Amber Heard was 'serially violent' towards Johnny Depp and concocted 'abuse hoax' to cover it up, says lawyer
The lawyers for both Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have responded following the leak of explosive audiotapes which seemed to suggest that, contrary to her previous claims, that it was the latter who had been physically abusive in their relationship.
MEAWW previously reported on the incriminating tapes, where Heard says, "I'm sorry that I didn't, uh, uh, hit you across the face in a proper slap, but I was hitting you, it was not punching you. Babe, you're not punched. I don't know what the motion of my actual hand was, but you're fine, I did not hurt you, I did not punch you, I was hitting you."
In another part of their argument, Heard justifies her actions and accuses him of hitting her back, to which he responds, "I pushed you!" She goes on to apologize for not hitting him harder. "I didn't punch you," she argues. "You didn't get punched," she continues. "You got hit. I'm sorry I hit you like this. But I did not punch you. I did not f**king deck you."
In a statement to USA Today, Depp's lawyer Adam Waldman confirmed the recording as a real one from 2015 and said it was proof that Heard had been physically abusive towards the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' actor during their marriage.
"The first confessional tape she made reveals a conversation any real abuse victim will recognize all too well," he noted. "It exposes that Ms Heard perpetrated serial violence against Mr Depp, and then concocted an elaborate abuse hoax to cover it up. Ms Heard gives a motive for her violence: Mr Depp was always trying to 'split' to escape her abuse."
Indeed, in one part of the tape, Depp can be heard exclaiming, "I left last night. Honestly, I swear to you because I just couldn't take the idea of more physicality, more physical abuse on each other. Because had we continued it, it would have gotten f**king bad. And baby, I told you this once. I'm scared to death we are a f**king crime scene right now."
Heard's lawyer Roberta Kaplan did not address the audio recordings directly or even deny the allegations of physical abuse against his client but claimed she had been a victim of the abuse as well.
"The fact that a woman fights or talks back does not mean that she has not been the subject of repeated domestic violence and abuse," she said in a statement. "It’s a myth to say, as Mr Depp apparently is implying, that if Ms Heard slapped him, then she can’t also be a victim. That is just not true."
Kaplan pointed to excerpts from Heard's "formal discovery responses in the Virginia case from more than a month ago," where she claimed to have used her "body and limbs" and thrown "objects in Mr Depp's direction" to protect herself when he "would violently assault her".
In their conversation, the only time Depp admits to hitting back at Heard is when he says, "The only time I ever threw anything at you was when you f**king threw the cans at me in Australia."