Amber Heard accuses Johnny Depp of sexual assault during defamation trial, latter calls claim ‘fictitious’

Amber Heard’s attorneys have accused her ex-husband, Johnny Depp of sexual assault, while the star fights defamation claims against her. Depp, 58, is suing Heard, 35, over a 2018 op-ed she penned for the Washington Post on surviving domestic abuse, despite the fact that she never referenced Depp by name in the piece. Opening remarks for the libel trial, which is anticipated to last six weeks, started on Tuesday inside the Fairfax County Courthouse in Virginia, with both Heard and Depp present.

As per PEOPLE, during the hearing, which is being carried live on Court TV, Heard’s attorney Ben Rottenborn said that evidence would reveal that Depp subjected her to domestic violence in “many forms,” including physical, emotional, verbal, and psychological assault. Shortly after, Rottenborn stated that Depp had a three-day, alcohol-fueled blackout in Australia in 2015, towards the end of their marriage, during which Depp “abused and sexually assaulted Amber, all because she had the courage to confront him about his drinking.”

Interestingly, a spokesperson for Depp said about the latest allegation, “These fictitious claims were never made at the onset of Amber’s allegations in 2016, and only advantageously surfaced years later once she was sued for defamation after noting in her op-ed that she was a victim of ‘sexual violence.’ “

Meanwhile, Depp and Heard, who met while filming The Rum Diary in 2011, ended their relationship in May 2016 after she filed for a domestic violence restraining order against him, accusing him of abusing her. Depp rejected the allegations, and the former couple reached an out-of-court settlement in August 2016.

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