Johnny Depp’s former flame, actress Ellen Barkin, testifies

Actress Ellen Barkin told Johnny Depp’s defamation trial that he once threw a bottle of wine at her and called him a ‘controlling, jealous man.’

Barkin, 68, said she met Depp around 1990 and developed a friendship that lasted 10 years, including starring together in the film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Asked if their relationship became ‘romantic,’ Barkin said with a smile that it happened around 1994 when she ‘moved to Hollywood and he switched the buttons.’

Barkin said that the friendship went from a ‘purely platonic friendship to romantic,’ then asked to correct the record and said: ‘Can you change that to sexual? Thank you.’

According to Barkin, the relationship lasted several months and she would go to Depp’s house or he would come to hers three or four times a week.

Barkin, speaking in a pre taped deposition, said that she was ‘always aware’ that Depp drank too much.

She said: ‘He was drunk all the, most, a lot of the time’ and that Depp was a red wine drinker. She saw him using cocaine, marijuana and hallucinogenic drugs, once telling her he was ‘tripping.’

Asked how many times this happened, she said: ‘I couldn’t even tell you. He was always drinking or smoking a joint.’

One of Heard’s lawyers asked: ‘Did there come a time when Mr. Depp acted in a way that was out of control with you?’

Barkin said: ‘Yes. Mr Depp threw a wine bottle across the hotel room in one instance, in Las Vegas while shooting Fear and Loathing. A fight was going on, between Johnny Depp and his friends in the room, the assistant.’

Barkin could not remember if the bottle was full and it did not hit her or anyone else.

She said that it was a ‘toss’ that came from the other side of the hotel room.

Describing her breakup with Depp, Barkin said there was a ‘big goodbye’ and she didn’t hear from Depp again.

She said that during their relationship there was a ‘lot of jealous – don’t do this, don’t do that’

Barkin said: ‘He’s just a jealous man, controlling, where are you going, who are you going with. What did you do last night. I had a scratch on my back once that got him very, very angry because he he insisted it came from having sex with a person who wasn’t him.’

She added that jealous comments from Depp were ‘very common’ and he would get angry and ‘demanding’ when the subject came up.

#AMBERTURD – SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERT TESTIFIES

After lunch, Heard called Ron Schnell, an expert in the statistical and forensic analysis of social media for Berkeley Research Group.

He examined negative hashtags on Twitter about Heard between April 2020 when Depp’s lawyers made statements to the media about her and January 2021.

Schell said that the ‘supermajority’ of negative tweets about Heard during this time period used four derogatory hashtags about her.

The hashtags were: #justiceforjohnnydepp, #amberheardisanabuser, #wejustdontlikeyouamber and #amberturd.

According to Schenll, there were more than 1.2million uses of these hashtags over the time period.

A quarter of them mentioned Wadlman, Schell added, and said that some of the hashtags were ‘pretty rude’.

Between January 2018 and January 2021, there were 2.3m negative tweets about Heard, according to Schnell’s analysis.

Schnell said that between October and November 2020 there was a big jump in the use of

#Johnnydeppisawifebeater which coincided with the end of the libel trial in the UK where a judge ruled that it was ‘substantially true’ he had beat up Heard.

But there was also a spike in the use of #Justiceforjohnnydepp and #amberheardisanabuser in February 2020 when Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman leaked a damaging audio tape about Heard.

The hashtags also spiked in July 2020 and March 2021 as well.

Schnell said that there were increases in the two hashtags during April 2020 which coincided with Waldman making statements to the media.

From April 2020 to January 2021 there were 81,000 uses of ‘hoax’ ‘fake’ or fraud’ hashtag, Schnell said.

There were also 224,000 uses of Waldman or Wald*mignon, which was a popular pun on Waldman’s name.

Tina Newman, a production executive in the live action feature division for Disney, was asked about a comment by Depp that he wouldn’t do another Pirates of the Caribbean film for ‘$300m and a million alpacas.’

Newman said that Disney was not considering offering Depp that.

The court was shown emails from May 2017 from Angela Shaw, one of Disney’s communications executives, to other senior staff in film production at the company.

One of them was a story with the headline: ‘Johnny Depp, a star in crisis and the insane story of his missing millions.’

Newman said it was being circulated because Disney had a ‘relationship’ with Depp and that people would want to be kept aware of such matters.

Newman received another email in July that year from a colleague, Scott Sellers, about an article Depp did for Rolling Stone magazine defending himself.

Newman replied: ‘Depressing.’

In her testimony, Newman said she was not aware of any senior executive who decided not to cast Johnny Depp in Pirates 6 based on Heard’s 2018 op-ed in the Washington Post.

Johnny Depp told his therapist that he told Amber Heard that ‘you’re being my mother and psychotic sister.’

The anecdote was recounted by Dr. Alan Blaustein, who treated Depp for 18 sessions about his mental health issues.

Dr. Blaustein said there was ‘some question about a bipolar diagnosis’ but he did not recall that he was diagnosed.

The therapist told Depp that he had to address his ‘drug use and his turning to drugs to relieve the psychic pain’.

Dr. Blaustein said: ‘He expressed having issues with anger. He expressed feelings of jealousy but I don’t remember if it was about affairs.’

Turning to Depp’s relationship with Heard, the therapist said: ‘It was a very chaotic relationship, lot of fluctuations, up and down.

‘Lots of anger in both places. High intensity affect, emotional expression’.

One time Depp said that Heard was ‘such a pain in the a**’.

Dr. Blaustein’s notes included the word ‘destructive’ but he wasn’t sure what it was about.

He said that Depp spoke about ‘rage and chaos’ in relationships beyond Heard.

‘This included the mother of his children, arguments about child care, visitation, access to the children’, Dr. Blaustein said.

Depp referred to ‘the devil’ as ‘something horrible inside himself’. He talked about the battle many days when he woke up with depression and anxiety.

At one point Depp relayed how he told Heard: ‘You’re being my mother and psychotic sister’.

Dr. Blaustein said that Depp had ‘transitional issues with his memory’.

This was so bad that he had ‘trouble holding onto things from five minutes ago,

trouble remembering words if I distracted him with conversation’.

Depp’s paranoia revolved around ‘fear, envy and vigilance’, as well as insecurity, the court heard.

One note in Dr. Blaustein’s notes refers to a woman in studio who admired Amber and Depp called her a ‘threat.’

JOHNNY WAS DIFFICULT ON SET 

Depp’s former talent agent testified that the actor’s star power dimmed due to bad behavior on set and his anger issues.  

Tracey Jacobs represented Depp for 30 years until 2016 when he fired her and said while representing Depp he became the ‘biggest star in the world’ and that he was ‘extraordinarily talented’.

Asked why Depp fired her, Jacobs said: ‘I really don’t know. He terminated essentially everyone in his life so I was along for the ride, I guess.’

The court was read part of a deposition by Depp in which he suggested she was a ‘co-conspirator’ with somebody he sued and that she was just after the money. Jacobs said that was ‘all untrue’

Asked if Depp was a ‘difficult’ client, she said: ‘He wasn’t initially and it became far more complicated in the last 10 years of my representing him’.

Jacobs said the reason was Depp’s ‘unprofessional behavior,’ a phrase she said ‘covers a multitude of things.’

She said: ‘Showing up late to set, consistently, on virtually every movie. I would get yelled at. I never said to him you’re a difficult client, but I was very honest with him and said you’ve got to stop doing this, this is hurting you. And it did’.

Even after speaking with Depp, he did not correct course.

According to Jacobs Depp’s change in behavior was due to his increased use of alcohol and drugs.

Heard’s lawyer Elaine Bredehoft asked if Depp ‘romanticized drug culture’. Jacobs said yes.

Bredehoft asked: ‘Mr. Depp had fundamental issues with anger?’ Jacobs said yes

Bredehoft asked: ‘Did that worsen over the time of your representation or relatively the same?’

‘Yes, it worsened over time.’

