Depp employee claims Amber Heard hurled insults at actor
Amber Heard hurled insults at Johnny Depp, calling him “washed up” and “fat”, and was aggressive towards the actor during a Christmas visit to the Bahamas, it has been alleged.
Tara Roberts, estate manager at Mr Depp’s Caribbean home, claimed she had seen Ms Heard, 34, “screaming and berating” the Hollywood star as he yelled at the actress to “go away”.
Ms Roberts also said she had seen a “red, swelling gash” on Mr Depp’s nose, and claimed he had told her Ms Heard had thrown a can of lacquer thinner into his face.
The Pirates Of The Caribbean star is suing The Sun’s publisher News Group Newspapers, and its executive editor Dan Wootton, over an April 2018 article which labelled him a “wife beater”.
In her witness statement at the High Court, Ms Roberts, who has worked for the actor since December 2008, described Mr Depp as an “unusually kind man” and said she had never seen him be “violent or aggressive” with Ms Heard, or anyone else.
“I observed in December 2015 to my colleagues that Amber was a ‘thrower’, someone who threw projectiles,” she said.
She alleged she saw Ms Heard “lunge violently at Johnny, pull his hair, and commit other aggressive physical acts against him”.
Ms Roberts said that on December 29 2015, when the couple were staying on the island with his two children and a friend, the pair had an argument.
In her statement, she said: “While I could not hear what caused the fight, Amber repeatedly berated him with increasing ferocity.
“She was insulting him, calling him names, and in the middle of this onslaught I heard her say specifically ‘your career is over,’ ‘no one is going to hire you,’ ‘you’re washed up,’ ‘fat,’ ‘you will die a lonely man,’ and also screaming things that were incomprehensible.”
Ms Roberts claimed Mr Depp tried to leave, repeatedly asking for the key to a vehicle, which Ms Heard refused to give back, adding it was later found in the couple’s house.
In her statement, Ms Roberts alleged: “He was responding to her verbal attacks by saying ‘go away’ and ‘just leave me alone.’ Amber’s screaming and berating rose to a fever pitch, and Johnny continued to yell ‘go away’ and ‘leave me alone.'”
Ms Roberts went on to say she saw Ms Heard “lunge at Johnny, clawing, tugging and aggressively pulling him”.
“He continued to stand there yelling at her to stop and leave him alone,” she said.
“When he stepped back to leave, her onslaught would start again.
“During this entire incident, I never saw Johnny hit Amber, or push her back, nor did he physically react to the attacks. She would calm down and hug and apologize. Then he would say he needs to leave and it would start again.”
Ms Roberts said she later walked Mr Depp to a cafe, adding “that is when I saw that he now had a red, swelling gash on the bridge of his nose”.
“Amber, Johnny then told me, had thrown a quart sized can of lacquer thinner into Johnny’s face, causing a gash,” her witness statement said.
Ms Roberts claimed that the next morning, the bushes around their house were littered with art supplies, there was no damage to the house and Ms Heard “made no mention” of what had happened previously.
She added that Ms Heard had “removed her wedding ring and thrown in and had asked for help finding it”.
The estate manager said: “Amber was makeup free and unmarked throughout this Christmas visit to the island, as she was usually makeup free when on the island.
“I never saw her with any sign of injury on her face or body whatsoever.”
Ms Robert’s statement also refers to an alleged incident in August 2014, during a “detox” trip for Mr Depp to the Bahamas, in which Ms Heard claims the actor attacked her, which he denies.
In the document, Ms Roberts said nothing was broken during the visit and that “there was nothing out of the ordinary that happened”.
“Nor did I even witness a moment of discord, on a tiny island,” she said.
Ms Roberts also claimed that prior to the couple’s marriage, Mr Depp was “outgoing, friendly and social”, but that throughout their relationship there was a “distinct change” in the actor, and “the once social and animated person spent most days sleeping, became withdrawn”.
She also alleged that general socialisation or moments to discuss “island issues” stopped as Ms Heard would “randomly show up” and that she would “’wiggle’ her way” into discussions.