Amber Heard Shares The First Time She Was Allegedly Hit By Johnny Depp For Laughing At His Tattoo

Amber Heard has finally taken the stand during the defamation trial. She detailed the abuses she allegedly went through at the hands of Johnny Depp when the two were married.

Elaine Bredehoft, Heard's attorney asked her to recall the first time she was "physically hit" by her ex-husband. She noted that the first time she was hit by Depp was something she could never forget because "it changed my life." She has previously stated that their relationship had always been intense. The intensity turned sour and the toxicity of their relationship was noted by other witnesses, especially Depp's bodyguards, in the courtroom. 

Heard looked back on how the abuse first started by detailing the time, very early on in their relationship, that she asked Depp about the tattoo on his arm. She said that they were having a "normal conversation" at the start. Referring to the tattoo she said, that it was "hard to read." Depp told her the tattoo said "wino" and after his explanation, Heard laughed at it which set Depp off. 

"It was that simple. I just laughed because I thought he was joking. And he slapped me across the face," Heard said. "I laughed because I didn't know what else to do. I thought, 'This must be a joke.' ... I didn't know what was going on. I just stared at him, kind of laughing still, thinking he was gonna start laughing too to tell me it was a joke. But he didn't." She realized that it was not a joke anymore but also did not know how to react. "You would think you'd have a response, but I, as a woman, had never been hit like that," she added. "I'm an adult and I'm sitting next to the man I love and he slapped me for no reason it seemed like. I missed the point. It was that stupid."

As she continued to stare at him because she didn't know what else to do, Depp allegedly slapped her harder the second time which caused her to lose balance and fall down. "I wish so much he had said he was joking," Heard said. "'Cause it didn't hurt; it didn't physically hurt me. ... I didn't want to leave him. I didn't want this to be the reality. I didn't want to have the man I was in love with — I know you don't come back from that. I'm not dumb. You can't hit a woman, you can't hit a man. You can't hit anyone." The 36-year-old was in tears as she continued.

"I knew it was wrong. And I knew that I had to leave him," she continued on the stand, crying. "And that's what broke my heart. ... I wish I could sit here and say I stood up and I walked out of that house and I drew a line and I stood up for myself." She then explained that Depp got down on his knees with tears in his eyes as he pleaded for her to forgive him and promised that he "will never do that again."

Depp has previously testified about the incident claiming it did not happen. "I've never struck Ms. Heard. I have never struck a woman in my life," he said. "I'm certainly not going to strike a woman if she decides to make fun of a tattoo that I have on my body. ... That allegation never made any sense to me whatsoever." He has denied the other allegations as well.