Who is Malcolm Connolly? Johnny Depp's bodyguard saw 'swelling' on his face during honeymoon
Johnny Depp's bodyguard has said that he had noticed injuries and marks on the actor's face as his marriage with Amber Heard started getting strained. On Thursday, April 28, Malcolm Connolly took the stand at the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial, telling the court that he saw Depp go from being happy in love to "quiet" as Heard became more "dominant" and "demanding".
A recent update in the case revealed that Amber Heard reportedly sought a payoff from Johnny Depp in exchange for holding off on going public with their life full of scandals. Heard said she would not immediately file an order of protection if her estranged husband gave her access to his SUV and three downtown Los Angeles penthouses at his expense, revealed a 2016 letter presented at the trial.
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The letter, dated May 24, 2016, from Heard's attorney Samantha Spector, sought an arrangement to “do everything possible to keep this personal matter out of the media spotlight.” The actress demanded “exclusive use and possession of the black Range Rover, the vehicle she is currently driving, with Johnny to continue to make all payments.” She also requested “exclusive use and possession of 849 S. Broadway, Penthouse Nos. 1, 3 and 5 with Johnny continuing to pay mortgage, utilities, etc.,” and also sought $100,000 in legal fees and $25,000 “for forensic account costs.”
Who is Malcolm Connolly?
Connolly identifies as a 'protection officer' and has been Johnny Depp's longtime bodyguard. He initially began working for the actor as his security guard when he was with ex-partner Vanessa Paradis and their children. Connolly reportedly met Amber Heard for the first time when she promoted the film 'Drive Angry' with Nicolas Cage in the UK in 2010.
Connolly testified remotely from his native UK, saying, "At the beginning [it was] all lovey-dovey. Everything was great. Honeymoon period was on, and yeah it was good. It was great to see Johnny happy again. Amber was lovely, charming - as she usually is - and good as gold."
At the trial, he said that things gradually "started to change" between Depp and Heard, who would argue more often. "Amber started to change. Amber started getting a bit more feisty, demanding. I could see that Amber wanted to wear the pants in this relationship. That was pretty obvious," he said, adding that Heard "could get a frosty at the drop of hat." He said that he observed Depp "getting quieter" as Amber "started getting grumpy" over time. However, he said that he never saw the two engage in a fight physically.
Connolly said that over time, he started noticing scratches and injuries on Depp's face, but never on Heard. "What I noticed straight away was most of these marks were happening on the left hand side of his (Depp's) face," Connoly said. "There would be scratches on his neck. Maybe a fat lip in the corner, a bruising in the eye socket. It was getting more regular. Not every week, but it was definitely happening."
The jury was shown a picture of Depp and Heard during their honeymoon in 2013, which Connolly had captured. Asked to describe it, he pointed the "swelling on the left hand side" of Depp's nose and "under his left eye". "Either he's walked into a door, or a door has walked into him," Connolly said when asked what he thought had happened, as those in the courtroom laughed.
Depp has finished testifying in his $50 million defamation trial against Heard. At the trial, the actor claimed that he was telling the "truth" for his family and children's sake. He also claimed that Heard's allegations against him have ruined his relations in Hollywood. The trial is expected to last at least six weeks. While jurors have heard several contradictory accounts of the relationship between the former pair, Heard's team has portrayed Depp as an abusive partner who was regularly into acohol and drugs. Depp's team, on the other hand, has labeled Heard's allegations of violence as a "hoax" and claimed that it is a deliberate attempt to destroy Depp's reputation.