Amber Heard Says Trial is 'Torture,' Wants to 'Move On'

US actress Amber Heard (R) speaks to her legal team as US actor Johhny Depp (L) returns to the stand after a lunch recess during the 50 million US dollar Depp vs Heard defamation trial at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Virginia, April 21, 2022. (AFP)
US actress Amber Heard (R) speaks to her legal team as US actor Johhny Depp (L) returns to the stand after a lunch recess during the 50 million US dollar Depp vs Heard defamation trial at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Virginia, April 21, 2022. (AFP)
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Amber Heard Says Trial is 'Torture,' Wants to 'Move On'

US actress Amber Heard (R) speaks to her legal team as US actor Johhny Depp (L) returns to the stand after a lunch recess during the 50 million US dollar Depp vs Heard defamation trial at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Virginia, April 21, 2022. (AFP)
US actress Amber Heard (R) speaks to her legal team as US actor Johhny Depp (L) returns to the stand after a lunch recess during the 50 million US dollar Depp vs Heard defamation trial at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Virginia, April 21, 2022. (AFP)

Amber Heard testified on Monday that the multi-million dollar defamation suit filed against her by her former husband Johnny Depp is "torture" and she just wants him to leave her alone so she can move on with her life.

The 36-year-old actress also told the jury hearing the case that she filed for divorce from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star in May 2016 because she feared for her life, AFP said.

"I had to leave him," Heard said. "I knew I wouldn't survive if I didn't. I was so scared that it was going to end really badly for me."

Heard said Depp would become a physically and sexually abusive "monster" when he was drinking and her efforts to curtail his drug and alcohol use had failed.

"The monster had been this thing that was now the normal and not the exception," she told the seven-person jury hearing the case in Fairfax, Virginia. "The violence was now normal."

The 58-year-old Depp, during his four days on the witness stand, denied ever striking Heard and claimed that she was the one who was frequently violent.

Depp filed suit against Heard over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse."

Heard, who had a starring role in "Aquaman," did not name Depp in the op-ed, but he sued her for implying he was a domestic abuser and is seeking $50 million in damages.

The Texas-born Heard countersued, asking for $100 million and claiming she suffered "rampant physical violence and abuse" at his hands.

Heard said the trial has forced her to live "over and over again the most intimate, embarrassing, deeply humiliating and personal things that I've survived."

"I want to move on and I want Johnny to move on," she said. "I just want him to leave me alone."

Filing for divorce was "the hardest thing I've ever had to do," the actress said.

"It was hard because I loved Johnny so much," she said. "I loved him so much."

Heard said the same week she filed for divorce she sought a temporary restraining order following an argument during which Depp threw a mobile phone at her, hitting her in the face.

'Under the makeup' -
Under cross-examination, Depp's lawyers asked Heard about multiple incidents of alleged domestic violence she testified about and then showed photos from subsequent days where no injuries were visible.

"You should see what it looks like under the makeup," Heard retorted.

They also grilled her extensively about a pledge she made to donate the $7 million from her divorce settlement from Depp to charity.

Heard acknowledged that she has not donated the entire amount yet but said that was because she needed the money to fight the defamation suit filed against her by Depp.

"I haven't been able to fulfil those pledges yet because I've been sued," she said.

Judge Penney Azcarate has scheduled closing arguments in the case for May 27, after which it will go to the jury.

Depp's lawyers have put experts on the stand who testified that he has lost millions because of the abuse accusations, including a $22.5-million payday for a sixth installment of "Pirates."

Depp filed the defamation complaint in the United States after losing a separate libel case in London in November 2020 that he brought against The Sun for calling him a "wife-beater."

Depp, a three-time Oscar nominee, and Heard met in 2009 on the set of "The Rum Diary" and were married in February 2015. Their divorce was finalized two years later.


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Tom Cruise Pays Tribute to Val Kilmer

Tom Cruise led a moment of silence in honor of Val Kilmer at CinemaCon, the official convention of theater owners in the United States. Ethan Miller / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Tom Cruise led a moment of silence in honor of Val Kilmer at CinemaCon, the official convention of theater owners in the United States. Ethan Miller / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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Tom Cruise Pays Tribute to Val Kilmer

Tom Cruise led a moment of silence in honor of Val Kilmer at CinemaCon, the official convention of theater owners in the United States. Ethan Miller / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Tom Cruise led a moment of silence in honor of Val Kilmer at CinemaCon, the official convention of theater owners in the United States. Ethan Miller / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Tom Cruise paid tribute to late "Top Gun" co-star Val Kilmer on Thursday, leading movie theater owners in a moment's silence at the CinemaCon event before unveiling new footage from his latest "Mission: Impossible" movie.

"I'd like to honor a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer," said Cruise, at the start of his hotly anticipated appearance at the annual industry summit in Las Vegas.

"I really can't tell you how much I admired his work, how much I thought of him as a human being, and how grateful and honored I was when he joined 'Top Gun' and then came back for 'Top Gun: Maverick," said Cruise.

Kilmer, one of the biggest Hollywood actors of the 1990s, who shot to fame playing Iceman in the original 1986 "Top Gun", died aged 65, his family announced this week.

The cause of death was pneumonia. Kilmer had battled throat cancer after being diagnosed in 2014, and made his final appearance in the "Top Gun" 2022 sequel "Maverick," physically diminished and with a raspy voice.

Cruise on Thursday led the audience at Caesars Palace casino in a lengthy silence, asking attendees to "take a moment and just think about all the wonderful times that we had" watching Kilmer on the big screen.

"I wish you well on your next journey," said Cruise, to Kilmer.

He added to the attendees: "Thank you all for doing that. I know he appreciates it."

"Top Gun" was Kilmer's breakout role. Starring opposite Cruise, he played the cocky, square-jawed and mostly silent fighter pilot in training Tom "Iceman" Kazansky.

When he reprised his role as "Iceman" in the long-awaited sequel "Top Gun: Maverick," Kilmer's real-life health issues were written into the character.

Cruise on Thursday also introduced a new trailer for "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning," out May 23.

Footage shows Cruise's ageless hero Ethan Hunt clinging to the wheels of a small biplane as it soars down a narrow canyon and barrel rolls through the skies.

The trailer contained extensive flashbacks to famous scenes from earlier in the eight-film blockbuster franchise, such as Cruise dangling between lasers and climbing the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai.

"I need you to trust me one last time," says Cruise's character, in what Paramount is marketing as supposedly the final movie of the franchise.