His lawyer argued she used to journal "to apologize to Mr Depp for your behavior."
Amber Heard was back on the stand on Tuesday as cross-examination from Johnny Depp's lawyers continued in his defamation trial -- and she definitely got a grilling from Camille Vasquez from the actor's team.
Tuesday's testimony began with Vasquez wondering why Heard would have given Depp a knife for his birthday after she allegedly started to recognize a pattern of violence in their relationship. "I wasn't worried he was going to stab me with me when I gave it to him, that's for sure. I gave It to him that year," Heard responded.
Vasquez then zoned in on the alleged assault that happened in Australia in March 2015, which is when Heard says she was sexually assaulted by Depp with a liquor bottle. The attorney kept asking why there were no photos of some of the damage to which Heard testified, as well as no medical records or photos of her injuries. At one point, she said it was "convenient" some of the alleged damage occurred outside the bounds of some of the photos presented in the case -- and seemed determined to poke holes in the "sequence" of how everything went down.
Vasquez: You're the one that assaulted someone with a bottle in Australia isn't that right, Miss Heard?#AmberHeard - I didn't assault Johnny in Australia. I didn't assault Johnny ever. #JohnnyDepp pic.twitter.com/9inp6ip1TG
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) May 17, 2022 @cathyrusson
Heard, however, said she never testified at all about "the exact sequence of things," but was certain Depp smashed a phone, held her down and assaulted her with a bottle in an incident where he also lost the tip of his finger. "To be clear, you're putting it in order when you say words like 'then,'" Heard told Vasquez. "I have never claimed that I can remember the exact sequence of these things. This was a multi-day assault that took place over three horrible days and is the worst thing that happened to me."
Vasquez also played audio of Heard and Depp talking about the alleged incident, in which he claimed he repeatedly tried to "escape the fight" but she kept following him -- making it seem as if she were the aggressor in the situation. "This is what happened in Australia, isn't it?" asked the lawyer. "Johnny is not an accurate historian of what happened during that period of time, I'll guarantee you that. I was there. I remember it," Heard responded. "I didn't assault Johnny in Australia, I didn't assault Johnny ever."
At this point, Vasquez brought forward a journal the two shared, in which they would write messages back and forth to each other. The first one shown was a photo of the couple from May 2015, back in Australia two months after the alleged sexual assault. In a note she left for Depp, she also called him her "one and only."
"We were back in a honeymoon phase. That was a period of sobriety I spoke about," Heard said of the entry -- before another one was read in which she wrote, "I have seen in you the true bones of friendship and respect. Of course I still, more than ever, want to rip you apart, devour you and savor the taste."
A couple of her entries also referred to the couple's honeymoon. Both Depp's team and Heard have shared different accounts of what went down during their trip on the Orient Express, with Heard saying they got into an argument where he "slapped me across the face and got a hold of my neck and pushed me up against the wall of the car." Depp's bodyguard, however, suggested he was the victim of assault after sharing a photo in which he said there was "swelling" around Johnny's eye (below).
"I disagree. I've seen this picture before and he is not injured in it. This one is Photoshopped," Heard said of the photo in question, before Vasquez said there are no photos of Amber's alleged injuries from the trip. "I don't believe my face was injured on that trip," said Amber.
The notes from around that time read, "My husband, happy honeymoon!" and "What a beautiful, extraordinarily magical, memorable, wonderful, stunning, surprisingly evolving and impulsive adventure. I couldn't have imagined a more gorgeous honeymoon. I love you more and more every passing day."
Shortly after that was another note in which Heard said, "I hope that things said in anger and pain were just that and that you miss and love me too and that is what matters most to you. You may say you stand by everything you said and did and there's nothing you can learn from this, but I don't feel that way and it's important I feel that way. I love you and I'm sorry. I miss my warm and loving husband." In another, she promised to "do better" and said she was "sorry."
Amber Heard Grilled by Johnny Depp's Lawyer In Heated Cross-Examination Over Injuries, Donations
View Story"The whole book is love notes," Heard said, characterizing the messages. "Since we fought so much, it was important for me to try to nurture as much peace as we possibly could and when things were good they were really good."
"It was also an opportunity for you to apologize to Mr. Depp for your behavior," said Vasquez. "I think it's important in every relationship to apologize when you're trying to move past fights," Heard responded.
Vasquez then read another in which Amber wrote, "I'm sorry I shook the wheel so far. I'm sorry we tested the shocks and brakes to this point ... let me try to fix this ... I hate having you hurt, I hate when you're hurting ... I need you, I love you." Heard said that was yet "another example of me trying to fix it."
"Fix it by apologizing for your bad behavior?" Vasquez pressed on. "I tried everything ... I couldn't change my relationship," Heard replied.
The cross-examination is ongoing.
Depp is seeking $50 million in damages after Heard claimed she was a survivor of domestic abuse in an op-ed in the Washington Post in 2018. While she didn't name Depp in the piece, his lawyers argue it was implied to be about him and negatively affected his career. She countersued Depp for $100 million.
The actor has already lost an earlier lawsuit he took in the UK over the same article that appeared in The Sun. The trial is expected to last six weeks. See more coverage of the ongoing trial here.