After seven long weeks, the end has come
It's almost over.
The court case that has been so much more than claims, counterclaims, and evidence.
It's been pure entertainment. A soap opera. Drama. Psychological thriller - a car crash, from start to finish. And an absolute tragedy as a couple sifted through the heartache, humiliations, hurt, and hatred of a love that burned out years ago, to an audience of
hundreds of millions who were absolutely transfixed.
Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard.
Here's what happened inside and outside the court and the key takeaways you need to know before the verdict is revealed.
Abuse allegations
The most serious allegations Heard has made against Depp are that on several occasions he physically and sexually abused her.
During a
week of emotional testimony, Heard broke down as she detailed one alleged incident when Depp allegedly
"penetrated" her with a bottle.
She told the court: "My back was on the countertop. I thought he was punching me. I felt this pressure on my pubic bone and I could feel his arm moving. It looked like he was punching me. I could just feel this pressure."
https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetwork/status/1522298236983205890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1522298236983205890%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.co.uk%2Fnews%2Famber-heard-breaks-down-as-she-claims-johnny-depp-sexually-assaulted-her-with-a-bottle-334022
During another alleged incident, Depp was said to have
performed a cavity search on her for cocaine.
The actress also detailed the ferocity of rage Depp would display when he got jealous, recounting one incident involving a flight attendant on a plane to Russia.
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Heard also
spoke about the first time Depp allegedly hit her, and one incident
in which she thought he may kill her.
Two actors and a 'performance' of a life time
In response to Heard's days of testimony, Depp's lawyers did not hold back, saying she had delivered "
the performance of her life" on the stand and suggested her testimony had "continued to grow new and convenient details".
Heard's team hit back, saying that Depp's defamation claim was "falling apart so rapidly that his counsel are turning from prosecutor to persecutor".
https://twitter.com/Angenette5/status/1522378989851004930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1522378989851004930%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.co.uk%2Fnews%2Famber-heard-testimony-334055
'Fake evidence and fake injuries '
Jurors saw several pictures of Heard with bruises on her face and body that she claims she suffered at the hands of Depp and she claimed to have had to carry around a '
bruise kit' to cover up injuries.
Depp denies ever having assaulted Heard, and his team have accused the
Aquaman star of editing her injury photos.
Metadata expert Bryan Neumeister told the court on Wednesday that analytics of several pictures showed that the software for the file was rendered in an editing programme.
https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetwork/status/1529557892134838273
He testified that there was "no way for any forensic expert to validate these photos," and said that he believed several photographs were "modified."
Depp's attorney
Camille Vasquez also accused Heard of editing injury photos, suggesting that she had "enhanced the saturation from one of these photos" to make herr face look "more red."
Heard denies this.
Read more: Amber Heard could face jail over claims she 'edited injury photos' at Johnny Depp trial, legal expert suggests
Affairs, affairs, and more affairs
Throughout the trial, Heard was accused of having various affairs with other celebrities whilst married with James Franco,
Eddie Redmayne, and Elon Musk's names being mentioned.
Depp admitted earlier in the trial that he believed Heard was having an affair with
Franco. And other witnesses have testified that they believe Heard may have been
in a relationship with Musk whilst she was still trying to reconcile her marriage with Depp.
https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetwork/status/1517179703093772290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1517179703093772290%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.co.uk%2Fentertainment%2Fjohnny-depp-amber-heard-james-franco-affair-331768
Heard and Musk did date after her divorce from Depp having met at the Met Gala. She did not speak highly of the union, saying that she "felt nothing" and her
"soul was dead."
But speaking of Musk...
Heard charity donations
A key part of Depp's team's case was to discredit Heard's evidence and credibility which took a large blow when she admitted that she had not followed through with a pledge to donate her divorce settlement to charity.
A few days ago, the CEO of an art charity claimed that a $250,000 donation Heard said she made to them
actually came from Elon Musk.
This came after Heard admitted to the court earlier in the trial that she
never fulfilled a pledge to donate her full $7 million divorce settlement from Depp to two charities. She had told a High Court that she had.
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A whole host of weird witnesses
While Heard's accusations were graphic and often hard to stomach, the trial hasn't been without its lighter moments. And there were plenty, as the video below illustrates.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqlyajZ0ivc&t=1s
And right near the end of the trial we were treated to this eccentric guy,
https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetwork/status/1528776903900938240
Kate Moss
A number of friends and acquaintances of Depp and Heard have taken the stand throughout the trial. But the most recognisable name to testify in the case was Kate Moss, and what she had to say was significant.
On several occasions, the court heard about an alleged incident where Depp was said to have pushed Moss down a flight of stairs while they were on holiday in Jamaica.
Heard
herself mentioned this, prompting an almost-celebratory reaction from Depp's team.
https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetwork/status/1522652627573608450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1522652627573608450%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.co.uk%2Fentertainment%2Flip-readers-johnny-depps-lawyer-celebrated-kate-moss-mention-335475
When
Moss testified earlier this week, she denied ever being abused by Depp during their relationship and said the stairs incident never happened. In fact, Depp, she said, has come to her rescue.
"And as I left the room I slipped down the stairs and I hurt my back. And I screamed because I didn't know what had happened to me and I was in pain. And he (Depp) came running back to help me. And carried me to my room. And got me medical attention."
https://twitter.com/cathyrusson/status/1529453854693109761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1529453854693109761%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.co.uk%2Fentertainment%2Fkate-moss-denies-amber-heard-claim-that-johnny-depp-pushed-her-down-staircase-in-jamaica-338194
The everyday impact of the case
In the final days of the trial, both Depp and Heard gave deeply personal accounts of how the toxic relationship and the trial had affected them.
Heard told the court she has received "hundreds" of death threats daily, and described the trial as "horrible" and "humiliating for any human being to go through."
On Thursday, the actress said people "want to put my baby in the microwave," and that she "wakes up screaming."
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She said: "Perhaps it's easy to forget, but I am a human being.
"As I stand here today, I can't have a career. I can't even have people associate with me because of the threats and the attacks that they will have to endure."
Meanwhile, Depp has told the court that he is glad his mum "didn't get to read any of this," claiming that he has been shunned by his family because of the trial and allegations of abuse.
While the trial has taken weeks to play out, and at times seemed overly complicated, the New Yorker reminded its readers this week that it wasn't particularly complicated at all. In fact, boiled down to
just 12 words.
The case was sparked by an op-ed Heard wrote in the Washington Post in 2018. It did not mention Depp by name, but he believes it inferred that he had abused her, so sued for defamation.
"Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse," Heard wrote.
Now a jury must decide.
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