as she had previously stated. She recalled the earlier abuse after reading through her therapy notes.

"I'm embarrassed to say I think I would have liked to believe that the period of time in which I fell in love with Johnny, in which we fell in love and he was sober and he wasn't violent to me, lasted longer than it did," Heard said.

"You know, we were together for five years, almost four and a half. And it was very chaotic at times — a very loving, emotional relationship. So as anyone can imagine, there was a lot going on, and unfortunately the violence became normal."

Heard alleged Depp assaulted her on their honeymoon.

In 2015, while on their honeymoon on board the Orient Express train journey, Heard claims Depp assaulted her after they argued about him wanting her permission to break his sobriety.

"It was a small narrow sleeper car, and there were two beds, one on each side. He had me up against the wall while he's standing on the floor in between the beds, and I was on the bed kind of half kneeling, half standing, trying to get his arms off my neck. And he was squeezing my neck against the railway car for what felt like a very long time," she testified. 

According to Heard, Depp would sometimes cause self-inflicted injuries.

"I almost called 911 in New York in August of 2014. I believe because I thought he had done himself an injury," Heard said. "In fights he often would cut his arms or hold his knife to his chest or draw blood superficially at first, but later in 2016 as our relationship was ending... Oh, he also put cigarettes out on himself."

Depp had previously testified that Heard put out a cigarette on his face.

Heard asked Depp not to record her.

In a brief audio played out at court, Heard asks Depp to stop recording her without her knowledge.

"You had trouble with me before when you said to me that you didn't feel like you were told I was recording you. So please stop. Please stop," Heard said on the audio.

Depp's reply is inaudible. Then he says, "... what I'm saying before you keep making demands. You are not a schoolteacher. Shut the f**k up. Listen to me, and then you can f***ing respond. Understand? You ain't nobody's f***ing mum. You ain't no schoolteacher. Don't pretend to be f***ing authoritative with me. You don't f***ing exist."

Explanation of viral audio tape.

An audio of Depp and Heard arguing has long since been part of the public domain, and many people point to it as proof Heard is the abuser.

"I was hitting you. I was not punching you. Babe, you're not punched," Heard says on the tape.

"Don't tell me what it feels like to be punched," Depp replies.

On the stand, Heard was asked to explain what was happening in the clip. She said she was addressing the difference between their physicality when they fought. 

Heard said Depp "proactively" hit her and she "reactively" hit him back. 

She alleged the audio referred to a time she locked herself in a bedroom and hit Depp when she tried to get out.

"I hit his arms, his body as he was trying to prevent me from closing the door. I knew what he would do to me when he got to the other side... Even if he wasn’t twice my size, they’re very different [actions], and that’s what I’m pointing out to him," Heard testified.

Testimony over human faeces in bed.

Depp previously testified that Heard had left human faeces in their bed after an argument.

Heard said the excrement was from one of their dogs with a history of health issues.

After a month away from each other, the pair met up when Depp's mother passed away. He accused her of having her friends prank him with the faeces.

"I tried to point out how that didn't make sense. My friends wouldn't do that. That's not something a bunch of 30-year-old women think is funny. What is he talking about? And he just kept going on and on about it," Heard said.

She testified that after Depp began screaming at her and grabbed her by the head, a neighbour named Raquel intervened and tried to calm Depp.

"He hit both of her arms... and barreled towards me," Heard said. "I instinctively curl up on the couch, and I just feel her arms come around me."

After the fight, Heard filed a temporary restraining order. When police arrived at the apartment, she didn't name Depp, fearing they would arrest him.

"I didn’t want this to come out. I didn’t want him to be in trouble. I wanted to protect Johnny," she said.

Heard’s attorneys showed photos of the apartment and bruising on Heard's face during her testimony.

She explained she attempted to resolve the issues in their marriage by attending AA and going to therapy, but ultimately felt they should part ways. 

"I knew I wouldn't survive it if I didn't, so I filed for divorce," she said. "The person I was scared of was also the person I was in love with. I really didn’t want to leave him. I loved him so much, but I couldn’t do that one thing. I couldn’t stay."

Explanation of make-up kit.

Previously, Heard's attorney held up a Milani Cosmetics colour-correcting palette and claimed Heard used it to cover up bruises left by Depp.

However, Milani Cosmetics revealed its Conceal + Perfect All-in-One Correcting Kit was not released until December 2017, which is a year after Heard filed for a temporary restraining order.

Heard testified on Monday that she used something similar to the palette.

"This is what I was talking about as a colour correction kit. This is not, obviously, the exact one I used to carry, but I used to carry with me all the time," she said.

"The idea is that you want to counteract whatever colour you're working with on the bruise. So the first day of bruising, well the immediate is red. The red is what shows up right away. So you want to go with the opposite on the colour wheel by dabbing on a bit of the green or something to counteract the red."

