Eight bombshells as Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's lawyers fight hard on last day

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s trial concluded today with both legal teams pulling out all the stops to try to convince the jury to side with them.

Following a six-week trial, with Depp, 58, and Heard, 36, making shocking allegations on both sides, the stars’ lawyers made one final impassioned plea in their closing speeches.

In Johnny’s corner, his attorney Camille Vasquez called Amber Heard a “deeply, troubled person desperate for attention.”

While Amber’s lawyer Ben Rottenborn used his time to read out dark texts from the actor about wanting to “burn” his now ex-wife.

The jury is now set to face agonising hours of deliberations about who will come out victorious.

We have taken a look at the bombshell moments from the closing arguments today.

“There is an abuser in this courtroom, but it is not Mr Depp”

The day began with Depp’s lawyer Camile Vasquez giving their side’s closing speech.

“There is an abuser in this courtroom, but it is not Mr Depp. And there is a victim of domestic abuse in this courtroom, but it is not Ms Heard,” she said.

She said the evidence has shown “Ms Heard is in fact the abuser”.

Depp, 58, suffered “persistent verbal, physical and emotional abuse” during their time together,” the lawyer said.

When the pair’s relationship was over she inflicted “greatest and cruellest injury of all” by “falsely” naming him as an abuser, she said.

“Heard’s narrative is lies upon lies”

Ms Vasquez played audio recordings to the jury of what she says is Heard “admitting to being physically violent with” Depp.

In one of the recordings, Heard, 38, says: “I was hitting you… you’re fine… you’re a f****** baby… I did start a physical fight,” she said in the recording.

Ms Vasquez said this is the “real Ms Heard”, not the one jurors have witnessed in court.

She added that in no recording does the Pirates of the Caribbean actor admit hitting Heard.

“It doesn’t exist. It didn’t happen,” she said.

“Heard’s horrific account of Australia trip doesn’t add up”

While on the stand Heard claimed that Depp had penetrated her with a bottle, following an alleged evening of rage and violence, where he threw bottles at her, during a trip to Australia in 2015.

Delivering her closing speech, Ms Vasquez says that Heard has “spun a story of horror” about the ordeal.

The lawyer said that Heard took no pictures of herself or her alleged injuries after the alleged incident and that her testimony “doesn’t add up”.

She told the jury that all the evidence in the trial, other than Heard’s testimony, showed that Heard attacked Depp, severing his finger.

“This #MeToo without any #MeToo”

Depp’s lawyer Benjamin Chew listed the actor’s former partners, including Winona Ryder, Kate Moss and the mother of his children, Vanessa Paradis.

“Before Ms Heard, no woman ever, no woman ever before Ms Heard, ever claimed Mr Depp ever raised a hand to her,” he claimed to the court.

“And no other woman since Ms Heard has made a false claim since.

“This is Me Too without any Me Too,” he said.

Mr Chew discussed Depp’s struggle with drugs and alcohol and claimed the actor “owns his flaws”.

“But he is not a violent abuser,” Mr Chew added.

“In Mr Depp’s world, you don’t leave Mr Depp”

Amber Heard’s lawyer Ben Rottenborn started his closing argument by asking jurors to think about the message Depp and his legal team are sending to Heard and by extension to victims of domestic abuse, “if you didn’t take pictures, it didn’t happen.”

He went on: “If you did take pictures, they’re fake. If you didn’t tell your friends, you’re lying. And if you did tell your friends, they’re part of the hoax.

“If you didn’t seek medical treatment, you weren’t injured. If you did seek medical treatment, you’re crazy.”

He added: “In Mr Depp’s world, you don’t leave Mr Depp. And if you do, he will start a campaign of global humiliation against you. A smear campaign…”

“If he abused her one time, Amber wins”

Rottenborn said that Depp is trying to “fool” the jury.

He recalled the testimony by a couples therapist who said the pair had engaged in “mutual abuse”.

He went on: “They’re trying to trick you into thinking that Amber has to be perfect in order to win,” while ignoring Depp’s flaws.

“Amber’s not perfect, none of us are. She’s never pretended to be. And that’s not what you’re being asked to decide.

“One time, ladies and gentleman. One time. If he abused her one time, Amber wins. Actually, if he fails to prove that he never abused her one time, Amber wins,” the lawyer said.

“A window into the heart and mind of America’s favourite pirate”

Rottenborn took the jury through messages between Depp, his friend, and fellow actor Paul Bettany.

One message said: “Let’s burn Amber!!!” while another said: “Let’s drown her before we burn her!!! I will f*** her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she is dead.”

He read another message after Heard and Depp had split up, which said: “Hopefully that c***’s rotting corpse is decomposing in the f****** trunk of a Honda Civic.”

“These words are a window into the heart and mind of America’s favourite pirate,” Mr Rottenborn says. “This is the real Johnny Depp.”

“Washington Post piece did not cause Depp to lose Pirates role”

Lawyer Ben Rottenborn told the jury that the Washington Post first piece, at the centre of the defamation case, did not cause Depp to lose his part in the next Pirates of the Caribbean film.

“Anything he has lost is the result of his own choices,” Rottenborn said.

He bought up Depp’s battle with The Sun in 2020, which he lost.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to tell Mr Depp that this was his last chance. Tell him to move on with his life.”

“This trial is about so much more than Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard. It’s about freedom of speech. Stand up for it. Protect it. And reject Mr Depp’s claims against Amber.”

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk