Amber Heard isn’t backing down on her claims that ex-husband Johnny Depp abused her. The Rum Diary actress, 36, revealed in a 20-minute clip released by NBC’s Dateline on Thursday that she released years-worth of therapist’s notes detailing abusive acts she suffered at the hands of the Pirates of the Caribbean powerhouse, 58. According to the clip, she handed over a “binder’s worth” of notes that “represented years, years of real-time explanations of what was going on,” dating all the way back to 2011. “There’s a binder worth of years of notes dating back to 2011 from the very beginning of my relationship that were taken by my doctor, who I was reporting the abuse to,” Heard said.
The notes, some of which actually appear onscreen, appear to contain damning claims from 2012 that he “hit her, threw her against a wall, and threatened to kill her.” The 20-minute clip is part of a broader sit-down interview with Savannah Guthrie set to air in full on Dateline on Friday evening, June 17. Meanwhile, Johnny’s camp released a statement following the conclusion of his lengthy litigation against the Aquaman co-star.
“It’s unfortunate that while Johnny is looking to move forward with his life, the defendant and her team are back to repeating, reimagining and re-litigating matters that have already been decided by the Court and a verdict that was unanimously and unequivocally decided by the jury in Johnny’s favor,” a rep said per the New York Post.
Amber told Savannah that she also wants to move forward, following Johnny’s devastating loss against The Sun a UK court, his subsequent loss of a high-profile role in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, and the Virginia defamation case against her. “I look forward to living my life and I have a long one, I hope, in front of me,” Amber said. “And I will continue to walk through this with my chin up.” Her camp has already announced plans to appeal the Virginia verdict.
In the interview, Savannah appeared to challenge Amber, asking her why several witnesses claimed she “instigated” violence with Johnny. “When you’re living in violence and it becomes normal, as I testified to, you have to adapt, you adopt strategies to cope with it,” she said. “If it meant, as I testified to, if it meant the difference between a broken nose or a sore cheek, I would do it.” She added that she “got hit for a very long time before I even knew how to defend myself.”
Responding to the assertion that nobody else came forward with allegations against Johnny, Amber said, “Look what happened to me when I came forward. Would you?” And without hesitation, she said she stands by her word. “I know what happened to me,” she said. “I’m here as a survivor. To my dying day I will stand by every word of my testimony.”