Heard alleged Depp threatened to ruin her career.

In her testimony, Heard said she never wanted to be framed as a victim and never intended to go to the police.

"I didn't want this to go to a prosecutor," she said. "I didn't want this to hurt Johnny. I don't want this to hurt Johnny."

She alleged Depp called her a liar in the media and said that no one would work with her again.

"I would be selling [adult diapers] Depends is what he said and that he'd ruin my career," Heard recalled.

"All I have is my integrity," she continued. "All I have is my name, and that's what he agreed to take from me."

Heard said The Washington Post op-ed was about raising awareness.

The 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post, which does not mention Depp by name but which he says is obviously about him - hence the defamation suit - was about raising awareness, according to Heard.

"It's not about Johnny. The only one who thought it was about Johnny was Johnny," she said.

"It's about me. It's about what happened to me after Johnny. It's about what happened to me after I escaped my marriage. It was about me and my life and what I endured."

Heard maintained she sought legal advice before the op-ed was published and that she hadn't written the headlines for it.

She went on to address why she filed a countersuit, discussing media articles from organisations like the Daily Mail, which stated her abuse was a hoax.

"This is what I lived through, and to say that it's a hoax, that these aren't even real things. I mean, after everything I've lived through and everything I survived... I hadn't even spoke about the sexual abuse within my marriage. I didn't want to talk about that ever," Heard said.

Asked to speak about the emotional impact about accusations she had lied, she said, "It's torture. It's torturous. No one should have to do that. I want to move on with my life. I have a baby. I want to move on. I want Johnny to move on, too. I want him to leave me alone."

She noted she had to keep re-living the traumatic events.

"Embarrassing, intimate details that I never wanted to be known, never wanted to be public ever, and to have them used every single day to call me a liar. I have to relive this every single day that I have to address those claims."

Heard's reduced role in Aquaman 2.

Heard stated that her role as Mera in the second instalment of Aquaman, titled Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, was reduced after her abuse allegations were labelled a hoax.

"I was given a script and then given new versions of the script that had scenes that had action in it, that depicted my character and another character, without giving any spoilers away... they basically took a bunch out of my role," Heard testified.

Amber Heard. Image: Elizabeth Frantz/Pool Photo via AP.

Cross-examination of Amber Heard.

No visible signs of injury.

Depp's attorney showed Heard pictures of her after the alleged abuse, and asked whether she could see any visible signs of injury.

"None that you can see," Heard said. She testified she was wearing make-up in several of the photos and had used ice to reduce swelling.

The attorney played audio where Heard tells Depp he should tell the world he was a DV victim and it was a fair fight.

"I said that to the man who beat me up, yes, I thought it was preposterous," she said.

"And the man you beat up numerous times?" The attorney asked.

"I could never hurt Johnny," Heard said.

When asked about medical records from December 17, 2015, Heard said she didn't believe the document showed a record of injuries and that she didn't get into the specifics of her injuries with the doctor.

"I think this medical record is missing a lot of things," she said.

Heard's charity donations.

Heard had admitted earlier in her testimony that she had not yet donated the entirety of her $7 million divorce settlement to the American Civil Liberties Union and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, the two charities she had pledged to donate to.

She testified this was due to being sued by Depp for $50 million, but that she will resume donations in the future.

Depp's attorney accused her of wanting to keep the money for herself.

"You're very wrong about that," Heard said.

The couple's time in Australia.

Heard was first asked about a knife she gifted Depp in 2012.

"That's the knife you gave to the man who was hitting you, right?" Vasquez asked, showing the knife in question.

Vasquez then questioned Heard about the former couple's time in Australia and the sequence of events that played out, including when Depp allegedly severed the tip of his finger after Heard threw a vodka bottle at him (according to Depp's testimony) or when Depp severed the tip of his own finger after smashing a wall-mounted phone (according to Heard's testimony).

"I have never claimed that I can remember the exact sequence. This was a multi-day assault that took place over three horrible days," Heard responded.

Vasquez asked Heard whether she was scared of Depp while they were in Australia.

"I have a mixed relationship with Johnny; one in which I'm scared, one in which I love him very much," Heard testified. "This is a man who tried to kill me, of course it’s scary. He’s also my husband."

Depp's lawyer alleged Heard got the Aquaman role due to Depp.

Vasquez played another audio for the court, where Heard and Depp argue about their careers, and Heard calls Depp a "sellout" and "washed up piece of s**t".

Heard said she was responding to Depp's criticisms of her career, and admitted they spoke badly to each other during their relationship.

"Mr. Depp got you that role in Aquaman, didn't he?" Vasquez asked.

"No, Ms. Vasquez, I got myself that role by auditioning," Heard replied.