Jacobs agreed that Depp was lacking patience when he didn’t get his needs met and that he started using an earpiece so people could feed him his lines.

Jacobs said, ‘Initially crews loved him because he was always so great with the crew but crews don’t love sitting around for hours and hours waiting for the star of the movie to show up. It also got around town – people talk – and it made people reluctant to use him toward the end’

These problems included filming the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film in Australia where his fingertip got sliced off and filming had to be shut down for several weeks.

Jacobs said that she had numerous conversations with top Disney executives and flew to Australia twice to try and smooth things over.

The court was shown an email that Depp sent to Jacobs while in a rage that Heard was filming London Fields.

The court has previously heard that Depp objected to her doing any nude scenes but they did one for her only with a body double.

Depp emailed Jacobs: ‘IT MUST BE SHUT DOWN OR I WILL SUE THEM EIGHTEEN WAYS FROM F**KING SUNDAY.’

‘THESE PEOPLE ARE NOBODYS IN THIS BUSINESS AND THEY SHOULD BE MADE TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE WILL RUIN THEN INSTANTLY.’

In a follow up email Depp wrote: ‘I NEED YOU to go to the f**king harleys (Hanleys, the film producer) regarding LONDON FIELDS!!! they are going to be PREMIERING IT AT THE LONDON TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL. It is in Amber’s contract there will be NO NUDITY.’

According to Jacobs, the emails showed Depp was ‘trying to get me to kill it,’ referring to the film, and ‘doing everything to shut this down’.

Asked about Depp’s reputation now, she said that ‘these lawsuits don’t help.’

‘GIVE ME $20MILLION!’ – DEPP’S DEMAND FOR MONEY

Jacobs said that in early 2016 Depp was in ‘financial desperation’ and that she emailed him with ‘good news’ about a loan.

She said: ‘We were able to secure a loan for him through Bank of America when Ed White (Depp’s business manager) couldn’t get him any money and it was very helpful for him’.

Around that time Depp signed a deal for $5million for appearing in Murder of the Orient Express and was paid $25million for Pirates 5.

By that point Depp was not the biggest movie star in the world, Jacobs said.

She said: ‘His star had dimmed, given the reputation he’d acquired due to his lateness and other things. People were talking and the question was out there about his behavior’, adding that included drug and alcohol use.

Asked why Depp needed the loan in January 2016, Jacobs said that he came to her office and asked for $20million because he ‘needed the money.’

She said: ‘He needed the money. He just expected us to do it.’

Bredehoft said: ‘He came in and said I want you to get $20million for me?’

Jacob said: ‘Actually it was I want you to give me $20million. The question was not asked as a loan.’

Two other executives told Depp they were ‘not in a position to give our clients that kind of money. We’re not a bank.’

Depp responded that they should give him the money because ‘he’d made a lot of money for us’, Jacobs said, adding that no other client made such a demand.

Bruce Witkin, a record producer and former close friend of Johnny Depp, testified via video deposition on Thursday.  

They worked together on Depp’s band The Hollywood Vampires and had known Depp closely from 1984 until recently. Witkin knew Depp closely from 1984 until recently. Witkin’s sister-in-law was Depp’s first wife, Lori Anne Allison, who he was married to from 1983 to 1985. 

Witkin said, ‘We were (friends) until about four years ago. I considered him my best friend. We were brothers. We a have a lot in common.’

Asked about Depp’s personal physician Dr. Kipper, Witkin said, ‘I don’t have a strong opinion of Dr. Kipper. He was a doctor brought on I believe to help him get sober. He was a sober doctor.

‘I thought it was a scam, I thought it was a complete rip-off but that’s just me.’

Witkin was shown a text that says him saying: ‘I’m real worried about him and this Dr. Kipper.’

Asked about it Witkin said: ‘I didn’t trust this guy.’

DEPP HAD A JEALOUS STREAK GOING BACK DECADES

Witkin was asked if he considered Depp romantic.  

Witkin said, ‘Yeah I think so. Just by the way I’ve seen him act,’ adding that there was intensity and jealousy in his relationships. 

He said the jealousy ‘goes all the way back to my sister in law. Definitely has a jealous streak in him.’

Witkin said when Depp was younger he was jealous of actor Nicolas Case and 80s pop star Adam Ant because Depp’s ex wife knew him. 

He said there was a few moment of jealousy with Depp’s ex Vanessa Paradis, which Witkin called ‘ridiculous.’

‘A lot of it was in his head and not in reality,’ Witkin said. 

Witkin agreed that Depp was also jealous when it came to Amber Heard. 

‘There were a couple of mentions if she was doing a movie with some guy,’ Witkin said. ‘If she was on a film or doing something he couldn’t be around to see what was going on, he’d work himself up.

‘It’s deep rooted issues he’s dealing with, nothing to do with Amber, that’s my opinion.’

Witkin said that ‘one time’ he saw bruises on Heard’s upper arm and that it looked like a grab, not a punch.’

Witkin said that Depp told him that sobering up ‘wasn’t his cup of tea.’

He said: ‘He didn’t believe in a higher power – he was going to do it his own way.’

According to Witkin, Depp’s feelings about Heard were ‘not so much anger as confusion and sadness.’

The record producer said he had seen Depp doing drugs with other Hollywood Vampire band mates including Joe Perry, who he did cocaine with in 2016 on tour.

Witkin said that the first time he saw Depp do cocaine was in 2014 and he was ‘quite surprised as when we were kids he hated that stuff but after that I said why are you doing that, he hid it from me for a long time until 2016.’

Asked why their friendship ended, Witkin said: ‘Honestly I don’t know. Somehow I started to feel a distance end of 2017. We had a gig, I saw him but he was really distance and f**ked up.

‘He wrote me this weird text saying I stabbed him the back and bad mouthed him. Just cut (me) off. Can’t get through to him, not return texts, nothing.

‘I think there’s some people behind the scenes talking sh*t about me because everybody tried to position themselves as his best friend. There were some lies and bullsh*t said about me which he believed.’

Witkin added that ‘people on payroll (for Depp) wouldn’t say much. They don’t want to lose their jobs.’

He said: ‘It’s a strange thing around people like him. Everybody wants something.’

JOHNNY’S ‘VERY DIRE’ FINANCES 

Joel Mandel, business manager with The Management Group (TMG) who used to represent Depp, also testified via video deposition on Thursday.

Depp sued him for $25million in January 2017 accusing him of fraud, theft and malfeasance in his mismanagement of his business and financial interests. They settled the case.

The lawsuit led to embarrassing details about Depp’s spending becoming public including him spending $30,000 a month on wine.

Mandel said that he represented Depp for around 13 years until he fired him in 2016. During that time Depp earned more than $600million but his finances became ‘very dire’ in mid 2015.

According to Mandel, from around 2010 onwards as Depp became a huge star he changed from someone who ‘liked to enjoy his wine at the end of the day’ to somebody whose alcohol consumption was ‘excessive.’

Depp became ‘more difficult’ to meet with and it became ‘more clear there were issues with alcohol and drugs.’

Mandel said: ‘There were stretches of time when it appeared the use of alcohol and drugs was a daily event.’

According to Mandel, Depp lived a large lifestyle and said his ‘income was very significant, spending was very significant.’

This included $100,000 a month on Dr. David Kipper, Depp’s personal doctor, and the nurses who looked after him and Heard.

Depp’s security guard Jerry Judge was paid $10,000 per day, Mandel said, adding that ‘thousands of dollars a month’ went on prescription pills.

Depp’s estate manager Kevein Murphy was paid around $250,000 a year and his assistant Stephen Deuters earned $125,000 a year.

According to Mandel, by 2015 Depp’s finances had reached a point where he was ‘extremely concerned’ but Depp grew angry at him when he tried to explain it.

Efforts to reign in Depp’s spending were met with promises he never followed through on.

Mandel told the court: ‘Spending levels had grown very, very, very large and required a level of incredibly high income to be maintained and when that dropped off the disconnect became untenable.’

