Most have heard of Heard, but few know her story inside and out. Below is a complete timeline so that one may make sense of her and Johnny Depp’s winding story.
- Johnny Depp and Heard met in 2009 on the set of ‘The Rum Diary’
- Heard was arrested in 2009 on the charge of physically assaulting her girlfriend at the time, Van Ree, within an airport. She had allegedly grabbed and hit her arm.
- Amber Heard and Johnny Depp dated early 2012, got engaged in 2014, and married sometime 2015.
- May 23, 2016, Heard filed for divorce and accused Depp of physical abuse. She claimed he had thrown a phone at her, leaving her face bruised. A police investigation found no crime to have occured
- Depp agrees to a 7 million dollar settlement subsequent to Heard’s rescindment of a domestic abuse restraining order and a spousal support request of 50,000 a month.
- Heard reportedly donated this $7 million to charity, which later is exposed to have been a lie.
- The divorce is finalized in 2017
- In 2018, Heard wrote an op-ed claiming she was abused, saying, “I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out.” Although she never outright mentions Johnny Depp, it is implied that he was the abuser.
- In 2019 Depp sued for defamation—claiming Heard “is not a victim of domestic abuse, she is a perpetrator,” and her allegations were an “elaborate hoax to generate positive publicity.”
- In response, she issues a court filing claiming Depps allegations were fake and that he did in fact participate in domestic abuse. She claims the time Depp threw her through a ping pong table and dragged her through glass.
- In 2020, Phone recordings were released where Heard admits to hitting Depp. “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. I don’t know what the motion of my actual hand was, but you’re fine, I did not hurt you, I did not punch you, I was hitting you.”
- Depp responds with: “I left last night. Honestly, I swear to you because I just couldn’t take the idea of more physicality, more physical abuse on each other.”
- “Because had we continued it, it would have gotten f—ing bad. And baby, I told you this once. I’m scared to death we are a f—ing crime scene right now,”
- Heard replied: “I can’t promise you I won’t get physical again. God, I f—ing sometimes get so mad I lose it.”
- July 7, 2020 Depp sues The Sun’s publisher and executive producer for libel.
- Depp’s past relationships stood up for Depp on the stand, claiming he was not a violent person and “the idea that he is an incredibly violent person is the farthest thing from the Johnny I knew and loved. I cannot wrap my head around these accusations.”
- Amber stands true to what she claimed before, saying he threw a phone at her and even threatened to kill her on multiple occasions.
- November 2, 2020 Depp loses the libel, or defamation, trial. The London ruling decided that substantial evidence proved Depp committed violence against Amber Heard.
- On April 11, 2022 another libel suit begins. Depp claims Heard severed the tip of his right middle finger after chucking a vodka bottle at him. Depp famously claims Heard defecated in their bed after the breakup. The ACLU additionally comes out to say that Heard never donated all the money she had promised. She pledged $3.5M of the 7 she received from the marriage settlement. Depp is awarded ten million in “compensatory damages” and five million in “punitive damages” from the Virginian court. The 5 million was reduced to 350k, as that is the “statutory cap” in the state of Virginia.
Amber Heard was the turkey of the year for a variety of reasons ranging from not granting the promised charity money to allegedly physically abusing Depp and sullying his otherwise good name. Both the marriage and series of trials were a rollercoaster, and hopefully now that you have heard of Heard and the hearings, you will recognize her for what she is: a turkey.