Audio Recordings Released Ahead of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Legal Battle Prompts #JusticeForJohnnyDepp To Trend

Feb 05, 2020

Posted by: Emma Pocock

Depp, Fantastic Beasts Movie, HP Cast, News

New evidence appears to have emerged in the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard domestic abuse case, prompting #JusticeForJohnnyDepp to trend on Twitter. Audio recordings appear to suggest Heard once struck Fantastic Beasts‘s Depp, who plays dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, as well as photos and alleged testimonials related to the complex case which has seen Depp deny claims of abuse and insist Heard is the perpetrator, whilst Heard has maintained that Depp was abusive.

WARNING: Discussions of abuse, assault, domestic abuse

The case against Johnny Depp, and Heard’s divorce with the Crimes of Grindelwald star, was initially settled in 2016 after Heard accused Depp of domestic abuse, setting off multiple years of ongoing legal battles.

The joint statement from Depp and Heard released in 2016 read:

“Our relationship was intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love,” said the statement. “There was never an intent of physical or emotional harm. Neither party has made false accusations for financial gains.” 

Warner Bros., J.K. Rowling, Fantastic Beasts director David Yates and producer David Heyman gave statements defending the casting of Depp in the movie series, addressing concerns about casting somebody involved in a domestic abuse case.

Johnny-Depp-Gellert-Grindelwald-Fantastic-Beasts-The-Crimes-of-Grindelwald

In 2018, Depp appeared in GQ, denying accusations and saying “the truth will come out”, whilst Depp’s attorney suggested he was a “victim” of Heard’s “lingering, false abuse accusations”.  Heard’s team retorted, saying:

“It is outrageous that GQ never spoke to any of the multiple witnesses to Mr. Depp’s physical abuse of Ms. Heard prior to publishing its article.”

Firing back, Depp’s attorney, Adam Waldman, told Newsweek the allegations were Heard’s “continuing cynical manipulation of the important #metoo movement and its real victims.”

“Ms. Heard has admitted to multiple violent attacks against Johnny Depp that caused serious injury. Eyewitness, photographic, and previous sworn testimony will be presented to the court.”

In December 2018, Heard published an op-ed on The Washington Post, telling how she “became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and [I] felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out.”

Despite not being named in the op-ed, Depp filed his $50 million defamation suit in March 2019, in which he said Heard “is not a victim of domestic abuse, she is a perpetrator.”. Depp’s alleged proof indicated Heard’s claims were false, with “dozens of video security tapes” claimed to have been shared by Waldman in a statement to E! Online, along with eyewitness accounts, sworn deposition transcripts from 2016 in a “partial list of evidence” submitted to the court. Waldman also told The Blast, an American news tip sharing website:

“Having been caught by 19 sworn eyewitness statements, 87 surveillance videotapes, audio tape and photographs faking her claims, Ms. Heard has decided to concoct new fake claims of abuse.”

Depp’s suit also gave details on the abuse:

“She hit, punched and kicked me. She also repeatedly and frequently threw objects into my body and head, including heavy bottles, soda cans, burning candles, television remote controls and paint thinner cans, which severely injured me.”

A deposition from April 2019 in another round of litigation saw Heard describe the fight leading up to Heard striking Depp. Heard’s response was 300 pages long, recalling stories of abuse from their various alleged fights:

“He was hitting me … hard and repeatedly,” Heard explained, adding, “I was screaming. Security walks in and they don’t do anything about it.”

Photos also appeared to show hair ripped from Heard’s scalp, and damage to their apartment. Heard claimed to strike out at Depp in order to protect her sister, whom she believed Depp was going to attack.

In May 2019, Depp accused Heard of faking injuries she used as proof of abuse, calling them “painted-on bruises that witnesses and surveillance footage show she did not possess each day of the preceding week”, and said “I will continue to deny [the allegations] for the rest of my life, I never abused Ms. Heard or any other woman.”

The Blast claimed to have evidence in December 2019, of legal documents showing Depp was granted the right to use testimony of two LAPD officers who claimed Heard had no visible injuries on the night she alleged was the night she acquired bruises, and of texts between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s parents back in December, in which Depp explains his side of the story.

The newest evidence appears to be audio clips from 2015 (obtained by the Daily Mail) with Amber Heard and Johnny Depp both admitting to abuse. In the video, Heard appears to tell Depp, amongst other things:

“I was hitting you, it was not punching you”, ” ‘You poke an animal enough, it is eventually, it doesn’t matter how friendly it is, it’s not cool”, ” ‘I can’t promise you I won’t get physical again. God I f****** sometimes get so mad I lose it.”

