By Jahanzaib Khokhar

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are suing each other for defamation, each claiming they were abused before and during their roughly two-year marriage.

Mr. Depp, 58, filed a defamation suit against Ms. Heard, 36, after she wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post in which she described herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse." Ms. Heard then countersued Mr. Depp, alleging that he defamed her when his previous lawyer made statements claiming her allegations of abuse were a fake, after more than a year of legal sparring. Last month, Mr. Depp testified for four days, characterizing Ms. Heard as a volatile wife who wanted to start confrontations. Mr. Depp's physical aggression was regularly followed by claims of adultery, according to Ms. Heard, who has been on the stand for two days. Following a week off, her testimony will resume on Monday.

Why Johnny Depp is Suing Amber Heard?

Mr. Depp's complaint, which was filed in 2019, is based on Ms. Heard's 2018 op-ed, "I spoke up against sexual abuse — and faced our culture's wrath." "This must change." Mr. Depp is not mentioned by name in the op-ed, but Ms. Heard writes that she became a "public figure representing domestic abuse" two years before the essay was published. Ms. Heard said in her application that Mr. Depp had been verbally and physically abusive to her during their relationship, including a recent episode in which he pulled her hair and aggressively forced her to the ground. (This was a lie, according to Mr. Depp, and she was the one who punched him in the face that night.)

Ms. Heard's abuse charges, according to Mr. Depp's lawsuit, were a "elaborate fraud" that cost him his job and reputation.

Why Amber Heard is suing Johnny Depp?

Mr. Depp is the target of Ms. Heard's defamation suit, but the words at issue were made by his former lawyer, Adam Waldman, who told the British tabloid The Daily Mail that the actress's allegations were a "abuse farce." Mr. Depp "approved and collaborated" with Mr. Waldman, who was operating on his behalf, to "try to ruin and discredit Ms. Heard in the press," according to her lawsuit. (Mr. Waldman isn't one of the defendants.)

What has Mr. Depp said in his testimony?

Mr. Depp stated that he had never struck any woman, including Ms. Heard. Instead, he claimed that Ms. Heard was the aggressor in the relationship, frequently escalating into physical aggression with violent tirades and "demeaning name-calling."

Mr. Depp explained, “It could begin with a slap, it could begin with a shove, it could begin with throwing a TV remote at my head, throwing a glass of wine in my face". The actor detailed multiple encounters at the centre of the dispute, including one in 2015 while the pair was filming the fifth "Pirates of the Caribbean" film in Australia. Mr. Depp claimed that Ms. Heard was enraged during a meeting with a lawyer about a potential postnuptial agreement and hurled a handle of vodka at his hand, gravely wounding his middle finger.

“The tip of my finger had been severed and I was looking directly at my bone sticking out,” he testified.

What has Ms. Heard said in his testimony?

Ms. Heard painted a very different picture of the couple's relationship, accusing Mr. Depp of a "pattern" of aggression that included him lashing out at her while under the influence of narcotics or alcohol. Despite her protestations, she testified that Mr. Depp's rage would regularly develop into violent violence after he suspected her of cheating on him.

“He would explode,” Ms. Heard said, recalling how Mr. Depp repeatedly slapped her, pounded walls near her head, and shoved her to the ground. Mr. Depp allegedly thrashed her and then sexually assaulted her after using the drug MDMA, according to her description of the incident in Australia. Ms. Heard claimed that he was enraged over a number of reasons, including his assumption that she was having an affair with another actor.

Mr. Depp became "belligerent" and attacked her, punching her in the face, tossing her across the room, ripping off her nightgown, and seizing her by the neck, according to her testimony. He damaged his finger, she claimed, when he snatched a phone off the wall and crushed it to bits.

What judge found in the case till yet?

In 2020, a court found "overwhelming evidence" that Mr. Depp had regularly attacked Ms. Heard during their marriage and had caused her "in fear of her life."

There appear to have been certain restrictions on public discussion of the British trial in Virginia, but they have not been made public. Ms. Heard's attorneys have been given permission to use evidence from the case, including Mr. Depp's.

The jury in the Virginia trial must reach a unanimous decision, but unlike in a criminal case, they do not required to deem the evidence convincing "beyond a reasonable doubt." To win, the jury must decide that Mr. Depp or Ms. Heard established that they were defamed by the larger weight of the evidence, and that they produced clear and persuasive proof that the other party acted with actual malice in doing so.