Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial live updates: Heard's cross-examination continues

Raquel Pennington, a former close friend of Heard’s, gave her testimony via a recorded deposition. It followed the video deposition of iO Tillett Wright.

In a video recorded Jan. 22, Pennington described when she first met Heard and how their friendship changed over the years.

When asked if she considered Heard a friend today, Pennington responded: "I wouldn't consider her a friend. ... We don't speak. We're not enemies."

At some point during their friendship, Pennington said she got into an argument with Heard, in which Pennington said she pushed her and alleged Heard pushed her back.

iO Tillett Wright described what he observed about Heard following accusations from Depp's former attorney that she was lying about her abuse allegations.

Adam Waldman, who previously represented Depp, claimed Heard's allegations were a "hoax" in statements to the Daily Mail in 2020. The comments are part of Heard's countersuit against Depp.

"Amber retreated," Wright testified about her behavior after the statements. "Amber became isolated, embattled and extraordinarily distressed."

Wright went on to reiterate that while he witnessed many verbal arguments between the couple, he never saw Depp physically hit Heard.

"I saw Mr. Depp throw glasses and dishware on at least two occasions, which I would characterize as violent," Wright said after being asked whether he ever saw Depp become violent.

Wright alleged that Depp "mixed substances constantly" and when he did so, Depp became "crazy and violent, so upset and paranoid." 

During celebrations after Depp and Heard’s marriage ceremony in 2015, iO Tillett Wright said he had an exchange with Depp in which the actor allegedly made a remark about punching Heard.

"As we were walking back from the ceremony ... I was walking with Johnny and congratulating him that they pulled it off, that they did it," Wright said. "And he said, 'We’re married now. I can punch her in the face and nobody can do anything about it.'"

Wright testified that he witnessed several verbal arguments between Depp and Heard, but said he never saw either of them be physically violent toward one another.

Depp spoke to iO Tillett Wright multiple times in regard to the fights he was having with Heard, Wright told the court Tuesday.

Wright, who was friends with Heard and became close to Depp while the couple were together, said he often offered advice and counsel to Depp over the couple's issues. He noted that Depp spoke to him in September 2014 about fears he had about Heard being unfaithful.

"I said, 'Listen, you know, I know her I think pretty well, and I talked to her a lot,'" Wright said. "'And I think, I think if she was having an affair, I would be one of the very few people that she would tell. ... I don't hold secrets or lies for anyone.'"

Depp told him that sometimes his jealousy would "make him feel crazy and outside of himself," Wright testified. They also spoke about other fights the couple had, saying Heard would hurt his feelings when she got "mean" and he would then lash out at her and call her names.

Wright also testified about conversations he had with Depp after the couple's May 2014 flight from Boston to Los Angeles.

Heard alleged during this fight that Depp kicked her in the back during this flight, but Depp testified that he did not hit her. He alleged that Heard instigated an argument and he went to the bathroom to pass out.

Wright said he had a conversation with Depp, in which Depp didn't remember getting off the plane or details of the situation.

"He swore up and down that he was going to stop drinking and taking drugs and he would never do it again," Wright said of the conversation.

iO Tillett Wright, who was close friends with Heard at the time that she was with Depp, provided testimony via a video deposition Tuesday.

Wright described how he initially became friends with Heard and Depp, noting he became closer to the former couple when he moved to Los Angeles in summer 2013.

Wright described Depp as "lovely and magical, very funny when sober," but said drugs would bring out the worst in him. Wright said he stopped being friends with Depp in December 2015.

"The substances I saw him ingest with my own eyes were: cocaine and hard liquor, marijuana, ecstasy, mushrooms, wine, probably some other things, but those are the immediate ones that jump to mind," Wright said. "Cocaine and any kind of alcohol would bring out a very, very ugly side of him, very misogynistic and cruel."

When he and Depp were still close, Wright said Depp told him "he had experienced great bouts of jealousy in relationships" with his former partners Kate Moss and Winona Ryder.

Wright went on to detail a number of instances where Depp was under the influence, adding he would "get very mean, very surly, very paranoid."

Heard's time on the witness stand has ended, though she may be subject to recall, after her attorney struggled to redirect following Heard's cross-examination.

Depp's attorney, Camille Vasquez, lodged numerous objections against Heard's attorney as she attempted to address some of the items Vasquez asked Heard over the past day.

Heard's attorney attempted to ask about medical records Heard submitted to Depp's legal team regarding her nose. Vasquez had asked why Heard had not sought medical attention for injuries to her nose in regard to the alleged assaults by Depp, and Heard had testified she sought attention after she left Depp.

The judge allowed objections on the basis of hearsay when Heard was asked about the results of that medical examination by her attorney.

Vasquez also objected to questions about who Heard told about the alleged abuse prior to her filing for a temporary restraining order.

The redirect ended after roughly 45 minutes, including pauses to confer with the judge over objections.

Heard's cross-examination ended Tuesday afternoon after Depp's attorney brought up an article accusing Heard of hitting her former girlfriend.

Depp's attorney brought an article into evidence and read the headline, "Amber Heard allegedly struck her ex-girlfriend at the airport." Heard responded on the witness stand that it was not true, and cross-examination ended moments after.

When Heard's attorney picked up to redirect Heard's testimony, she asked Heard whether her ex-girlfriend made a public statement denying the allegation of abuse.

"Of course she did," Heard said.

Depp's attorney attempted to object to the question but was overruled by the judge.

Reports surfaced in 2016, after Heard requested a temporary restraining order against Depp, about Heard being arrested in 2009 at a Seattle airport. Heard was arrested over a dispute she was having with then-girlfriend Tasya van Ree.

Van Ree publicly denied that Heard abused her during the argument, saying she recalled "homophobic" attitudes toward the couple once it was learned that the two were romantically involved and not simply friends, according to a statement obtained by E! News in 2016.

"In 2009, Amber was wrongfully accused for an incident that was misinterpreted and over-sensationalized by two individuals in a powerful position," van Ree said.

During cross-examination, Depp’s attorney Camille Vasquez questioned whether Heard wanted to move on from the relationship after her lawyers sent a letter to Depp's legal team.

Vasquez described the letter as an arbitration attempt, but Heard said her legal team sent it because Depp had publicly called her a liar.

Vasquez then asked Heard about the timeline of the letter to Depp's lawyers and her op-ed for The Washington Post in 2018, suggesting Heard was the aggressor, despite her past statements about wanting to move on.

"So you fired the first shot to Mr. Depp?" Vasquez said, referring to the legal battles.

"Disagree. We sent a letter," Heard said.

The trial adjourned for an hourlong lunch shortly after 12:30 p.m. ET.

Heard was asked about her 2018 opinion-editorial essay in The Washington Post by Depp's attorney during cross-examination, getting into a back-and-forth over her decision to tweet the article.

The online edition of Heard's op-ed essay at the time of publication read, "I spoke up about sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change." That headline is part of Depp's defamation claim, though Heard said she did not write the line.

Depp's lawyer noted that Heard tweeted the article, with that headline, in December 2018, with a link. Heard told the court she didn't notice the headline at the time and had no ability to change the headline herself when posting the link.

"You didn't need to include the link to the electronic version of the op-ed in your tweet, did you?" Depp's attorney Camille Vasquez asked.

"How else would I have linked it?" Heard responded. She later added, "I couldn't attack it with a paper clip."

Vasquez then said there was no need to link the article to the post to "tell the world" she published it.

"No, the goal was to tweet about it and provide a link so that people could read it," Heard said.

Heard has previously testified that the op-ed was published with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, and she added Tuesday that it was in part to announce her role as an ambassador for the organization.

"I think that was always the plan, to attach the article with ... the announcement that I was an ambassador," she said.

She also said she had never come forward prior to December 2018 with her allegations that Depp sexually assaulted her and that she hoped to keep that matter "private."

During cross-examination, Depp's attorney accused Heard of earning her role in the famed "Aquaman" film due to her relationship with Depp.

His lawyer, Camille Vasquez, questioned Heard after playing audio of her and Depp arguing about their careers. In the audio, Heard calls Depp a "sellout" and a "washed up piece of s---" and sarcastically refers to his role as a heartthrob in "21 Jump Street."

Heard told the court that she was responding to Depp's criticisms of her career, admitting that she called him "horrible, ugly things" during their fight. She added that they each spoke badly to each other.

Heard previously testified that Depp was critical of her taking on new acting roles and would equate her success with her being used for her sexual appeal. In the audio played, Depp can be heard referring to Heard's "Aquaman" role.

"Mr. Depp got you that role in 'Aquaman,' didn't he?" Vasquez asked.

