Amber Heard's ex-PA says actress 'stole her rape ordeal story and used it as her own'

Amber Heard’s former PA has told a court the actress “stole” her story of being violently raped at machete-point in Brazil three decades ago “for her own use”.

Kate James, who said while employed practically ran the star’s life, accused her former boss of “‘twisted it into her own story to benefit herself”.

The PA appeared on the third day of evidence in the explosive defamation trial in Fairfax, Virginia, between Heard and her former husband, Johnny Depp.

Ms James told the jury she worked for the actress between 2012 and 2015 and that they had not spoken in the past five years.

She described her former boss as a “very dramatic person”, telling how Heard, 35, would need appeasing by constantly asking if she was alright.

Ms James testified how the actress would complain or cry due to insecurities in her relationship with Depp but never told her anything about him being abusive. She said there was never any evidence of violence, adding she was at there at their Los Angeles home almost daily and never saw a thing.

Asked if there was “nothing you heard, nothing you witnessed” that ever gave her an “inkling of concern” about possible violence in the relationship, she replied: “Never.”

Discussing her job, Ms James told by video one of her duties was to pick up two copies of any magazine featuring the actress.

She was told to store them in her garage because Heard didn’t want Depp to see them.

She said the actress once got “very angry” one day when she failed to put them away.

“She went absolutely ballistic over that,” Ms James said.

Asked to elaborate, she said it was “yelling, abuse” but could not remember precisely what Heard said. She added it was “blind rage”.

The jury heard how Heard terminated Ms James’s employment just after her wedding to Depp in 2015.

She told the court the actress told her she needed to support her mother and could no longer afford Ms James as a PA.

Heard’s lawyer, Ben Rottenborn, asks her if she resented Heard. She replied it would have been good to have had some notice, “but apart from that, no”.

She added her sacking was a “bit of a shock”, a “bit of a feeling of being blindsided”.

Ms James also told the court she never saw Depp using illegal drugs or abusing alcohol.

She did say there was “lots of heavy drinking” by Heard and she also used magic mushrooms, ecstasy, and cocaine.

She said Heard often appeared drunk and she used prescription medication including Accutane to treat acne that doctors advise should not be taken with alcohol.

At one point, the jury was shown a text message the actor, 58, sent her and another person in June 2016.

It read: “Thank you, sweetheart… I’m disgusted that I ever f***in’ touched that scum… Back on Tuesday!!! And then… Court!!! I will hit you when I get back, doll… Come over for a spot of purple and we’ll fix her flabby ass, nice and good!!! Loveth… J”

Ms James said she did meet with Depp but that they did not drink red wine [purple]. She did not remember details, saying, “It’s too long ago, Mr Rottenborn. I don’t recall.”

Asked if Depp was referring to Heard in the text, she says it is “the way he writes”, that it’s “random”, and you “don’t sort of question it”.

She said she did not recall exactly what they spoke about but said they would have discussed Heard.

Later she spoke more about the relationship between Depp and Heard.

Ms James said the actress told her she didn’t enjoy hanging out with her husband’s friends because it was “boring”, and they were old men playing the guitars which didn’t interest her.

She added she would sometimes get the “evil eye” from Heard if she were seen speaking with Depp.

The trial stems from a complaint Depp filed in 2019 in which he alleges Heard defamed him in an op-ed piece she wrote for The Washington Post a year earlier.

The actress, 35, described herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse” in the article, although she did not name him by name.

He has asked for £38.4 million in damages.

Heard filed a counterclaim, accusing Depp of allegedly orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her and describing his lawsuit as a continuation of “abuse and harassment.”

She has asked for £76.7 million in damages and immunity from Depp’s claims.

The trial comes after Depp lost a libel case in which he sued News Group Newspapers, publisher of the Sun, for publishing a 2018 story with the headline “Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife-beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk