Johnny Depp and Amber Heard arrive for start of three-week libel showdown

Amber Heard arrived today at the High Court with her girlfriend Bianca Butti to face off with her estranged husband Johnny Depp for the start of a blockbuster three-week libel trial over claims he beat her. 

The 34-year-old, who was wearing a red polka dot scarf over her face, approached the court hand in hand with her sister, Whitney, and lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, before joining 38-year-old Miss Butti near the entrance. 

Depp, who wore a black face covering and sunglasses, is suing The Sun and its executive editor Dan Wootton over claims the actor behaved like a ‘violent monster’ towards his former wife during their troubled two-year marriage.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star, 57, was called as the first witness and began giving his testimony this morning. He will strenuously deny claims he hit his estranged wife and is expected to spend three days at the stand.  

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At the start of the Depp hearing this morning, judge Mr Justice Nicol explained that the trial ‘is by judge alone – there is no jury’.

He added: ‘It will be for me to make any necessary findings of fact and rule on any issues of law.’

The judge said that ‘for the most part, this trial is being conducted in public’, but added that ‘parts will be in private’.

Johnny Depp’s barrister David Sherborne told the court that Amber Heard had filed three additional witness statements ‘since the last hearing’.

He added that the most recent two – which were sent to Depp’s lawyers on Sunday and ‘about midnight last night’, respectively – raised ‘new allegations’ against Depp.

Mr Justice Nicol gave the defendants permission to rely on the new statements from Ms Heard.

But the judge gave Depp permission to speak to his lawyers about those statements – ‘and those only’ – during his cross-examination, which is usually not allowed.

Johnny Depp, wearing a dark suit and white shirt, has been called as the first witness in the high-profile trial.

The star is not visible on the video-feed to an overspill court room where members of the press are seated. 

At the outset of his evidence, Mr Sherborne asked Depp about a recording of a conversation between the actor and Ms Heard on September 26 2015.

Depp explained that both he and Ms Heard recorded conversations during their relationship.

In her witness statement, Ms Heard had said that she recorded their conversations ‘to remind Johnny of what he would do when using drugs and alcohol because he wouldn’t remember, or deny what he had said’.

But Depp said that was not correct, telling the court that Ms Heard’s later recollection of their conversations would sometimes be ‘radically different’.

He added: ‘I, at the time, thought that the best thing to do was to record the conversation, so I retrieved my telephone and brought it to where we were talking and I said, ‘I’m going to record this conversation’, just so that she knew.

‘I wanted it to be out in the open.’ 

Mr Sherborne read from an extract of the recording, in which Ms Heard says to Mr Depp ‘you got hit… but I did not punch you. I did not f****** deck you. I f****** was hitting you’.

Ms Heard then went on to say ‘you are a f****** baby’, to which Mr Depp said: ‘Because you start physical fights.’

Ms Heard replied: ‘You are such a baby. Grow the f*** up.’

Mr Depp said he ‘wanted to avoid another confrontation’, adding: ‘As was my practice in these situations, whenever it would escalate I would try to go to my own corner as it were… before things got out of hand’.

Depp failed in a bid last week to have Heard banned from the court until she was called by NGN as a witness – meaning she would be prevented from watching her ex-husband give evidence. 

It means Heard will sit close by – ‘her eyes boring into him’ – as he answers questions about their turbulent married life, a source close to her said last night.   

Depp has spent the past two days being ‘prepped’ by Adam Waldman, his high-flying American lawyer. Both arrived in London over the weekend to prepare for the trial, which will also see a number of Hollywood figures giving evidence, including Depp’s former partners Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder.

In court, Depp is being represented by David Sherborne while Adam Wolanski QC is appearing on behalf of News Group Newspapers (NGN) publishers of the Sun.

Depp, 57, is suing The Sun newspaper for calling him a wife beater in an article in April 2018. His other ex-partners, actress Vanessa Paradis and Hollywood star Winona Ryder, have leapt to his defence to say they never experienced any domestic violence.

