Image copyright EPA/Getty ImagesActor Johnny Depp knelt on ex-wife Amber Heard and hit her on the back of her head during an argument before they were married, she has told a court.
Ms Heard said Mr Depp accused her of having an affair with a co-star.
Mr Depp, 57, is suing the publisher of the Sun over an article that referred to him as a “wife beater” – but the newspaper maintains it was accurate.
He denies 14 allegations of domestic violence on which News Group Newspapers is relying for its defence.
Taking to the witness stand at London’s High Court on the 10th day of the case, Ms Heard said she had been subjected to repeated and regular physical violence by the time of the couple’s marriage in 2015.
Mr Depp’s lawyer, Eleanor Laws QC, asked her about her allegations of an argument in January 2015, and suggested it was over discussions with lawyers about a pre-nuptial agreement between herself and Mr Depp.
“There was an argument in a hotel room in Tokyo that resulted in Johnny kneeling on my back and hitting me on the back of the head,” Ms Heard told the court.
Ms Heard said Mr Depp told her he did not want a pre-nuptial agreement but it was his sister, Christi Dembrowski, who wanted the couple to get one.
“He mentioned… it was more about Christi, his sister, who handled most of his affairs.
“He said it was Christi, that he didn’t want that [the pre-nuptial agreement], that he trusted me and, as he said to me time and time again, the only way out of this was death.”
She added: “But then Johnny was also accusing me of having an affair with a co-star and that is what led to the actual argument.”
‘Not interested in money’
Ms Heard added that she had hired a lawyer who worked on a draft pre-nuptial agreement and it was sent to Mr Depp’s team but never signed.
Text messages were read out in court, showing Mr Depp’s sister had told him to get an agreement signed.
Challenged over whether Mr Depp did want a pre-nuptial agreement, Ms Heard said “I had no idea. He told me he didn’t. What Johnny told me is that he would look it up and that the only way out of this was death.
“He told me this time and time again and I offered time and time again to sign whatever it was that he or his team needed or wanted.
“I made it very clear from the early days… that I was not interested in Johnny’s money, I never had been, I never was.”
The actress was also asked by Mr Depp’s lawyer, Eleanor Laws QC, whether she had had “ultimate control in the relationship”. Ms Heard replied: “No, absolutely not.”
Asked whether she took important decisions in the relationship, Ms Heard said: “No, I had very little decision-making power in that relationship.”
She was asked about five penthouse apartments in the Eastern Columbia Building in Los Angeles, which her sister and friend moved into.
Asked whether they paid any rent, Ms Heard said: “No, Johnny wouldn’t let them.”
The case centres on an article published on the Sun’s website in April 2018. It was headlined: “Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”.
The article related to allegations made by Ms Heard, who was married to the film star from 2015 to 2017. The hearing is expected to last for three weeks.
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