Tweeting the op-ed article.

Depp's attorney questioned Heard's tweeting of the 2018 op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post. The online headline (which Heard testified she did not write) read: "I spoke up about sexual violence - and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change."

Heard said she did not notice the headline when she tweeted it.

"You didn't need to include the link to the electronic version of the op-ed in your tweet, did you?" Vasquez asked.

"How else would I have linked it?" Heard said. "I couldn't attach it with a paper clip."

Vasquez maintained there was no need to link the article to the post.

"The goal was to tweet about it and provide a link so that people could read it," Heard said.

Depp's attorney also brought up an article that accused her of hitting an ex-girlfriend at the airport.

Heard said she had not hit her ex-girlfriend.

In a redirect by Heard's lawyer, Heard was asked whether her ex-girlfriend made a public statement denying the allegation of abuse.

"Of course she did," Heard said.

Testimonies from third parties.

Since the testimonies and cross-examinations from both sides closed, it was time for testimonies from third parties. First up was iO Tillett Wright, who was close friends with Heard at the time that she was with Depp.

iO Tillet Wright's testimony.

Wright described how he became friends with the former couple, describing Depp as "lovely and magical, very funny when sober." 

Wright claimed he stopped being friends with Depp in December 2015.

"The substances I saw him ingest with my own eyes were: cocaine and hard liquor, marijuana, ecstasy, mushrooms, wine, probably some other things, but those are the immediate ones that jump to mind. Cocaine and any kind of alcohol would bring out a very, very ugly side of him, very misogynistic and cruel," Wright testified.

Wright said Depp had previously told him he "experienced great bouts of jealousy in relationships" with his former partners, including Kate Moss and Winona Ryder.

Wright testified he would provide counsel to Depp over the couple's relationship.

He said Depp spoke to him in 2014 about Heard being unfaithful.

"I said, 'Listen, you know, I know her I think pretty well, and I talked to her a lot. I think if she was having an affair, I would be one of the very few people that she would tell. I don't hold secrets or lies for anyone'," Wright claimed.

Wright said Depp told him his jealousy would "make him feel crazy and outside of himself". 

After Heard and Depp's flight from Boston to LA in May 2014 - where Heard alleges Depp kicked her in the back - Depp told Wright he did not remember getting off the plane or anything about the abuse.

"He swore up and down that he was going to stop drinking and taking drugs and he would never do it again," Wright said.

Wright then said Depp made a remark about punching Heard.

"As we were walking back from the ceremony [Depp and Heard's wedding in 2015], I was walking with Johnny and congratulating him that they pulled it off, that they did it. And he said, 'We’re married now. I can punch her in the face and nobody can do anything about it.'"

Wright testified he witnessed several arguments between the pair, but did not see any physical altercation.

"I saw Mr. Depp throw glasses and dishware on at least two occasions, which I would characterise as violent," he said.

Rachel Pennington's testimony.

A former close friend of Heard’s, Rachel Pennington, described how her relationship with Heard changed over the years.

"I wouldn't consider her a friend [today]. We don't speak. We're not enemies," Pennington said.

Pennington testified to having an argument with Heard, in which Pennington pushed Heard and Heard pushed her back.

Pennington then described going on holiday with the former couple to the desert. She was not present when an argument broke out between Heard and Depp, but she was told about it later.

The morning after the alleged fight, Pennington noted that there was a "general disarray" inside the trailer where Heard and Depp were staying. 

Kate Moss' testimony.

Depp's former girlfriend, British supermodel Kate Moss, gave evidence in court via video link from her English home in Gloucestershire, about an alleged incident where Depp caught her after she slipped down a set of stairs while on holiday in Jamaica.

"We were leaving the room, and Johnny left the room before I did, and there had been a rainstorm. As I left the room, I slid down the stairs and I hurt my back," Moss told Depp's attorney Benjamin Chew before the court.

"I screamed because I didn’t know what had happened to me and I was in pain. He came running back to help me and carried me to my room and got me medical attention," she added.

Moss said Depp had not pushed her down the stairs. 

When asked if, at any point in their relationship, he had pushed her in that way, Moss told Chew: "No."

"He never pushed me, kicked me or threw me down any stairs, no," she said.

Heard’s attorneys declined to cross-examine Moss, and the model was told she was free to go.

Closing arguments.

Both Heard and Depp's lawyers then delivered their final appeals to the jury.

Depp's team painted him as a victim, claiming Heard's allegations of physical, sexual and psychological abuse are not only false but have destroyed his career and reputation. 

While Heard’s team called Depp "a monster" who not only abused his ex-wife, but continued an ongoing smear campaign after Heard filed for divorce. 

"In Mr. Depp’s world, you don’t leave Mr. Depp," Heard's lawyer said. "If you do, he will start a campaign of global humiliation against you."