Depp’s high-powered legal team accuse Heard of making up her claims, and say she assaulted the actor. Heard – who will be newspaper’s star witness – claims Depp hit and choked her while in the grip of addictions to drugs and alcohol.

In Australia in 2015, she outlined a ‘three-day ordeal of physical assault’ in which her injuries included a broken lip, swollen nose and cuts all over her body, allegedly after Depp took out a bag of MDMA (ecstasy).

Amber Heard says Depp slapped and shoved her, and he stayed up all night taking drugs and boozing, and the next day he ‘grabbed her by the neck’. 

She also says that night he repeatedly shoved her up against the refrigerator in the kitchen, grabbed her by the neck, and ‘slammed her against the counter-top and strangled her’.

Heard has hired barrister Jennifer Robinson, a leading human rights lawyer from Doughty Street chambers who also represents Julian Assange, to advise her.

She will sit beside her in court and has been spending several hours each day preparing her for the witness box since she arrived in Britain from her home in California last week.

An insider said: ‘They’re both going to spend a long-time giving evidence and their credibility as witnesses is what the whole case rests on. 

Lawyers from both camps have been working them hard to ensure that they get all their points across and are consistent in what they say.

‘They’re bracing themselves for a grilling and once they take the stand, the lawyers are going to pick holes in their testimony. 

Giving evidence is going to be challenging for both of them and the trial is going to be a real-life Hollywood blockbuster.’ 

It is estimated that the trial is costing Depp and NGN around £1milllion each in legal fees.

The months leading up to the trial have resulted in a serious of sensational allegations being made public as both sides argued during pre-trial hearings over material that could or could not be made public. 

During one hearing, it was revealed that Depp sent texts during his relationship with Heard saying he would ‘drown’ and ‘burn’ his wife then ‘f*** the corpse.’

NGN lawyers have been wading through 70,000 texts, some of which will be submitted as evidence to show that Depp was violent towards Heard.

In another hearing, Depp’s lawyer alleged that Heard had ‘two extra-marital affairs’ or ‘extra-relationship affairs’ with Elon Musk and James Franco while she was going out with or was married to Depp. Both men have denied the claims.

The High Court hearing will also hear details of a 2015 trip to Australia by Depp and Heard during which he sent messages asking for drugs, claim the Sun’s lawyers.

They will also allege that he waged a ‘three-day ordeal of physical assaults’ on Heard and ‘held her hostage’ while they were in the country. 

Depp is also suing Heard for $50m in the US over a column she wrote in the Washington Post in which she described herself as a ‘domestic abuse’ victim. 

Although Depp was not named in the column, he claims it defamed him.

His libel claim against the Sun could have a major impact on the outcome of the American hearing.

The UK case was due to start in March but was delayed by the coronavirus crisis. With lockdown easing, it is one of the first high-profile cases to go ahead at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Unlike recent cases, it will not be held over video conferencing, but in the courtroom in person, with the Hollywood stars taking their turns in the wood-panelled witness box.

Heard, who lives in LA, had to arrive in the UK a fortnight ago to comply with the UK’s quarantine rules. Depp has been staying in Paris.

To maintain social distancing, five courtrooms have been set aside for the case. 

The press and public are allowed to watch proceedings from adjacent courtrooms on a video feed from Court 13.

Mr Justice Nicol has previously ruled that parts of Heard’s evidence, relating to allegations of sexual violence, will be heard in private.

In pre-trial hearings, Depp’s barrister David Sherborne said his client denies that he has ever hit any woman.

Heard met Depp on the set of 2011 comedy The Rum Diary and they married in LA in 2015. They divorced in early 2017, with Heard receiving a £5.3million settlement out of Depp’s reputed £400million fortune.

In a hearing last week, it was claimed that text messages showing Depp begging his assistant for ‘happy pills’ and ‘whitey stuff’ – which lawyers claim meant ecstasy and cocaine – were sent just days before he allegedly assaulted his wife.