Johnny Depp and Amber Heard‘s defamation trial continued Thursday in Fairfax, Virginia — and the last witness of the week was Dr. David Kipper, an addiction specialist who worked with the actor.
Depp is seeking $50 million in damages after Heard claimed she was a survivor of domestic abuse in an op-ed in the Washington Post in 2018. While she didn’t name Depp in the piece, his lawyers argue it was implied to be about him and negatively affected his career. She countersued Depp for $100 million.
Appearing via a pre-taped deposition conducted in February, Kipper said he started treating the actor in Spring 2014. According to the doctor, Depp was seeking treatment for substance issues and help with detox. At the time, he was using alcohol, opiates, benzodiazepines and stimulants — but the opiates were the biggest concern. Depp reportedly said he started taking Oxycodone after dental work and developed a dependency.
In June 2014, it was decided Depp would detox at his home in the Bahamas, done in conjunction with private counseling, psychotherapy and couple’s therapy with Heard. The detox started in August that same year, with one of Kipper’s nurses assisting on the actor’s private island.
In one of the nurse’s notes, she said Depp stated he had a late night fight with Heard and was “questioning whether he can emotionally and physically handle detox.” The doctor recalled Depp “struggling” at that point, “frustrated” that he was “uncomfortable physically” at the time. By the end of August, Kipper said he had been fired by Depp twice in the span of four months and the actor wanted to stop taking medication/undergoing treatment.
In another of the nurse’s notes from September 2014, she wrote that she arrived to Depp’s home once and found him “sitting in kitchen with scraped and bloody knuckles on right hand.” She added, “Patient stated he punched white board in kitchen after fight. Fiancée got upset he was not giving her enough support and the fight escalated from there.”
Kipper, however, didn’t see any of this himself, but was relayed to him by the nurse.
Another note from the nurse described an incident on the set of one of Depp’s films. “Patient finished filming and was extremely agitated leaving the set. Patient kicked in the door of his trailer and refused to speak to director,” she wrote. “Patient was verbally aggressive to another person on the set for no apparent reason.” She added he was given Xanax “to reduce agitation.” Kipper confirmed he recalled “some disagreement between Mr. Depp and the director” in question.
Kipper said had he witnessed any violence first-hand, he would have been obligated to report it, but he never did.
In March 2015, Kipper went to Australia to check in on Depp while he was there filming the fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie. In a note from the nurse, she wrote the doctor “received text message from client that he had been arguing with wife and he cut his finger,” which Kipper said was accurate. The text was then read in court.
“Hi, f— man, had another one. I cannot live like this. She is as full of s— as a Christmas goose, I’m done. NO MORE!!! The constant insults, demeaning, belittling, most heartbreaking [unintelligible] that is only released from a malicious, evil and vindictive c—!!!!! But you know what? Far more hurtful than her venomous and degrading, endless educational ranting … is her hideously and purposefully hurtful tirades and her god damn shocking treatment of the man she was supposed to love above all,” he wrote, before questioning her motives for being with him.
“Her obsession with herself is far more important … she is SO F—ING AMBITIOUS. She’s so desperate for success and fame … that’s probably why I was acquired,” he wrote. “Although she has HAMMERED me with that a sad old man has been I am … I’m so very sad … I cut the top of my middle finger off. What should I do? Except of course go to a hospital. I’m so embarrassed for jumping into anything with her … F— THE WORLD.”
Kipper didn’t recall the specifics of the text, but confirmed Depp reached out after the incident and he went to check on the actor.
“I saw Mr. Depp outside the house in his car. Part of his finger was missing. I don’t recall what he said, I remember he was very clear in speaking to me,” he said. When asked how Depp “looked” at the time, Kipper added, “He looked like someone who just had part of his finger taken off.”
“The house was a mess. There were things on the floor. There were things that had been thrown around,” he added. “Things were out of order in that house. It did look to me like there was blood on the wall.”
In another text to Kipper from June 2015, Depp wrote, “my deformed finger and I have no friends. By the way Amber and I have been absolutely perfect for three f—ing months solid!!! I’ve locked my monster child away in a cage within and it has f—ing worked!!! We’re god damned best friends now!!! Amazing!!! Big love to you, my brother.”
But it seems something changed shortly after, as a text from July that same year read, “I am and have been at peace for the last 3-4 months, it’s been amazing. But she’s somehow locked into this very unpleasant and belittling mode in the last three days. The accusations, verbal abuse and insults.”
“Man, you know how hard I have worked to put that mother f—er in its cage,” he added. “I did that, me.”
While there was more to Kipper’s testimony, the judge saw it as a good time to break for the weekend. They’re not in court today, Friday, but will be back to it on Monday.
The trial is expected to last six weeks. See more coverage of the ongoing trial here.
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