Johnny Depp alleged that his ex-wife Amber Heard cut off his finger by throwing a bottle at him in anger. Here we break down the allegations ahead of their upcoming trial.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are going back to court for a long-delayed defamation trial, and we’re here to break down the details of their often volatile relationship. Johnny accused Amber of severing his finger during a passionate fight that turned violent, and, ahead of their trial, we’ll look into what really happened between the former couple.
What Happened With Johnny Depp’s Finger?
Back in 2016, a graphic photo emerged of Depp’s severed finger tip following a heated argument with his then-estranged wife. In the photos, which were obtained by TMZ, a doctor is holding what was claimed to be the actor’s severed finger. Depp had reportedly suffered the injury in 2015 while the pair were staying in Australia while he was filming for Pirates of the Caribbean and initially blamed the incident on himself. The actor’s bodyguard, Malcom Connolly, told the court during Johnny’s libel trial against The Sun in 2020 that he initially took responsibility for his finger to protect his then-wife, reported The Guardian.
“The usual victim pattern is to protect the abuser for some reason, you know the psychological bullying … they fit the same criteria, they never come forward with the information,” the bodyguard said. He then insisted he had never seen Depp hit Heard or any woman. “I would not tolerate any man striking a woman. No matter who he is. Not even if he is my boss. Not even if he is the pope.”
Depp then changed the narrative to implicate his ex, alleging in a $100 million defamation lawsuit that Heard was the one who damaged his finger by “throwing bottles” at him during a heated conflict.
“While I was in Australia filming a movie approximately one month after I married [Amber Heard], on a day where my then-lawyer tried to discuss with Ms. Heard the need that she sign a post-nuptial agreement with me, she went berserk and began throwing bottles at me,” Depp claimed in a new round of court documents, according to Daily Mail. The publication stated they obtained the legal docs in which the Rum Diary actor claims that when he suffered the grisly injury in 2015, it wasn’t an accident (or, as Heard claimed, in a fit of jealous rage) but an allegedly near-fatal attack.
“The first bottle sailed past my head and missed, but then she threw a large glass vodka bottle. The bottle struck the marble countertop where my hand was resting and exploded,” the Daily Mail said Depp stated in the court documents. “The projectile’s impact shattered the bone in my finger and entirely severed the tip of my finger. I had to have 3 surgeries to reconstruct my finger and contracted MRSA [Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a form of a staph infection] three times,’ states Depp in his declaration. I feared that I would lose my finger, my arm, and my life.”
Heard previously claimed in court documents that Johnny’s injury was self-inflicted. She claimed that during their stay at the villa, he allegedly became extremely drunk and high and allegedly cut the tip off his finger after smashing bottles and windows in a rage, and supposedly dipped the injured digit in some dark blue paint. From there, Depp allegedly wrote various words on a mirror, including “Billy Bob” and “Easy Amber.” Heard starred in a film with Billy Bob Thornton in 2015, and she claims Depp accused her of sleeping with Billy Bob during filming.
In addition to accusing Heard of attacking him with a vodka bottle, Depp has accused his ex-wife of faking her injuries after accusing him of domestic violence. “I have denied Ms. Heard’s allegations vehemently since she first made them in May 2016 when she walked into court to obtain a temporary restraining order with painted-on bruises that witnesses and surveillance footage show she did not possess each day of the preceding week,” Depp said in a declaration he filed with the court. “I will continue to deny them for the rest of my life. I never abused Ms. Heard or any other woman.”
What’s Happening Now?
Although the couple finalized their divorce in 2018 — and it seemed like the end — Depp sued her in early 2019 for defamation, citing the Dec. 2018 op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post. While Heard never named Depp, she claimed she “had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.” Depp argued that the piece “depends on the central premise that Ms. Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr. Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her.”
Adam Waldman, Johnny Depp’s attorney, told HollywoodLife.com in a statement at the time, “Johnny is gratified that his words are finally being heard but remains frustrated that the media largely ignores his overwhelming factual evidence of what Ms. Heard has perpetrated.”
After several postponements since Depp filed the lawsuit in March 2019, the trial will be kicking off in Fairfax, Virginia next week. As if things haven’t been ugly enough, it’s about to get uglier, as numerous famous individuals are set to testify as witnesses, some virtually. Per Deadline, Heard is having her Pineapple Express co-star James Franco plus actress Ellen Barkin and Tesla CEO Elon Musk (with whom she’s rumored to currently be in a relationship) testify on her behalf. WandaVision actor Paul Bettany will testify virtually for Depp after the actor’s texts with Depp were made public during the previous trial.
The trial will be receiving live television coverage and will be aired on CourtTV and online.
“Court cases that are as high-profile as this one often create a lot of noise, and it can be difficult for viewers to break through these distractions to have a clear picture of the facts, but that’s where we come in,” Ethan Nelson, acting head of Court TV, stated in a press release. “Between the camera feed directly from the courtroom and our first-class lineup of talent, Court TV will be the true source of an unbiased, down-the-middle perspective of the trial as it unfolds.”