According to Mandel, he told Depp that they needed $25million by the end of 2015 and that they might have to get a loan for it.

That year was the first time Mandel couldn’t pay Depp’s taxes on time, he told the jury.

There were a ‘variety of meetings’ about the ‘very dire financial situation’ but the tone became ‘more tense’

Matters became contentious when Mandel told Depp he had to sell his $39million chateau in France to pay the bills. Depp refused.

After that, in March 2016, Depp fired Mandel and TMG and later sued them both.

Mandel finished his testimony by denying he stole $650million from Depp’s finances as the actor claimed in the lawsuit he filed against him.

In fact, Mandel said he had stolen nothing at all from Depp.

Johnny Depp’s lawyer claimed that 29 eyewitnesses could ‘disprove’ Heard’s claims – and gave 11 for one incident alone.

Adam Waldman was asked by one of Heard’s lawyers to list the 29 witnesses he says have disproved Heard’s allegations.

Waldman said one example could be the incident on May 21, 2016 at Heard’s Los Angeles penthouse where she claims Depp hit her with a phone.

The next week she filed for divorce and a restraining order against Depp.

Waldman said he chose this allegation because it was one of Heard’s ‘central claims’, noting that the images of her bruised face from this episode appeared on the cover of People magazine.

According to Waldman, the two police officers who attended the incident – one of whom was trained in domestic violence – said there was ‘no damage’ to the apartment.

Heard by contrast claimed the place had been ‘destroyed’.

Waldman said ‘There are nine other witnesses, the majority of whom are either neutral or Miss Heard’s own witnesses who have testified in various forms that there were no injuries to her face whatsoever between 21st and 27th when there suddenly were’.

Heard filed for her restraining order on May 27th that year, the court has heard.

According to Waldman, the nine witnesses included Isaac Baruch who lived on the same floor as Heard and the housekeeper Hilda Vargas.

Other people included Melanie Inglessis, Heard’s makeup artist, and Alejandro Romero, head of security at the building.

Waldman said: ‘These people specifically have given testimony she was uninjured between 21st of May up until the 25th or 26th of May’.

Waldman was asked about some photos that Marilyn Manson, a friend of Depp’s, sent him regarding a fight with Heard on Thanksgiving 2013.

Waldman said: ‘I think those videos and photographs, yes, demolished her claim’.

Waldman said that he personally made a complaint to the Los Angeles Police Department about Heard possibly committing perjury.

He said: ‘I filed a claim with the LAPD regarding these perjurious statements Miss Heard and her best fiend Rocky Pennington made to a court’.

Los Angeles police officers have to conduct an investigation if they see injuries on a person when responding to a domestic violence call, the court heard.

Marie Sadanaga, a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department who is its Domestic Violence Coordinator, explained the rules during testimony at the trial.

Her questioning related to the incident in May 2016 when two cops attended Heard’s penthouse after she claims Depp threw a phone which hit her face.

The two officers have testified they did not see injuries to Heard, who refused to cooperate or give a statement because she was ‘protecting’ Depp.

Heard’s lawyer Elaine Bredhoft asked Sadanaga: ‘If a police officer sees injuries, regardless of whether the victim cooperates, what is their obligation?’

The detective replied: ‘To do an investigation to determine if that injury was a result of a crime.

‘It would include interviewing anyone at the scene. Any type of physical evidence, altercation…just doing a thorough investigation’.

Bredehoft asked what difference it would make it a witness ‘took officers through the entire premises and showed broken glass, spilled wine and a number of areas of disturbance, what would officers’ obligations be?’

The question appeared to refer to Heard’s former friend Josh Drew who did just that.

Sadanaga said: ‘Officers would still need to determine if there was enough evidence there to determine if this injury is a result of the crime’.

She added that ‘officers need to do an investigation if there is a visible injury’.

Sadanaga said that even if the officers determine there was no crime, the purpose of domestic violence reports is that there will be documentation if something similar happens again.

She said: ‘We know with domestic violence there is a series of incidents that happen and not all of those are crimes.

‘We document those, we can go back and say there have been all these other incidents.’