Even if you don’t follow Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s trial, it’s kind of hard not to know what’s going on because of the media coverage and people sharing their opinions on it online. Because there are so many articles and posts with updates and who said what, it can get overwhelming.
But Twitter user van (der woodsen) went to the beginning and put the whole progression of events in a comprehensive timeline so that we could all understand how everything escalated to the circus of a trial we've seen up until now.
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To better understand the relationship between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, Twitter user shares a complete timeline of what happened between them
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The Twitter user starts from the very beginning of the time when Johnny Depp and Amber Heard met. It was in 2009 when they started filming the film The Rum Diary in which Amber Heard played Chenault, the love interest of a journalist named Paul Kemp, portrayed by Johnny Depp.
Depp was still in a relationship with Vanessa Paradis at the time, with whom he had two children, and Heard was dating Tasya Van Ree. The actor actually confessed in his testimony that he started having feelings for Heard when they were filming a scene that involved kissing in the shower.
An interesting detail here is that in 2009, when Heard was dating Tasya Van Ree, she was arrested for misdemeanor domestic violence as she reportedly struck Ree. However, Ree claimed that Heard was wrongfully accused.
The thread starts with how the couple met and it was actually on a film set in 2009 when they worked on The Rum Diary
Image credits: drugproblem
Image credits: drugproblem
After the promotion tour for the movie, the actors went their separate ways and that is when Depp realized that he actually wanted to be with Heard. At the 31st annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival he said, “She was in my head, so I tracked her down.”
June 2012 is when Depp announced that he broke up with Vanessa Paradis after being in a relationship for 14 years and Heard also broke up with Ree in the same year. The two of them were spotted spending more time with each other.
In 2012 both of them ended their relationships they had before meeting each other and they started dating
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Heard reports that the first time she experienced abuse was in 2013 when she was slapped in the face for joking about Depp's tattoo, which the man denies
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Johnny Depp was known for drinking a lot of alcohol and using drugs, and for a while he was completely sober, but in his testimony he admitted that while working on Lone Ranger in 2013, he started drinking again and didn’t deny that he would use drugs.
Coincidentally, while testifying during the trial against The Sun, Amber Heard says that Depp slapped her for the first time in the same year. When the News Group Newspapers’s lawyer asked him about the incident, the actor denied it: “That is not correct, it’s untrue. It didn’t happen.”
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There were several more accusations of physical abuse in 2013 made by Heard
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In that trial we also learnt that the couple had another fight and Depp described it as a “disco bloodbath” which refers to a book by James St. James that talks about American club promoter’s Michael Alig’s rise to fame and path to becoming a murderer.
Amber Heard testified in 2020 that Depp hit her with the back of his hand while wearing his rings on his fingers that split her lip and the blood spattered on the wall in their kitchen. According to her, Depp got heated in an argument about her cheating on him, which she claimed was completely untrue.
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But in a text message to her mom, Heard says that Depp is just raging but doesn't get physical, however, she says that she is scared
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Messages from the end of March to Heard’s mother shows that she wasn’t happy in the relationship, but couldn’t leave it because she still considered Depp her love. Heard also mentioned that she hadn’t experienced physical violence and Depp used this statement as proof that there was never any abuse in the relationship from his side.
Another story from 2013 comes up during the 2020 trial and it involves getting violent with Heard’s friend when she touched her. The actor was accused of implying that he would break her wrists, but the man’s side of the story was that he just removed the friend’s hand from Heard’s body.
When the couple came back to their trailer after this incident, they got in an argument and Heard was yelling at Depp for ruining everyone’s night. Depp was so frustrated that he broke a bathroom sconce by punching it because he felt that the way he was treated was unfair.
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In January 2014, Heard was spotted wearing a ring and later the couple confirm that they got engaged
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In 2014 the couple announced their engagement even though their relationship wasn’t going smoothly, as these accusations demonstrate. Heard says that the abuse didn’t stop after the engagement and it didn't take long until another incident happened.
Heard claims she was kicked by Depp on the plane because he thought she was cheating on him with James Franco, a colleague she was shooting romantic scenes with. According to Heard, Depp was ‘blackout’ intoxicated.
Text messages show Depp apologizing but it isn’t clear what he is referring to because he doesn’t explicitly say what he was sorry for. Another set of screenshots show that Depp’s assistant saw the abuse happen.
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Heard claims that Depp continued to be violent and kicked her while on a plane and Depp's assistant seems to confirm that it was the truth
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Image credits: twitter.com
A few months passed by again and Depp went to his private island in the Bahamas to detox from opiates. He went there with his medical team and Heard insisted on coming along instead of his sister. Depp revealed that at certain times, his medical staff wasn’t available so Heard managed his detox medication. Turns out, she was very strict with the exact times the pills had to be taken.
The actor recalled begging her to give him the detox pills because he was in so much pain, but the ex-wife wouldn’t budge if it wasn’t the time for them. Heard said that during this time he grabbed her by her hair and pushed her, but Depp denied it and explained that he physically wouldn’t have been able to do that because of the condition he was in.
