I was petrified of the monster: Johnny Depp’s ex Amber Heard says he had an abusive alter-ego

Johnny Depp’s ex-wife, Amber Heard, has alleged that the actor had an alter-ego that they called ‘the monster’ which used to emerge when he ‘beat’ her, according to new deposition documents obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. “I was petrified of the monster,” Heard said.

The claim is a part of 471-page deposition that reveals new details from the couple’s divorce proceedings, which started in 2016. The report says that the testimony will play a key role in an ongoing defamation suit filed by Depp against British tabloid The Sun, which in 2018 had published a story titled, How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife-beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?

Controversy had erupted over Depp’s casting in the Harry Potter spin-off, which writer JK Rowling and director David Yates had defended. Depp played the titular role in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Johnny Depp in a scene from Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. (AP)

Heard alleges in the documents that during an altercation at their Los Angeles home, Depp threw a phone at her ‘as hard as he could’ and it hit her in the face. She also said that he broke glass, which was strewn on the floor. Pictures of Heard with visible injury marks on her face, and leaked text conversations about the alleged assault, were posted online.

According to THR, Depp’s legal team has ‘evidence’ that Heard ‘faked’ the injuries. Depp has even threatened to sue Heard for violating her NDA if she testifies in the case against the Sun. As part of their divorce settlement, the couple agreed not to make disparaging remarks against one another. Recently, Heard wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post titled, “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”

Depp’s lawyer responded by calling it an ‘abuse of the #metoo movement’ and claimed she ‘masquerades as victim rather than abuser.’

Heard recently appeared as Mera in the worldwide smash hit film Aquaman, opposite Jason Momoa. Depp, meanwhile, faces professional troubles after Disney hinted that it would be recasting his lead role in future Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

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