Johnny Depp's Team Claims to Have Video Proof Amber Heard Attacked Her Sister, Court Hears
Johnny Depp's legal team claims they received video that allegedly proves Amber Heard has had a violent streak with her own sister.
On Thursday, Heard’s sister Whitney Henriquez testified during Depp's ongoing libel lawsuit against News Group Newspapers (NGN), parent company of the U.K. outlet The Sun, which published a 2018 article calling the actor a "wife beater." Last week, Depp testified and presented witnesses to claim the contrary.
Henriquez told the London courtroom that Heard never was physical with her, according to The Guardian; however, Depp's team said Friday in court that the new footage they obtained shows the opposite. His counsel said they received the video from an anonymous source on Thursday night via email.
"We were contacted to explain that Amber Heard had a history of violence attacking people and this video of her sister Whitney was taken shortly after Amber Heard had attacked her, and Whitney was filmed with people commenting on the bruises on her face and body," said Depp's attorney David Sherborne in court, according to the outlet.
Earlier this week, Heard, 34, told the court that she hit Depp for the first time in March 2015 in order to defend her sister. When asked whether she had punched the Pirates of the Caribbean actor “with a closed fist,” Heard said she had struck him after he had hit both her and her sister.
"He was about to push her down the stairs and the moment before that happened, I remembered information I had heard that he pushed a former girlfriend — I believe it was Kate Moss — down the stairs," said the Aquaman actress. "... I will never forget this incident. It was the first time after all these years."
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Marc Piasecki/WireImage; Phillip Faraone/Getty Johnny Depp and Amber Heard
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Sherborne claimed in court that Heard's sister "tailored" her experiences to convince the court that Heard does not have a history of violence, and that the new video allegedly shows she was "lying." The video is said to allegedly show Henriquez with bruises after an incident with Heard.
"In the context of the attack — what I will call the 'stair incident' — and the evidence we say of the attack by Amber Heard on Mr. Depp, Whitney, you will recall, protested that it was only in self-defense and it is the one physical attack that Amber Heard admits to," said Sherbourne.
Heard, 34, previously alleged that Depp had been abusive during their 15-month marriage, a claim he has denied, saying that he was the victim of domestic violence in their relationship.
Heard's lawyer Eric George denied the allegations against the actress, saying in a statement obtained by PEOPLE: "The evidence in this case is clear: Johnny Depp repeatedly beat Amber Heard. The increasingly desperate attempts by Mr. Depp and his enablers to revive his career by initiating baseless litigation against so many people once close to him — his former lawyers, former managers, and his former spouse — are not fooling anyone.”
RELATED: Amber Heard Describes ‘3-Day Hostage Situation’ with Johnny Depp, Claims He ‘Threatened to Kill’ Her
Samir Hussein/WireImage Amber Heard
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Heard and Depp tied the knot in 2015. In May 2016, she sought a domestic violence restraining order against him, accusing him of abusing her. Depp denied the claims, and the former couple settled their divorce out of court in August 2016. She donated her $7 million divorce settlement to charity. Both actors signed NDAs barring them from discussing their relationship publicly.
Depp sued her for defamation in the U.S. after she wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described being an alleged victim of domestic violence. While she never mentioned Depp by name, the actor’s lawsuit called her allegations against him a “hoax.”
Heard’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, urged the court last fall to throw out the suit, arguing that the column was not about Heard’s allegations against Depp, but in March, a Virginia judge refused to dismiss the lawsuit.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