Even though Depp said that he felt Heard was being inhumane and wouldn’t give her medication to relieve his pain, a message he sent to her mom shows appreciation for what his ex-wife did and named her as the reason he pulled through.
Depp claims that he also experienced abuse when Heard wouldn't give him his detox medication to relieve his pain until she decided it was time
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Heard accused Depp of causing her physical pain when they were on a trip to Tokyo for the Mortdecai premiere
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We now enter 2015, when the couple attended the Mortdecai premiere in Tokyo. Heard has accused Depp of slapping her, grabbing her by her hair and kneeling on her back. The actor denies any of that happened and points to pictures taken that evening where no visible injuries can be seen on Heard’s body.
Just a month after visiting Tokyo, Heard and Depp got married in LA and later had a bigger celebration on the mentioned private island in the Bahamas. Apparently, Heard’s sister didn't think this marriage would be happy as she warned the woman that a ring doesn’t solve or prove anything.
The actors got married in February of 2015 in a private ceremony
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When the couple stayed in Australia, they got in a huge argument that ended with Depp losing the tip of his finger, by his account, due to Heard throwing a bottle at him
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The Twitter user describes what allegedly happened in March 2015 as the scariest accusations. While Depp was filming Pirates Of The Caribbean 5, the couple stayed in Australia and Heard has called the stay a 'three day hostage situation' because Depp was very violent and she was afraid she could get killed.
In the current trial, on the other hand, Depp remembers that Heard was the one who was going crazy because of her dissatisfaction with their post-nuptial agreement. Depp was trying to get away from her, locking himself up in different rooms so as to not interact with his ex-wife and not to escalate the situation while she banged on the doors and screamed.
When Heard walked away from the door, Depp went to pour himself some vodka but his ex-wife quickly presented herself in front of him, mad that he was drinking again and smashed the bottle. Depp found another, bigger bottle and Heard took that as well and as she threw it, she managed to cut off the tip of Depp’s middle finger.
Depp said that it was actually quite severe because he saw the bone sticking out and there was a lot of blood. While looking at the photos presented in court of him in the hospital because of his injury, the actor also remembered Heard putting out a cigarette on his face.
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Image credits: drugproblem
Heard claims that she had nothing to do with Depp’s cut-off finger and she showed a message the actor sent to his doctor admitting he did it himself. When asked about this message, Depp explained that he was just joking.
Heard's sister claims she saw Depp getting violent with Heard on March 23, 2015 and in self defense, the woman hit Depp with a closed fist
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Amber Heard accuses Johnny Depp of getting violent with her multiple times throughout 2015 but the man responds that he also was a target of physical abuse.
Heard provides photo evidence of her having scratches on her hand when she was attending the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2015. Depp explains that those scars appeared as a result of self-harming.
Heard provides photo evidence of her having scratches on her hand when she was attending the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2015. Depp explains that those scars appeared as a result of self-harming.
And when Heard claims that she had to cover up 2 black eyes before going on James Corden in December, Depp argues that there were no injuries to cover up, although Heard’s makeup artist, Melanie Inglessis, testifies that she saw hints of experiencing physical abuse while doing her makeup that day.
There is also another photo in which Depp’s nose looks red and according to the actor, it was an injury inflicted by Heard.
Their honeymoon was also violent: Heard accused Depp of grabbing her by the throat and Depp claimed the red mark on his nose seen in the photo was left by his ex-wife
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Heard’s birthday didn't pass without an incident either. On April 21, 2016, Depp was late to the party and when Heard confronted him about it, he went wild but Depp denied it and claims that actually she attacked him.
Just a day later, their cleaner came and found poop on their bed. Heard blamed her dog who had bowel issues, but Depp believed it couldn’t have belonged to a small dog. Also, Depp had an idea of a poop prank 3 years earlier and his plan would have been to blame Heard’s dogs.
Heard provided photos of injuries that allegedly came from Depp dragging her by her hair, when she was afraid she would be accidentally killed
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In December 2015, Heard appeared on James Corden seemingly uninjured, but her makeup artist claims she covered up bruises and saw hair missing
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About a month later, on May 20, 2016, Depp’s mom died but his team said that even though the actor was heavily drinking, he wasn’t out of control. On April 20, 2022, Depp remembered this day in his testimony and opened up about having been abused by his mother in his childhood, but they had a close relationship. He also said that her death made him realize that he wanted a divorce, but wasn't planning to mention any violence in the paperwork.
A day after his mother’s death, Heard and Depp got in a fight again and neighbor Raquel Pennington witnessed Depp screaming at Heard. Heard said Depp threw his iPhone at her so hard, it left a mark and she asked her friend to call the police.
