A long-time friend of Johnny Depp, the artist Issac Brauch, dismissed images of Amber Heard with bruises on her face as “phoney baloney” during a witness statement on the ninth day of Johnny Depp’s libel trial.
Brauch, testifying under oath, told the High Court that he had seen Heard’s face “makeup” free and “without bruises” on May 22, 2016, the day after the actor was alleged by his ex-wife to have thrown a phone at her at their Los Angeles penthouse.
Bruach testified that he had been within “12 inches” of the actress and had not seen “a single mark.”
In his statement, the artist referred to other occasions in which he had seen the actress on days following her claim that Depp had been violent toward her.
"Again, I saw no marks of any kind on either side of her face," he said. "There were no bruises, scratches, redness, dark spots, or swelling of any kind."
In a written statement in support of Depp’s libel claim, Brauch testified that the actor told him in 2013 that Heard “likes to argue and likes to be hit.”
Depp’s security guard, Travis McGivern, said in a written statement that he had seen Heard spit at the actor, punch him in the eye and throw a full can of Red Bull at his back during an argument on 23 March, 2015.
Alejandro Romero, a concierge at the building where Heard and Depp lived, told the court that he “did not notice any bruises, cuts, swelling, red marks or any other injuries of any kind to Ms Heard’s face” in the days after the alleged May 2016 phone-throwing incident.
Romero also told the court that Space X and Tesla founder Elon Musk was a regular late-night visitor at their penthouse apartment. This comes after Depp had said he had suspicions that Heard and Musk were having an affair.
Depp finished giving evidence this week and on Monday the Sun’s defence will begin with evidence from Heard.
Johnny Depp has closed his case in the High Court libel trial.
— Tristan Kirk (@kirkkorner) July 17, 2020
On Monday at 10am, The Sun's defence will begin with the evidence of Amber Heard.
The 57-year-old actor is suing the Sun’s publishers for printing an article with the headline, “Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?” in April 2018.
News Group Newspapers defended the article saying it was true, claiming that Depp was “controlling and verbally abusive” towards Heard when he was “under the influence of drugs and alcohol.”
Heard and Depp were married for two years and their divorce was finalised in January 2017.
