Johnny Depp Claims Amber Heard Caused Severed Finger Tip, Alleges 'Human Feces' Led to Separation

It is now day four of Johnny Depp’s libel trial against News Group Newspapers, publisher of U.K. tabloid The Sun, which he sued for labeling him a “wife beater,” based on 14 allegations of abuse made by Depp’s ex-wife Amber Heard. The accusations discussed in London’s High Court on Thursday and Friday include instances in 2015 and 2016 that eventually led to Heard’s restraining order against Depp.

On Thursday, The Sun’s barrister Sasha Wass questioned Depp about an instance in March 2015, when Depp was shooting the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film in Australia and allegedly abusing drugs and alcohol. Wass asked him about subjecting Heard to a “three-day ordeal of assaults,” including slapping and spitting on her, shoving her against a refrigerator and a ping pong table, and ripping a landline phone out of the wall, causing him to injure his finger. Depp responded with, “I vehemently deny it and will go as far as to say it’s pedestrian fiction,” as well as “not true,” “no, ma’am” or “fabrication,” Yahoo reports.

Depp maintained that Heard was responsible for the finger injury because she was throwing bottles at him. “After Miss Heard threw the second vodka bottle at me, which severed the tip of my finger and crushed the bone, is when I began what I would feel as some species of nervous breakdown,” he said in court. “I didn’t want to live at that time.” The court was shown images of a mirror Depp allegedly wrote on with his own blood after injuring his finger. Wass also shared an email Depp sent his doctor shortly after which read, “I’m so very sad. I cut the top of my middle finger off, what should I do? I’m so embarrassed.” Depp responded in court, “That doesn’t mean to say I myself did it.”

On Friday, Depp told the court one of the moments that instigated his separation from Heard was when a cleaning lady found feces in their bed following Heard’s 30th birthday party in April 2016, ABC News reports. Depp said Heard blamed the incident on her dogs, but “It was not left by a three- or four-pound dog. I was convinced that it was either Ms. Heard herself or one of her cohorts involved in leaving human feces on the bed,” he said. “I wanted nothing to do with her.” He added that he made jokes about “Amber Turd.” “It was one of the most absurd, unexpected statements that I have ever witnessed in my life so, yes, initially I did laugh because it was so strange,” Depp said. He maintains that prior to their separation, he was trying to go sober but frequently relapsed and was not violent. Heard has claimed that Depp threw a magnum bottle of Champagne at her the night of her birthday and missed, which he has also denied.

According to the Guardian, Wass questioned Depp about another incident on May 21, 2016, when Depp allegedly struck Heard with a phone after bringing up the feces incident. Depp claimed Heard first mentioned the defecation, escalating tensions, and that they decided to call the friend responsible. “[The phone] made contact with the right-hand side of her face. Then you asked if she would like it if you pulled her hair back,” Wass said, to which Depp replied “no ma’am.” He also said security guards ran into the room when they heard her scream, “Stop hitting me, Johnny.” “I was 20 feet away from her. When she saw them, she changed to: ‘Now you will never hit me again?’” he said.

So far, Heard has attended the trial at London’s High Court but has not testified. The trial is expected to last three weeks. Jezebel will continue to follow this story.