Johnny Depp claimed he has lost "nothing less than everything".
Johnny Depp claims he has lost everything
The 58-year-old actor is suing his ex-wife Amber Heard for defamation relating to an essay she wrote in 2018 for The Washington Post, in which she described herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse" and though the article doesn't mention him by name, the 'Black Mass' star has argued it refers to allegations she made after they split in 2016.
And taking to the stand at Fairfax County Court on Wednesday (20.04.22), Johnny - who is being countersued by Amber - claimed it doesn't matter what verdict the civil trial reaches as he has been "done" since the 'Aquaman' actress first made accusations against him.
Asked what he has lost following the publication of the essay, he said: "Nothing less than everything.
"When the allegations were made [and] rapidly circling the globe, telling people I was a drunken cocaine-fuelled menace who beat women – suddenly in my 50s – it’s over. You’re done.
"So what did it do to me? What effect did it have on me? I put it to you this way, no matter the outcome of this trial, the second the allegations were made against me, the accusations, the second that more and more metastasised and turned into fodder for the media, once that happened, I lost then."
And the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' actor thinks the allegations will follow him forever.
He added: "That is to say, I lost because that is not a thing that anyone is just going to put on your back for a short period of time. I will live with that for the rest of my life because of the allegations and because it was such a high profile case.
"So I lost then, no matter the outcome of this trial. I’ll carry that for the rest of my days. It never had to be that way. It never had to happen, and I don’t quite understand why it did in the way that it did.”
Johnny recalled feeling "taken aback a bit" when he discovered Amber had filed for a domestic violence restraining order against him in the wake of the split and felt "ill" as the allegations against him circulated across the globe.
He added: “It controlled my every waking second, from the moment I woke up to the moment I dropped."
Depp said his attorneys encouraged him not to fight Heard’s allegations during the divorce, including a joint statement that was released saying “neither party has made false accusations for financial gain.”
On Wednesday, the 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape?' actor also insisted he had "never" assaulted his ex-wife and went into detail about their explosive arguments, including one which led to the tip of his finger being severed.
He will return to the stand on Thursday (21.04.22) for Amber's team to continue their cross-examination, which began towards the end of the day on Wednesday.
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