• In recently released audio, Amber Heard admits to starting fights and hitting her then-husband Johnny Depp.
• Depp’s lawyer confirmed the authenticity of the tape and said it details a pattern of physical and emotional abuse by Heard.
• Heard’s lawyer, however, said the tape does not mean that Heard isn’t also a victim.
• The tape is the latest development in a bitter feud between the former couple, both of whom have alleged domestic abuse by the other. 

---

Heard Admits to Hitting Depp in Audio

In audio that surfaced Friday, Amber Heard admits to hitting her then-husband Johnny Depp during a 2015 informal therapy session.

The recording, which was obtained by the Daily Mail, was later confirmed to be authentic by Depp’s lawyer, Adam Waldman.

In it, Depp and Heard discuss their marriage in several heated exchanges.

Heard: “I didn’t punch you.” 

Depp: “And I watched you lie.” 

Heard: “I didn’t punch you, by the way. I’m sorry that I didn’t hit you across the face in a proper slap, but I was hitting you. It was not punching you. Babe, you’re not punched.” 

Depp: “Don’t tell me what it feels like to be punched.” 

Later in the conversation, Heard calls Depp a baby.

Depp: “Because you start physical fights.“

Heard: “You are such a baby, grow the fuck up Johnny.” 

Depp: “Because you start physical fights.” 

Heard: “I did start a physical fight.” 

Depp: “Yeah, you did, so I had to get the fuck out of there.” 

Heard: “Yes, you did, so you did the right thing, the big thing, you know what? You are admirable. Every single time. What’s your excuse? When there’s not a physical fight, then what’s the excuse there? You’re still being admirable, right? Just by running away? And you can sit here and call me names, but you get called a name and what do you do? ‘That’s the last insult!’”  

Several minutes later, the exchange becomes calmer. Depp tells Heard he loves her and that he does not want a divorce, but he also says the physical violence has to stop.

Depp: “Because I love you, and I do not want to leave you. I do not want a divorce, I do not want you out of my life. I just want peace. If things get physical, we have to separate.“

Heard then promises to change.

Heard: “I can’t promise that I’ll be perfect. I can’t promise you I won’t get physical again. God, I fucking sometimes get so mad I lose it. I can fucking promise you I’m going to do everything to change.” 

While the two actors have not publicly spoken on the tape, Waldman said it displays a pattern of behavior common by abusers.

“The first confessional tape she made reveals a conversation any real abuse victim will recognize all too well,” he told USA Today. “It exposes that Ms. Heard perpetrated serial violence against Mr. Depp, and then concocted an elaborate abuse hoax to cover it up. Ms. Heard gives a motive for her violence: Mr. Depp was always trying to ‘split’ to escape her abuse.”  

On the other hand, Heard’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, didn’t confirm or deny the video but said in a statement.

“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,” Kaplan said. “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.”

Heard Alleges Abuse Against Depp

Heard and Depp met on the set of the 2011 film, The Rum Diary. By February 2015, the two were married; however, by May the following year, Heard filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences.”

“During the entirety of our relationship, Johnny has been verbally and physically abusive to me,” she said. “I endured excessive emotional, verbal and physical abuse from Johnny, which has included angry hostile, humiliating and threatening assaults to me whenever I questioned his authority or disagreed with him.”

“Johnny has a long-held and widely-acknowledged public and private history of drug and alcohol abuse,” she added. “He has a short fuse. He is often paranoid and his temper is exceptionally scary for me as it has proven many times to be physically dangerous and/or life-threatening to me. Johnny[‘s] relationship with reality oscillates, depending upon his interaction with alcohol and drugs.”

With her filing, Heard also submitted images of herself with bruises on her face. 

A few days after that filing, she applied for and was granted a restraining order against Depp.

Then, in August 2016, TMZ released a video of Depp throwing a wine bottle and a glass while Heard stands nearby. In the video, Depp is yelling and appears noticeably angry. For her part, Heard later denied leaking the clip. 

