Johnny Depp to testify in $50M defamation suit against Amber Heard

April 19 (UPI) -- Actor Johnny Depp will take the stand on Tuesday in Virginia in a $50 million defamation suit against ex-wife and actress Amber Heard, relating to her claims of abuse.

Heard, who is countersuing for $100 million, penned a 2018 Washington Post op-ed outlining her experiences with abuse, never mentioning Depp by name.

Depp's former wife of two years wrote how she became the "public figure representing domestic abuse" when allegations regarding her and Depp's brief marriage came to light during their 2017 divorce.

The televised trial for the former couple, who met on the set of the 2011 film The Rum Diary, began on April 11 in Fairfax County and could last for six weeks.

In their opening statements, Depp's lawyers argued that Heard's "lie(s) about him for her own personal benefit" damaged the longtime actor's reputation, while Heard's team painted Depp as a vengeful, alcoholic abuser.

Heard's lawyers said that her Washington Post essay never specifically mentioned abuse by Depp and that it was written to help survivors by highlighting legislation that can protect them.

Witnesses including Depp's older sister, his physician and the couple's former marriage counselor, have given testimonies since the in-person hearings began last week.

Therapist Laurel Anderson, who saw the couple in 2015, testified in a recorded deposition from February that abuse between the former spouses appeared to come from both parties.

"Both were victims of abuse in their homes, but I thought he had been well controlled for decades," Anderson said. "And then with Ms. Heard, he was triggered, and they engaged in what I saw as mutual abuse."

Isaac Baruch, Depp's friend who shared an apartment building with the former couple, testified last week that he never saw evidence that the actor had abused Heard.

Depp lost a 2020 libel lawsuit against The Sun's parent company after the tabloid printed a headline referring to the actor as a "wife beater."