and engaged in ‘mutual abuse’ during their relationship, the court has heard.
The Pirates of the Caribbean actor, 58, after she penned an op-ed in the Washington Post, with the headline: ‘I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change’.
She discussed her experiences of domestic abuse in the 2018 article, but did not mention her former partner by name.
Despite not being named, his lawyers have said that this ‘falsely implies’ – the actor is seeking $50million (£39m) in damages.
Giving evidence the Fairfax County Courthouse via a video deposition, in Virgina, on Thursday, their therapist Laurel Anderson said that Mr Depp told her that his former wife ‘gave as good as she got’ during their fights.
The clinical psychotherapist, who saw the pair on multiple occasions, told the court that Mr Depp struggled to keep up with Ms Heard’s ‘jackhammer style of talking’ during their sessions.
‘She was very amped up,’ she said. ‘This is how (Mr Depp) didn’t have a voice, he couldn’t keep up with her rapid-fire style of conversation.
‘He had been well controlled for decades, with Ms Heard he was triggered and they engaged in what I saw as mutual abuse.’
Ms Anderson added of Heard: ‘She felt she had to hit him back if he hit her so she always did.
‘She loved him, he loved her… she wasn’t stupid, she knew what they were doing wasn’t healthy so she wanted to want to divorce him but she didn’t.’
Depp originally filed the lawsuit in March 2019, however it was postponed due to the Covid pandemic.
While the actors live in California, the case is being brought in Virginia rather because The Washington Post’s online editions are published through servers located in Fairfax County.
Lawyers for Heard, who married the Edward Scissorhands actor in 2015, before they called time on their marriage the following year, have argued that that, although her article is protected by the first amendment of the US constitution, there is also evidence that Depp abused her physically on multiple occasions.
His attorneys said that allegations of abuse are false and the actress had been ‘preparing to give the performance of a lifetime’ during the proceedings.
The trial continues.
