Los Angeles, April 14 Hollywood star Johnny Depp told his friend and neighbour that he hoped Amber Heard was a "rotting corpse", in text messages revealed in court during the actor's defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife.
Depp's friend Isaac Baruch took the stand on day three of the highly-publicised trial on Wednesday, reports ew.com.
During cross-examination, Heard's lawyer Elaine Bredehoft revealed texts between Depp and Baruch from October 2016. In the text, Depp said he hoped Heard's "rotting corpse is decomposing in the f-g trunk of a Honda Civic."
Depp also wrote of Heard: "That c- ruined such a f-ing cool life we had for a while."
When asked if he recalled receiving the messages in question, Baruch said, "Yeah, it was written."
Later, Baruch got emotional while addressing what he called Heard's "fraudulent" allegations of abuse against Depp.
"It's not fair. It's not right what she did and what happened for so many people to get affected from this," Baruch said, expressing his anger at "phony pictures taken" of Heard's bruised face "and put in the tabloids," as well as "fake narratives and the way (Heard) got a fraudulent domestic violence claim to extort and blackmail" Depp.
When questioned on whether he knew if Depp committed domestic violence against Heard, Baruch said, "I never saw or witnessed whatever type of claim that is being said."
Text messages of a similar nature between Depp and actor Paul Bettany were previously shared during Depp's libel lawsuit against British newspaper The Sun in London in 2020.
According to ew.com, the actor sued the publisher for use of the term "wife beater" in a piece centered on Heard's allegations.
In court, messages revealed that Depp texted Bettany about drowning and burning his ex-wife, writing, "I will f- her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she's dead."
He lost the lawsuit.
Bettany is also included in Depp's witness list for his defamation trial in the U.S. against Heard due to the text exchanges, meaning he could possibly testify. Depp is suing Heard for USD 50 million over her 2018 Washington Post op-ed that chronicled her experiences as a domestic abuse survivor.
Though she never mentioned Depp by name, the actor's lawyers have claimed that Heard's references to their client were clear, adding that the op-ed has damaged Depp's career and reputation.
The former couple met on the set of the 2011 film 'The Rum Diary' and married in 2015.
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