‘Mutual abuse’ in Depp-Heard marriage, therapist says

Los Angeles, US, Apr 14 (EFE).- A former psychotherapist for actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard said there was “mutual abuse” in the marriage, a United States court heard on Thursday.

On the third day of the defamation trial, the Virginia court played a recorded statement from Dr Laurel Anderson who worked with the couple at the end of 2015. Heard filed for divorce in May 2016

Anderson said the couple’s sessions could be stormy, with both threatening at times to walk out, and that Heard had reported physical violence from her then-husband. She said she had seen Heard with a bruised face both in photos and in person.

The clinical psychologist said Heard would initiate fights to keep Depp from leaving.

“If he was going to leave her to de-escalate from the fight, she would strike him to keep him there. She would rather be in a fight than have him leave,” she said.

The psychologist also testified to both Heard and Depp being victims of childhood abuse, and said Depp did not engage in violence with past partners.

“I thought he had been well controlled for decades,” Anderson said. “With Ms Heard, he was triggered and they engaged in what I saw as mutual abuse.”

Also Thursday, Heard’s former personal assistant Kate James said the actress spat in her face for asking for a pay rise. She also said she never saw the actress suffer physical abuse from Depp.

A day earlier, a close friend of Depp’s who lived next door to the couple, Isaac Baruch, said that he did not witness physical violence, nor could he see bruises on Heard’s face when she told him Depp had hit her.

The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star and the “Aquaman” actress were both present at Thursday’s session of the defamation trial in which Depp is suing Heard for $50m over an article she wrote in which she alluded to herself as a victim of domestic abuse. He denies this, and Heard has filed a $100 million counterclaim.

The trial is being broadcast live, witnesses such as actor James Franco and Elon Musk are expected to testify. EFE

romu/tw