Amber Heard and Johnny Depp may have wrapped up their week in court late Thursday, but the contentious back-and-forth between their respective teams continued after they left the courthouse.
After calling it a day, the actor’s reps issued a statement to TMZ in which they said Heard has been giving “the performance of her life” on the stand, during direct examination by her lawyer. They said that “while Ms. Heard’s stories have continued to grow new and convenient details, Mr. Depp’s recollections have remained exactly the same throughout the six painful years since her first allegations were made.”
Adding that they look forward to cross examination, his team said it should be “most telling, and will certainly highlight the many fallacies Ms. Heard has now attempted to pass off as fact throughout her convoluted testimony.”
Heard’s team then released their own statement to PEOPLE, in response to the one from Depp — in which they said his defamation claim “is falling apart so rapidly that his counsel are turning from prosecutor to persecutor.”
“They boast that Mr. Depp’s story has not changed. If so, since he lost the Domestic Violence Restraining Order and he resoundingly lost the libel case in the UK, perhaps he should consider a new strategy rather than the recycled approach of attacking the victim, and refusing to take responsibility for his own conduct,” the statement continued.
“One of Ms. Heard’s disappointments is Mr. Depp’s inability to distinguish fact from fiction — a malady which appears to have spread to his legal team,” it adds. ” That same team is so panicked, they are fighting tooth and nail to prevent compelling evidence and photos from being introduced.”
Her team also criticized Depp for not having “the fortitude or courage” to look at Heard throughout the trial, and “instead he doodles and snickers.” They conclude, “Mr. Depp’s behavior in this trial has been as pitiful as it was in their marriage. Apparently, they feel they must double-down on their demonstrably losing two-part strategy: distract the jury and demonize the victim.”
Heard’s time on the stand will continue when the trial resumes on May 16, following a week-long break. So far, she has testified about the alleged physical abuse she suffered throughout her relationship with Depp, in great detail.
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.
The actor has already lost an earlier lawsuit he took in the UK over the same article that appeared in The Sun. See all of our ongoing coverage here.
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