Ellen Barkin, 68, was called by Amber Heard‘s team to testify in Johnny Depp‘s ongoing defamation case against Amber, 36, and she did not hold back. Ellen, who claimed to have a “sexual” relationship with the famed actor in the 1990s, per Vulture, said Johhny, now 58, was a resentful and angry man with substance abuse issues in a recorded deposition from 2019 played on May 19. “He’s just a jealous man, controlling,” she said, describing his demeanor when they were together. “‘Where are you going?’ ‘Who are you going with?’ ‘What did you do last night?’” she claimed he would constantly ask. She also claimed Johnny accused her of cheating and became “very, very angry” after seeing a scratch on her back she claimed he assumed was a result of sex with another person.
Ellen also talked about Johnny’s alleged drinking issues. “He was drunk a lot of the time. A lot of the time,” Barkin said, per Entertainment Tonight. “He was a red wine drinker.” She went on to claim the former Pirates of the Caribbean star once got so angry with her when he was drinking that he threw a wine bottle across their hotel room at her while they were in Las Vegas filming Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. She noted that the bottle missed her and said she had no idea why he chucked it. Furthermore, she said Johnny often took “hallucinogenics, cocaine, marijuana” in front of her during their rocky relationship.
During Johnny and Amber’s previous 2020 libel trial at the High Court in London, Johhny said Ellen accused him of such actions because she was hurt by him. “Ms. Barkin and I had been friends for a number of years,” Johnny claimed, describing their relationship to the court, per Daily Mail. “A sexual element began with Ms. Barkin which lasted for months on and off really because she was making the film I was making at the time, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and I suppose her desires were… She wanted more than a relationship, she wanted a proper relationship with me and I did not want that.” He continued, “I didn’t feel the same about her as she did me and I suppose from that moment on she became very, very angry and since then I have not spoken to Ms. Barkin.”
Amber has also recalled alleged instances of angry outbursts from Johnny. On May 11, Amber claimed Johhny previously slapped her across the face while wearing rings, making her lip bleed. “He wears a lot of rings. I remember kind of just feeling like my lip went into my teeth, and it got a little blood on the wall,” she said in her testimony, per TMZ. “Just that simple, a little bit of blood on the wall.” The incident apparently happened before they got married. In response, Johnny’s team denied the story and said the dates she used didn’t add up.
Johhny and Amber have been in court since April 11 along with witnesses and experts being used to support each side of the argument. Johnny is suing Amber for $50 million for writing a 2019 op-ed piece in The Washington Post in which she detailed her alleged experience as a domestic abuse survivor. While she did not name Johhny, it was assumed her piece was about him. Amber countersued for $100 million.