"No, Ms. Vasquez, I got myself that role by auditioning," Heard responded.

Vasquez accused Heard of being the "jealous one" and of twisting the relationship dynamics.

"Johnny's always been very jealous when I worked," Heard said. "When I did anything, friends. Yes, he's always been very jealous."

Camille Vasquez, Depp's attorney, grilled Heard during cross-examination about her past drug use with Depp, detailing two separate occasions early in their relationship in 2013.

In one occasion, Heard said the two consumed mushrooms in Hicksville, a trailer park in the desert where they “glamped” and where Heard accused him of starting a fight in a fit of jealousy. In another, Heard said she took MDMA with Depp on a plane to Russia in June 2013.

When asked about using drugs at her bridal party in 2015, Heard said: "I was not with Johnny. ... We just weren't around each other that evening when we had kind of separate parties."

Vasquez also questioned Heard about consuming alcohol and weed the day she had her 30th birthday dinner in 2016.

Vasquez showed the court a text exchange between Depp and Heard, in which Heard wrote: "Hey baby, bring up something to drink and or a joint. I'm in if you are."

Heard said she went to Coachella the following day and consumed other drugs like MDMA and mushrooms but added, "Johnny was not there for that."

Camille Vasquez, Depp's lawyer, reviewed a journal that Heard kept with handwritten notes to Depp.

In the journal entries presented during cross-examination, Heard wrote to Depp about their relationship and their fights, including apologies about her actions.

"The book was more of a love notebook and part of the communication. Obviously since we fought so much, it was important for me to, you know, try to nurture as much peace as possibly could," Heard said. "And when things were good, they were really good."

"I think it’s important in every relationship to apologize when you’re trying to move past fights," Heard added.

Depp's attorney Camille Vasquez accused Heard of going after the couple's former nurse, Debbie Lloyd, just before she was called for a deposition in the case.

Heard was being asked during cross-examination about a 2015 fight she testified about, accusing Depp of throwing things in their Los Angeles penthouse while her sister and Lloyd were present.

Vasquez asked Heard about Lloyd's testimony denying Heard's assertion that Depp threw a Red Bull can in her direction.

"To be fair, I just don't remember if she said when she testified that she didn't recall that incident or if it didn't happen," Heard said. "I don't remember what she testified to."

A few moments later, Vasquez accused Heard of filing "a complaint against Ms. Lloyd's nursing license right before she was supposed to be deposed in this case, didn't you?"

Heard denied it, saying she didn't believe she did. Vasquez asked whether she was aware that someone filed a complaint about Lloyd while working for Depp regarding a failure to report abuse.

"No, I had no idea," Heard said. "You're the first person to let me know about that."

During cross-examination, Depp's attorney Camille Vasquez asked Heard about whether she was scared of Depp while they were fighting in Australia in 2015.

"I have a mixed relationship with Johnny — one in which I'm scared, one in which I love him very much," Heard said.

Vasquez repeated her question, to which Heard responded: “This is a man who tried to kill me, of course it’s scary. He’s also my husband.”

Johnny Depp's attorney Camille Vasquez continued her cross-examination of Amber Heard on Tuesday, beginning by bringing out a knife Heard gave Depp and questioning her testimony about the couple's 2015 Australia fight.

Vasquez questioned Heard's account of when her allegations of abuse by Depp began, noting that Heard initially said 2013 but then said she recalled some incidents in 2012.

"He was hitting me in 2012," Heard said. "He just took a break in the middle."

Then Heard was asked about a knife she gifted Depp in 2012, with Vasquez asking the court to bring out the knife to show the jury.

"That's the knife you gave to the man who was hitting you, right?" Vasquez asked Heard.

Depp's attorney then moved on to question Heard about the couple's argument in 2015 while in Australia.

Depp testified that Heard instigated an argument that led to her throwing a vodka bottle at him, resulting in glass severing the tip of his finger. Heard testified that Depp went into a rage while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, attacking furniture, and that she believed he severed his finger while smashing a wall-mounted phone.

Vasquez pushed Heard as to the sequence of events in her testimony, which included Depp assaulting her with a bottle, but Heard insisted she has never testified to a sequence of events.

"Just to be clear, you're putting in order ... I have never claimed that I can remember the exact sequence," Heard said. "This was a multiday assault that took place over three horrible days."