One of Johnny Depp’s childhood friends testified on Wednesday that he never witnessed any physical abuse by the actor, nor did he detect any bruises or marks on Amber Heard’s face when he saw her shortly after a stormy May 21, 2016 argument at their downtown Los Angeles home.
Taking the stand in the Depp-Heard defamation trial in Fairfax, VA, Isaac Baruch offered some colorful observations and descriptions as he described living next door to Depp and his then wife in the art deco Eastern Columbia building. The actor had been Baruch’s benefactor as he pursued his art, giving him about $100,000 to support his endeavor.
Baruch described seeing Heard on May 22 in the aftermath of an argument she had with Depp the night before.
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He said that Heard told him that “Johnny came by last night and he became violent.”
Later, he said that he questioned Heard, asking, “He hit you?”
“And she said, ‘yeah. He threw a phone at me and hit me.’ And I am looking because I had just seen her two feet away and I am going, where?”
He said that Heard out her head out for him to look at her face.
“I am looking at the whole thing and I don’t see anything…I don’t see a cut, bruise, swelling. It’s just Amber’s face.” He also insisted that Heard was not wearing makeup.
He said that he then made a joke to her. “Well, I don’t see anything but maybe all the beauty from one side of the face is outshining everything. And she is laughing, smiled. And I just looked at everybody and said, ‘Hey, this sounds nuts.’” He said that he gave her a hug and kissed her on the side of her face.”
Depp sued Heard for defamation over a December, 2018, Washington Post op ed in which she wrote that she was a victim of domestic abuse. Although the article did not mention Depp by name, the actor claims that the connection was there, as there had been substantial publicity surrounding the 2016 incident. Later than month, Heard obtained a restraining order against Depp and submitted photographs to the court showing a large bruise on her face.
Heard has filed a counterclaim in the case. Her attorney, Elaine Bredehoft, challenged Baruch on how he could be so sure that she was not wearing make up. As she ran through a list of products that Heard uses, including Amici facial cream, he admitted that he was not familiar with them.
Baruch at times elicited laughs from Depp, sitting just several feet away, and a brief grin from Heard, on the other side of the courtroom, as he described their mutual friendship.
“I love her,” he said. “I fell in love with her just like Johnny fell in love with her. Some in the courtroom laughed as he described Heard as having “great teeth.”
“She treated me with great respect,” adding that they shared “locker room and demented humor.”
He said that whenever he visited, Heard would offer him something to eat or drink. The exception was once when he came in and she was in a facial mask. “Is that something that can help me. She goes ‘no.’” In the courtroom, Heard smiled for a moment.
Baruch said that he did witness two verbal arguments between Depp and Heard, but “I did not witness any physical violence.” He said that after he saw the pictures of Heard with bruises on the internet, he thought, “What the hell is this? What is going on?”
He also grew emotional after Bredehoft asked him if he was still angry over Heard’s claims.
“Am I angry any more? What I am is tired, and I want this all to end, her to go heal, him to go heal. So many people have been affected by this malicious lie that she started and she created, and it has gone out the door and around the world.”
Earlier, Depp’s sister, Christi Dembrowski, was asked about a series of texts she sent, seemingly concerned about Depp’s drug and alcohol abuse. In one that she sent to him in February, 2014, she texted, “stop booze. Stop pills. Stop coke.”
She said that she didn’t recall the timing of the text, but that she also was concerned about Heard’s accusations against Depp.
In another instance, also in February, 2014, Heard wrote to her, “JD is on a bender.” Dembroski wrote back, “Where are the kids…worry about everything.”
Under cross examination, Dembroski said that she was “curious about where the kids were if he wasn’t home.”
Dembroski wrote in a May, 2014 text to Heard, “I love him so much but he needs help.” But Dembroski said that she was concerned over Depp’s use of one painkiller, but told Heard’s attorney that she did not witness “a lot of the behavior that you guys are referencing.” She said that she didn’t recall “having a severe worry around this time.”
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