Johnny Depp v Amber Heard trial: latest news today, 21 May
Depp v Heard trial: latest updates
WATCH: Thursday's courtroom footage of the Depp v Heard trial
The Depp vs Heard case broke for the weekend after Thursday’s testimony, which was day 19 of the trial.
On Thursday, the court heard from witnesses such as Johnny Depp’s former friend Bruce Witkin; Depp’s former co-star and girlfriend Ellen Barkin; and his ex-agent, Tracey Jacobs.
The trial, which had originally been due to end on Thursday, will resume on Monday for the final week’s testimony. Final arguments are to be heard on Friday 27 May.
CONTENT WARNING: The embeded live feed comes direct from inside the courtroom, where strong language and references to content including sex, violence and drug abuse is possible. Discretion is advised.
Last week, jurors were shown love notes written by Amber Heard to Johnny Depp in 2015. The notes describe Depp as a friend who Heard had fallen in love with.
Heard wrote: “True love isn’t just about the madness of passion or instead picking the safety of peace. No it’s about having both. Falling madly in love with your friend.”
She continued: “You are the last thing in the whole world who deserves it, [the] last person I ever meant to hurt. I love you, Steve. I am so forever yours. XX Slim.”
Why was she calling Depp 'Steve'? AS USA's Will Gittins takes a look
We take a look at the timeline of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's relationship - from their first meeting just over a decade ago, to divorce in 2016... and lawsuits and counter-lawsuits.
The Depp v Heard case was originally set to end last week, but the verdict won’t be due until the end of the month because of the amount of evidence that has and still needs to be given.
Depp's "star had dimmed" because of "unprofessional behaviour" - former agent
Also among the witnesses to testify on Thursday was Tracey Jacobs, Johnny Depp’s former agent. Jacobs was brought in by Amber Heard’s legal team to support their argument that it was the actor himself, rather than Heard’s Washington Post op-ed, who damaged his career.
Jacobs, who represented Depp for 30 years before he fired her in 2016, said the star’s “unprofessional behaviour” had made it more difficult to find him acting work in the decade before the pair parted company.
“[Depp was] showing up late to set consistently, on virtually every movie,” Jacobs said. “I would get yelled at. I never said to him, ‘You’re a difficult client.’ I never used those words. But I was very honest with and said, ‘You’ve got to stop doing this. This is hurting you.’ And it did.”
She added: “His star had dimmed due to it getting harder to get him jobs given the reputation that he had acquired due to his lateness, and other things.”
"He's a jealous man, controlling"
Former screen co-star Ellen Barkin, with whom Depp appeared in the 1998 film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, discussed the actor’s controlling nature during what she described as a brief “sexual relationship” with him.
In a virtual deposition, Barkin said that during the several months the pair were together, Depp "was drunk most of the time".
"He's a jealous man, controlling,” she said, explaining that he frequently asked, “Where are you going?” and “Who are you going with?”
Barkin also described an on-set bottle-throwing incident. “Mr Depp threw a wine bottle across the hotel room in one instance, while we were shooting Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. A fight was going on […] between Johnny Depp and his friends in the room, the assistant, honestly I don’t remember.”
The bottle did not hit her or anyone else, Barkin said.
Depp's former friend on star's jealousy
On Thursday, the testimony at the Circuit Court of Fairfax County, Virginia, began with former friend Bruce Witkin, who talked about Depp’s problems with jealousy. “A lot of it was in his head and not in reality,” Witkin said, in reference to the 58-year-old’s relationship with his former partner, Vanessa Paradis.
Asked about Depp’s relationship with Amber Heard, Witkin said: “If she was on a film or doing something that he couldn’t be around, see what was going on, he’d work himself up.”
Depp v Heard, latest news: welcome
Good morning and welcome to our daily live blog on the Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard trial in Fairfax County, Virginia, which is due to resume with the final week of testimony on Monday.
Depp is suing former wife and fellow Hollywood actor Heard for $50 million over a 2018 op-ed she wrote in the Washington Post in 2018, in which she referred to herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse”.
Depp, 58, claims he lost lucrative acting work as a result of the op-ed, which did not mention him by name.
Heard is counter-suing Depp for $100 million.
The couple divorced in January 2017, eight months after Heard had filed for divorce and taken out a temporary restraining order against Depp, alleging he had been abusive towards her during their relationship.