LAPD didn't find any injuries or damage and Heard didn’t make a statement so they leave. There is a medical record confirming the injury, but according to Depp, it wasn’t him. And there are no visible injuries in a CCTV captured the day after when Heard met James Franco, as claimed by Depp’s lawyers, but it’s hard to say as the footage doesn’t show it clearly.
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Heard and Depp got in an argument on the woman's birthday and the actor claimed his ex-wife punched him in the face for being late for her party
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Image credits: drugproblem
It seems that not only Depp was thinking about filing for divorce, as Heard beat him to it and did it first on May 23, 2016, citing irreconcilable differences, and asked for an emergency temporary restraining order.
Depp publicly denied all the accusations towards him and thought it was Heard’s way of trying to get more money, so the woman withdrew her request of spousal support because she believed it was distracting people from the real issue, which was that she had allegedly experienced domestic violence.
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A month later, after the birthday incident, on May 20, 2016, Depp lost his mother
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Heard actually got a lot of backlash for divorcing Depp only a few days after his mother died. Photos that are released of her bruised face also raise suspicion when the concierge in her building reveals he never saw any injuries on her.
On the other hand, a video of Depp is released in which he is seen raging and the actor justified himself by saying that he was upset about his mother, but the video is dated before it happened, which also raises suspicion.
The day after, Depp and Heard got in an argument and the police were called, but they didn't find anything suspicious
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Image credits: drugproblem
Image credits: drugproblem
Image credits: drugproblem
Amber Heard testified about the domestic violence she experienced in a deposition, and on August 16, 2016, Depp and Heard settled on their divorce. Depp had to pay $7 million to Heard, which she promised to donate to charity, and the actress dropped her domestic violence accusations.
The divorce was finalized only in 2017 when they agreed on the terms of the split. Depp kept his properties and Heard was left with her dogs.
3 days after Depp's mom's death, Heard filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences, and got a temporary restraining order on Depp
Image credits: drugproblem
Image credits: drugproblem
Image credits: drugproblem
On August 12, 2016, a video filmed by Heard surfaced in which Depp could be seen acting aggressively
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Even though it seemed that everything had ended between the two, this divorce completely stained Depp’s reputation and the media couldn’t drop it. And when The Sun called the actor a ‘wife-beater’ in 2018, he decided to take action and sued News Group Newspapers Ltd, which publishes The Sun.
Depp lost the case and was denied appeal, which further painted him in dark colors and made people look into his questionable behavior sometimes.
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On August 16, 2016, the actors settle their divorce, the restraining order is cancelled and Depp has to pay his ex-wife $7 million
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The accusations of domestic abuse stained Depp's reputation and when The Sun called him a "wife-beater", he sued them in 2018
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At the end of the same year, Heard wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post in which she said she “became a public figure representing domestic abuse.” Depp’s name was never mentioned but the actor was convinced it was because of what Heard wrote that Disney didn’t want him to return as his iconic character Jack Sparrow in the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
That is why on March 1, 2019, Johnny Depp and his lawyer filed a defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard. He claimed that Heard wasn’t the victim but the perpetrator, releasing photos that showed his injuries that were a result of Heard allegedly punching and kicking him.
As Heard did previously, Depp also accused his ex-wife of getting violent when using drugs and injuring him even with witnesses around. Concluding his testimony this week, Depp claimed he was a victim of domestic violence and his words were sustained by his former house manager who testified that Heard acted “like a spoilt teenage child" and was constantly drunk.
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Image credits: drugproblem
Image credits: drugproblem
In the same year, Heard wrote an op-ed published by The Washington Post and called herself "a public figure representing domestic abuse”
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Before the trial started, on April 11, 2019, Heard filed a motion to dismiss starting by saying that she did experience violence and if Depp doesn't remember that, it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen because he was frequently intoxicated. And him getting offended by the op-ed that didn’t mention his name is proof of him admitting he did abuse her. In that motion to dismiss, she put all the evidence she had of 14 recorded instances of abuse against her.
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In 2019 Depp filed a defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife over the op-ed
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It was quiet for a while until January of 2020 when DailyMail received private recordings of Heard’s and Depp’s conversations in which both of them admitted to getting violent against each other.
In another clip in which went viral, the woman is heard saying that no one would believe Depp if he said he was the victim. There is also a recording which seemingly takes place after their divorce as Heard says she has such good evidence that it would be the easiest domestic violence case ever, but she doesn’t want to go to court because she doesn’t want to hurt Depp. Depp agrees that it’s best not to go to court, but he won’t prevent Heard from doing anything she thinks is needed.
Heard filed a motion to dismiss in response and tried to make Depp's character seem unreliable as he was often under the influence of drugs or alcohol
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In 2020 DailyMail received several private recordings of conversations between Depp and Heard
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The thread started telling the story from the very beginning and put everything the public knows into chronological order, so we could better understand how the relationship evolved and how the couple got into the situation they are in now.
Do you follow the lawsuit between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard? Did you follow their relationship when all of this was unknown? Who do you support more? Let us know in the comments!