Celebrity actress Amber Heard’s legal battle with ex-husband Johnny Depp continues and a new photograph of Heard’s purported injuries surfaced at a time when there is a break in the proceedings.
According to Heard, one alleged incidence of violence occurred when Depp “backhanded[ed]” her during an altercation. Heard testified that he wears a lot of rings, and during the fight, he struck her and she felt her lip “go between [her] teeth” and that she saw a “bit of blood” sprayed on the wall from her mouth.
Heard captured a snapshot of the alleged incident shortly after it occurred. TMZ has since acquired and published a photo of Heard with her purportedly busted lip holding a message that reads, “I shall return.” The photo is currently circulating on social media.
According to reports, this was the same photo Heard’s team sought to present to the jury to use as evidence in the defamation case. However, Depp’s lawyers opposed, claiming they did not submit it during the case’s discovery phase. The judge agreed with them and refused to allow it to be used as evidence.
Reacting to the picture, Depp’s team pointed out that the shot was taken in 2012. TMZ has allegedly confirmed this by its metadata.
Photo Mariya Butd
This contradicts Heard’s statement in Depp’s prior lawsuit against News Group Newspapers in the UK, in which she testified that Depp was violent with her for the first time in 2013, reports say.
The Aquaman star had mistakenly gotten the date wrong, according to a Heard insider, but her therapist records could substantiate that Depp’s claimed abuse of Heard dated back to early 2012, so the timing of the photo could make sense.
The photo has raised speculation. If Heard’s claims are true, it means Depp was physically abusive to her from the beginning of their relationship. After meeting on the set of ‘The Rum Diary’, which was released the previous year, the two made their relationship public in 2012. The couple got married in 2015 and divorced in 2017.
The photo and alleged event are just one of many allegations of physical aggression brought against celebrities Heard and Depp since the beginning of the trial where Depp is seeking at least $50 million in damages and is facing a $100 million counterclaim from Heard for nuisance and immunity from his charges.
(Photo/Credit: Matteo Chinellato )
