A friend of Amber Heard's on Tuesday testified that he called police after overhearing what sounded like a violent altercation years ago between her and ex-husband Johnny Depp.
In prerecorded testimony played to the courtroom, author and television host iO Tillett Wright said that in May 2016, Heard texted him, asking to talk. When Wright called her, she put him on speakerphone and said Depp was accusing them of defecating in his bed. Wright said he started to laugh in response but soon realized Depp wasn't joking.
"I could hear him walk away from the phone," Wright said. "He came clomping back down the stairs and I heard like a [punches hand] noise and then the phone dropped and he said to her, 'Oh? You think I hit you? You think I fucking hit you? What if I peel your fucking hair back?' And then I heard the phone drop again and then I heard her scream."
Wright said he called Heard's next-door friend Raquel Pennington and then 911 in New York, even though Heard and Depp were in Los Angeles.
On Monday, Heard testified that she never defecated in Depp's bed, calling the accusation "disgusting." The feces, she said, was instead from the actor's dog.
Wright said he met Heard through a mutual friend and shortly afterward photographed her for a campaign he was working on. He also said he was close friends with Depp and Heard from 2013 to 2015 and even lived on Depp's property for a year. He said when Depp was sober, he was "kind, generous, and loyal," but when he was drunk or high, he could be "incredibly mean or vicious."
Wright also testified that he would act as sort of a mediator between Depp and Heard. He recalled one time when Depp was outside by the pool drinking while Heard was inside the house crying. Wright said Depp told him that Heard had been mean during a fight, calling him old, which caused him to lash out and call her "talentless."
"All she's got is her looks and she has no talent, and when her tits start to sag and her face gets wrinkly, nobody is going to be interested in her for anything, so she better figure out another way to survive," Wright said Depp told him.
The testimony was the latest in a $50 million defamation lawsuit Depp filed against Heard after she wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post in 2018 saying she is the victim of domestic violence. Even though Depp wasn't named in the op-ed, he argues that it's implied that he was the abuser and that he lost out on development deals as a result.
Earlier this month, Heard — who filed a countersuit — described in detail how Depp physically and sexually abused her over several years of their relationship. Depp has denied ever hitting her; over four days of his own testimony, he accused her of being the aggressor.
Wright also testified that after the couple married, Depp told him that he could then punch Heard.
"I was walking with Johnny and congratulating him that they pulled it off and they did it," Wright added. "And he said, 'We're married. Now I can punch her in the face and no one can do anything about it.'"