Depp's team's closing argument.

Delivering their closing argument first, Depp's team claimed Heard is a "deeply troubled person" who sought revenge on him. 

"You either believe all of it or none of it," Camille Vasquez told the jury on Friday morning.

"Either Ms Heard was sexually assaulted (by Depp) with a bottle in Australia... or she’s a woman who is willing to say absolutely anything.

"What Ms Heard testified to in this courtroom is a story of far too many women, but what the weight of evidence shows, is that it’s not Ms Heard’s story."

"It was a performance," she added.

Vasquez also delivered one final blow to the actress.

"You may have noticed that no one showed up for Ms Heard in this courtroom other than her sister," she said.

"Every other witness who travelled to Virginia for her was a paid expert."

"This is a woman who burns bridges. Her close friends don't show up for her," she added.

Vasquez then addressed Heard's lawyer's claim that all of Depp's witnesses to his case were "on his payroll".

"Kate Moss is most definitely not on Mr Depp's payroll," Vasquez said, referring to her testimony days earlier.

Heard's team's closing argument.

Following Vasquez, Heard's lawyer, Benjamin Rottenborn, took his chance to remind the jury of the violent acts the actor has been accused of.

"If Amber was abused by Mr Depp even one time, then she wins," Mr Rottenborn said.

"We’re not just talking about physical abuse, we’re talking about emotional abuse, physical, financial abuse, sexual abuse."

While Depp appears to have an overwhelming amount of public support, Rottenborn pointed out that even if both of the individuals abused each other, Heard still wins.

"It’s not about who’s the better spouse," he said.

"It’s not about whether you think Ms. Heard may have been abusive to Mr. Depp. If you think they were both abusive to each other then Amber wins."

The verdict.

After roughly 13 hours of deliberation, jurors returned a verdict in favour of Depp, with the actor awarded compensatory damages of $US10 million and a further $US5 million in punitive damages.

Court documents are unsealed.

Over the weekend, more than 6,000 pages of court documents in the Depp v. Heard trial were unsealed. 

These documents – which have been viewed by The Daily Beast – have shed new light on the case. Here are the biggest revelations. 

Depp's team allegedly tried to submit Heard's nudes and time as an exotic dancer into evidence.

Heard's team argued to the judge that some of the evidence that Team Depp were trying to submit were "irrelevant personal matters". These included nude pictures of Heard, her brief experience as an exotic dancer years before she met Depp and also Depp's attempt to suggest or imply that Heard was at one time an escort.

Heard was determined to leave the marriage, even if it meant losing "millions".

The court documents reveal that during the former couple's divorce proceedings, Heard's lawyers begged her to reconsider her decision to walk away from the marriage. They knew that if Heard stayed, she would be entitled to "tens of millions of dollars" because Depp was set to earn over $33 million from his latest Pirates of the Caribbean instalment – money Heard would be entitled to if she stayed, under spousal privilege. But she said, "this is not about the money". The judge rejected any evidence related to the divorce proceedings. 

Depp said he was not "alleging harm" from Heard.

During the trial, Depp's team made it very clear they were arguing that Heard had caused harm towards Depp in their relationship. But according to an unsealed motion by Depp's team, they opposed a mental examination of Depp. 

The reason for this was because they said "Depp is not alleging harm based on a specific physical or mental injury". Depp's team further said: "Mr. Depp does not claim that Ms. Heard's actions caused him to experience unusually severe emotional distress."

Depp's photos and audio submitted into evidence were accused of being "modified".

Heard's team had argued that metadata from photos and audio submitted by Depp as evidence in the case showed signs of being "modified" or edited. 

It was then alleged that Depp only submitted the modified versions of his metadata into evidence – the original files left out. Heard's team retained Julian Ackert, a forensic expert at iDiscovery Solutions, who declared under penalty of perjury that he'd reviewed the metadata of Depp's submitted evidence and found "anomalies that call into question the authenticity of the multimedia documents." But Ackert later testified in court that photos Heard submitted of her bruised face were originals.

Depp did not want his association with Marilyn Manson mentioned.

Although it was briefly mentioned in the court that Depp had once done drugs with Manson, Depp's team fought hard to exclude any "references to and evidence regarding Marilyn Manson". They argued it would "smear Mr. Depp under a guilty by association theory".

An ex-girlfriend's evidence Depp's team fought to exclude.

Depp's legal team allegedly fought to convince the court to exclude the testimony of actress Ellen Barkin, who had claimed Depp angrily threw a bottle in her direction while they were dating.

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.

This article was originally published on April 20, 2022 and was updated on May 18, 2022 and May 28, 2022. It was also updated on August 1, 2022 with new information. 

- With AAP.

Feature Image: Getty/Mamamia.