Depp appears to say:

“I left last night. Honestly, I swear to you because I just couldn’t take the idea of more physicality, more physical abuse on each other,’ Depp pleads in the recording.

‘Because had we continued it, it would have gotten f****** bad. And baby, I told you this once. I’m scared to death we are a f****** crime scene right now.”

The tape also appears to share how Depp severed his finger, after Heard allegedly “went berserk” and threw a vodka bottle at him, which shattered and severed the tip of his finger off. Heard, however, claimed he cut it off when “‘drunk and high on ecstasy.”

A spokeswoman for Heard accused Depp of ‘vindictively’ leaking the tape and told The Daily Mail:

“Anyone familiar with the dynamics of domestic abuse would immediately recognize what is really going on here. Throughout the extended tape recording that Johnny Depp vindictively turned over to the press, Ms Heard repeatedly attempts to placate Mr Depp, ignore his accusations, and force him to acknowledge what was really happening in their relationship.

“For Mr Depp, who lived and lives in an echo chamber of his own making, to try to twist this private conversation to suggest either that he didn’t abuse Ms Heard or that she somehow ‘deserved it’ is nothing more than the latest misogynistic effort at victim-blaming.”

Listen  audio clips below, and read the transcript of the below clip here[Warning: Emotional / Physical Abuse]

Heard’s attorney told Newsweek:

 “The fact that a woman fights or talks back does not mean that she has not been the subject of repeated domestic violence and abuse. It’s a myth to say, as Mr. Depp apparently is implying, that if Ms. Heard slapped him, then she can’t also be a victim. That is just not true.”

In a second recordings obtained by the Daily Mail, released today, February 5th, Heard appears to tell Depp:

‘Tell the world Johnny, tell them… I Johnny Depp, a man, I’m a victim too of domestic violence… and see how many people believe or side with you’

‘You’re bigger and you’re stronger… I was a 115lb woman… You’re going to get up on the stand, Johnny, and say, ”she started it”? Really?’ 

‘I have never been able to overpower you… there’s a jury and there’s a judge will see that there’s a very big difference between me and you’ 

The Daily Mail says the recordings they obtained were published “so readers can form their own opinions” on the case and this alleged evidence. They also obtained a quote from Heard’s spokesperson:

‘The latest recording provided to the Daily Mail continues Mr. Depp’s ongoing efforts to abuse Ms. Heard,’ her spokeswoman said.

‘On the transcript of this recording (which notes that it is only a portion of a longer conversation), Ms. Heard repeatedly makes it clear to Mr. Depp that he was physically violent and abusive, that she feared for her life, and that even Mr. Depp’s own security guards told her that if she stayed in the relationship, ‘she was going to get killed’.

‘What is most important on the tape, however, is not what Mr. Depp says, but what he does not say – not once on the tape does he deny Ms. Heard’s statements about his violent attacks and the damage they caused, including her broken nose and black eyes.

‘In fact, Ms. Heard specifically recalls that during a portion of the conversation not provided to the Daily Mail, Mr. Depp asked Ms. Heard whether she was recording the call and when she answered that she was not, admitted that she was not lying about the fact that he had abused her. As a result, Mr. Depp’s use of this doctored recording at this time is not only a fraud and a crime, but an act of desperation.’

They received the following statement from Depp’s attorney, Waldman, whom “confirmed the recorded conversation took place while Depp was subject to a restraining order but said Heard initiated the call”, contradicting Heard’s spokespeoples’ insistence that this recording was ‘doctored’ and taken without consent:

‘Ms Heard delivers a chilling message to Johnny Depp any real abuse survivor will instantly recognize: Nobody will believe you. So you better do what I want

‘Ms Heard may continue to masquerade as a ‘survivor’ but the audio tape speaks for itself.

 

Since these recordings emerged, #JusticeForJohnnyDepp, as well as #SorryJohnny and #AmberHeardIsAnAbuser have been trending, along with a petition to remove Heard from Aquaman 2, with many thanking Depp for coming forward and acknowledging the complex nature of this legal battle.

Depp’s defamation suit against Heard has not yet made it to court, and has been pushed back to August 2020, where full evidence will be presented.

If you are a victim of domestic, sexual or emotional abuse, we urge you to seek support when you are ready. Refuge, Women’s Aid, Galop (LGBTQ+), the National Centre For Domestic Violence and SurvivorsUK (for male victims) are available to contact in the UK, the National Domestic Violence Hotline and MaleSurvivor in the U.S..





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.