Later that month, she and Depp reached a $7 million divorce settlement. Heard then announced she would be donating that entire amount to the ACLU and the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. After additional back and forth with attorney fees, the divorce was finalized in January 2017.

Heard Publishes Washington Post Op-Ed

The feud then, at least publicly, died down until October 2018, while speaking with British GQ, Depp spoke on the matter.

“The thing that hurt me is being presented as something that you’re really as far away from as you could possibly get, you know?” he said.

Heard’s attorney then responded in an interview with Page Six, calling Depp’s statement “outrageous.”

“Mr. Depp is shamefully continuing his psychological abuse of Ms. Heard, who has attempted to put a very painful part of her life firmly in her past,” the statement said. “One need only look at the physical evidence to draw the proper conclusion.”

In December 2018, Heard followed up her claims in an op-ed for The Washington Post titled, “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”

In that op-ed, Heard never directly mentions Depp by name but speaks about “how institutions protect men accused of abuse,” likening Depp to the Titanic and the institutions to workers trying to repair a sinking ship. 

“Like many women, I had been harassed and sexually assaulted by the time I was of college age,” she said. “But I kept quiet — I did not expect filing complaints to bring justice. And I didn’t see myself as a victim.”

“Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse,” she added, “and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out.”

In the article, Heard also said her role in a movie had been recast, a global fashion brand dropped her, and she had faced doubts that she would be able to keep her role in Aquaman. Despite this, Depp’s team have largely accused Heard of making the allegations to “advance her career” and “extend her 15 minutes of fame.”

A few days after that op-ed, Depp was dropped from any future Pirates of the Caribbean films. Just prior to that in November, Depp had faced a wall of criticism on social media for his role as the titular antagonist in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. 

Dear Mr. Tsujihara.

As a fan of Harry Potter and WB/DC films and shows, I am deeply disappointed by the casting of Johnny Depp in Fantastic Beasts series. He abused his ex-wife Amber Heard, who happened to star in Aquaman, which is also a Warner Brothers film.

— justme (@justme_relax) November 17, 2018

Fantastic Beasts 2 opens today, which should make me happy, but I will never forget that they chose to side with Johnny Depp over Amber Heard. #believewomen

— Alex (@alleycat2007) November 15, 2018

Depp Sues Heard for Defamation

In January 2019, the feud between the former couple began to take a massive turn when Depp’s attorney reportedly told E! News that they had “filed a partial list of evidence that we will use to disprove the fraudulent underlying allegations against Mr. Depp.”

Among that list included “dozens of video security tapes,” “eyewitness statements” and “sworn affidavits and deposition transcripts from 2016.”

In March, Depp then sued Heard for $50 million in a defamation lawsuit, with that lawsuit alleging that it wasn’t Heard but Depp who was the victim of abuse. The lawsuit also blamed Heard’s op-ed for him being dropped from Pirates of the Caribbean.

In retaliation, Heard filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, but that was later denied. 

Depp then submitted a declaration of support for his lawsuit, with that letter alleging that Heard had painted on her bruises. Depp also said that Heard caused him “serious bodily injury,” that she was abusive while on a mix of “prescription amphetamines and non-prescription drugs with alcohol,” and that she had “hit, punched and kicked” him and “frequently threw objects into [his] body and head.” Notably, this included “heavy bottles, soda cans, burning candles, television remote controls, and paint thinner cans, which severely injured [him].”

With his allegations, Depp provided his own set of photos showing alleged bruises on his face, as well as a photo showing a partially severed finger that he said he suffered after asking Heard to sign a post-nuptial agreement. Heard then allegedly got so mad she started throwing bottles at him, with Depp claiming that one exploded when hitting a countertop, ripping off the tip of his finger in the process. 

In addition to physical abuse, Depp is also alleging that Heard put him through emotional abuse, saying that at one point, she or one of her friends defecated in his bed as a prank. 

During this time, Heard responded with more photos of her own that allegedly show bruises, as well as a clump of hair she said was ripped out by Depp.

See what others are saying: (Newsweek) (Complex) (USA Today)