Johnny Depp has claimed that Amber Heard, his ex-wife, was the aggressor in their spousal assault case.
The US actor had sued for defamation, accusing Heard of “name-calling” that often escalated into physical violence.
Depp’s defamation suit went to a trial, starting in Virginia on April 11 with jury selection.
The actor said a 2018 domestic violence piece written by Heard in The Washington Post implied he was abusive.
Heard didn’t name the actor but Depp’s lawyers said her allegations made it difficult for him to land acting roles.
Depp was in court for the second day on Wednesday to describe his “turbulent” marriage to Heard.
According to Rolling Stone, the actor said his relationship with Heard was “toxic”. He added that his ex-wife always exhibited “a need for conflict” and “a need for violence.”
“It could begin with a slap. It could begin with a shove. It could begin with, you know, throwing a TV remote at my head. It could be throwing a glass of wine in my face. But all in all, it was just constant,” the actor told a jury at Fairfax county circuit court in Virginia.
“I was sort of not allowed to be right, not allowed to have a voice. So at a certain point, when that enters your mind is [when] you start to slowly realize that you are in a relationship with your mother in a sense, and I know that that sounds perverse and obtuse.
“But the fact is some people search for weaknesses and sensitivities. And when you’ve told that person your life and what you’ve lived through, what you’ve been through, as happens in relationships, the more that became ammunition from [Heard] … to either verbally decimate me or to send me into a kind of tailspin of confusion and depression.”
Heard had accused Depp in court papers of repeatedly assaulting her throughout their marriage.
She claimed he often slapped, kicked, and dragged her across the floor by her hair.
She alleged he would hold her by the throat, making her fear that he would kill her.
Depp maintained that Heard was the one who was violent toward him.
In testimony on Tuesday, Depp had denied ever striking Heard or any woman.
“She has a need for conflict, she has a need for violence. It erupts out of nowhere,” he said of Heard.
Heard denied in court papers that she had ever struck Depp except in self-defense or in defense of her sister.
During hours of testimony on Wednesday, the jury heard snippets of recorded arguments between the couple.
It also included audio of Depp confronting Heard about kicking a door into his head the previous night and the actress wondering, “Why are you obsessing over the fact that I can’t remember it the way you remember it?”
During his testimony, Depp presented his side of several incidents that have surfaced since their cracked relationship became public, including the time his middle finger was severed.