Abuse and violent text messages: the most scandalous revelations of the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial

Amber Heard's close friend, British music journalist Eve Barlow, was dramatically expelled from Johnny Depp's trial. The former couple accuse each other of defamation in a trial in Fairfax, in the state of Virginia, United States, over a column published in the Washington Post in 2018, in which Heard described herself as a “victim of domestic violence” harassed by society after denouncing Depp.

People who attended the trial last Thursday revealed to Page Six that Barlow, a former NME deputy editor and contributor to New York Magazine, got into trouble with the judge by texting and tweeting from the front row of the courtroom, which is usually reserved for legal advice.

Allegedly, Barlow has been acting as part of the actress' legal team and even tried to intervene in the trial of Depp's friendly witness, Gina Deuters, the informants told the outlet.

According to sources, Barlow tried to defend Heard by asking his legal team to show Judge Penney S. Azcarate that Deuters was allegedly engaged as a witness. Barlow mentioned a social media post by Deuters, claiming it was a recent post of the current trial.

However, it turns out that the publication in question was shared in 2021 during Depp's trial against The Sun newspaper in London.

However, Deuters admitted Thursday that she had watched videos of the trial online before giving testimony, so she was dismissed from the courtroom and her testimony was erased from the record.

In response to what happened, Depp's lawyers responded by pushing a motion for Barlow to be permanently excluded from the courtroom, which the judge approved.

“Amber had her closest journalist friend sit front and center, with her legal team, at the trial, tweeting live, texting and posting information. Eve Barlow seems to think she's part of Amber's legal team. Depp's lawyers finally had enough and barred him from entering the courtroom,” the source told Page Six.

Judge Azcarate also opposed Barlow's text messages and tweets. “She was tweeting live from my courtroom... and I know the officers took her out because she was texting. That's against the court order. Ms. Barlow will not return to the courtroom during this trial,” she said according to court transcripts.

“Mortgage Abuse”

A former personal assistant to Amber Heard said she never saw the actress suffer any form of physical abuse at the hands of her then husband Johnny Depp, instead saying that Heard spit in her face when she asked for a higher salary.

Heard used to fight with blind anger, sent incoherent text messages at 4 a.m. and was often drunk or intoxicated with illegal drugs, Kate James testified in a video statement that was reproduced during the trial of Depp's defamation lawsuit against Heard.

Depp, for his part, was very calm, almost shy “like a total southern gentleman,” James said.

Depp denies abusing Heard, but lawyers say the evidence will prove he did it. The fact that the actor denies Depp's accusations, they say, has no credibility because he used to drink and use drugs to the extent that he can't remember what he was doing.

James' video testimony presented another point of view: Depp was the peaceful one, she said, while Heard was frequently intoxicated and often inflicted verbal abuse, including abuse on her own mother and sister.

“His poor sister was treated like a dog that you kick, basically,” James said.

James, who worked for Heard from 2012 to 2015, said he was being paid “very badly.” She noted that she was hired with a starting salary of $25 an hour and that her duties ranged from picking up Heard's clothes at the dry cleaners to talking to the Hollywood actress' agents.

James also said that he had to buy two copies of any magazine that included Herd and keep them in the garage to prevent Depp from seeing them. Heard unleashed his “blind rage” when James didn't put the magazines in the garage, the witness said.

About the time Heard and Depp spent together, James said that Heard was “a very dramatic person” who had a lot of insecurities in the relationship. Heard used to call James to cry and complain about Depp, he said.

“I remember once she called me when she was alone in New York, and she was crying and walking the streets,” James said. He added that he told Heard to enter a building: “I was afraid that the paparazzi would take a picture of him.”

Part of the statements also focused on a text message that Depp had sent to James after he and Heard broke up. Depp's text read: “Come get some purple and let's fix her fat ass nicely and nicely.”

A lawyer asked him if by “purple” they meant wine and if the “his” meant Heard. When asked if James understood that the text referred to the actress, James first said that it was not for her to speculate.

“That's how he writes,” James said of Depp. “It's very rare and you don't question it... write in a very abstract way.”

Other messages that the actor sent to a friend about Heard also became known. During the trial, the alleged text message was read between Johnny and his friend and neighbor Isaac Baruch, who testified in court.

“I hope Amber's rotten corpse is decomposing in the damn trunk of a honda civic,” Depp would have written to Baruch in 2016.

In addition, the alleged messages that Heard sent to his mother were disseminated. “It's terrible, Mom. I don't know what to do.” Another message said, “He's crazy, Mom. Violent and crazy. I'm shattered that this is who I love.”

“I feel like I'm on a fast-moving train that's about to explode, but I don't want to jump and leave my love behind. So I stay on the train, even though I know it's about to explode,” said another message that was read aloud during the trial.

The lawyers also submitted a video statement from Laurel Anderson, the couples therapist who worked with Heard and Depp in 2015, when she was 29 and he was 52.

Anderson said they both suffered abuse in their childhood. And as a couple they were involved in “mutual abuse,” he testified.

Heard's father beat her up, Anderson said, adding: “She was proud to start a fight if she felt they disrespected her.”

Heard would also rather be in a fight with Depp than watch him leave and “I could beat him to keep him there,” Anderson said.

The therapist recalled when Heard told her that Depp was using a lot of drugs.

“And she slapped him because he was saying inconsistencies and talking about being with another woman,” Anderson said. He pointed out that Depp's mother was in the hospital at the time.

Anderson said Depp told him that Heard “hit as hard as he could.” She also noted that in at least one session in which she saw Heard alone, the actress told her that Depp was beating her. He said that Heard showed him his bruises, both in photographs and in person.

Anderson said that Heard also told him that Depp at some point allegedly told him: “Nobody likes you. You're having a reputation for me. I don't feel in love with you anymore. You're a prostitute.”

Anderson pointed out that Heard's harsh manner of talking and his habit of interrupting Depp weighed him down.

Heard “wanted to want a divorce,” but at the same time he didn't want it either and was trying to define what to do, Anderson said. “She loved him. He loved her. She wasn't stupid, she knew what they were doing wasn't healthy.”

Depp and Heard are expected to testify during the Fairfax County Circuit Court trial that is expected to last six weeks. Actors Paul Bettany and James Franc or, as well as businessman Elon Musk, could also testify.

Depp sued Heard for $50 million for defamation and she countersued him for $100 million. The litigation is expected to last several weeks.

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