(CNN) — Amber Heard has taken the stand in her defense in a $50 million defamation lawsuit brought by her ex-husband, Johnny Depp.
“I’m having a hard time finding the words to describe how painful this is. It’s horrible for me to sit here for weeks and relive everything,” Heard said at the start of her testimony.
Amber Heard testifies in court this Wednesday.
Depp is suing Heard for $50 million over a 2018 opinion piece he wrote for The Washington Post in which he described himself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” Although Depp was not named in the article, he claims that it cost him lucrative acting jobs.
Heard’s testimony comes 14 days into the trial, following weeks in which jurors have heard testimony regarding the explosive relationship between the actors, including Depp himself, who stated over several days that he never he had hit a woman in his life and accused Heard of mistreatment.
Heard and Depp, who met in 2009 and were married from 2015 to 2016, accuse the other of acts of physical violence during their relationship. Both have denied the other’s claims.
Depp’s lawyers concluded their presentation of evidence on Tuesday.
The first witness called by the defense was forensic psychologist Dawn Hughes, who testified that she believes Heard has post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of Depp’s intimate partner violence.
“What this evidence shows is that there was a high degree of serious violence perpetrated by Mr. Depp towards Ms. Heard. There was rather mild level violence perpetrated by Ms. Heard towards Mr. Depp with a serious indicator being the punch that she directed me to,” Hughes testified Tuesday. “She was subjected to sexual violence where Mr. Depp, according to her report, was not subjected to any.”
On Wednesday, Depp’s attorney, Wayne Dennison, played a recording of a conversation between Heard and Depp.
“I was hitting you, I wasn’t hitting you,” Heard’s voice is heard on the recording.
“Don’t tell me what it feels like to get punched,” Depp’s voice was heard saying on the recording.
Dennison asked Hughes if he thought the situation captured on tape was Heard’s reaction.
“In this case, if it’s true, if she says she hit him first, then that wouldn’t be reactive violence,” Hughes said.
Dennison pressed Hughes on his assessment that Heard’s violence once morest Depp was “mild,” showing a graphic photo of Depp’s partially severed finger, an injury Depp said he sustained following Heard allegedly threw a glass bottle at him. .
“That photograph doesn’t reflect a low level of violence, does it?” Dennison asked.
“It reflects a serious injury,” Hughes said.
