Depp’s childhood friend and neighbor Isaac Baruch took the stand and locked himself in the courtroom, saying he was tired of the couple’s drama, which greatly blamed Herd. “It’s been six years. Am I angry anymore? What I am is tired and I want it all to end – for her to heal, for him to heal. “So many people have been affected by this malicious lie that started and created,” Baruch said. Baruch lived in the same building as Depp and Herd and said the couple initially had a good relationship. “They were very dear to each other. “They treated each other like gold,” he said, adding that he “never” saw them physically face each other and only twice saw the couple arguing. Depp and Herd were married from 2015 to 2017. But Baruch said on May 21, 2016, he saw broken glasses and wine splashing into the walls and burrowing puddles in the floor in the hallway of the apartment. Remembering the next day, Herd told him in the hallway, “Johnny came last night and he was violent, so I change the locks.” In the days that followed, Baruch said he had seen Herd several times, but never noticed any sign of abuse. “There is no redness, there is no swelling, there are no bruises, there are no cuts, there is nothing. “Amber just looks like Amber.” Herd’s lawyer pressed him for his knowledge of makeup, saying that Herd had covered up any injuries. Baruch, a charismatic witness, responded with laughter several times when asked about a particular concealer and said he was unfamiliar with cosmetics. But he said he carefully inspected Herd’s face and saw no bruises. “I look at a cheek, I look at her chin, I look at the other side of the face. I look at the whole thing. “And I do not see anything,” he said. Herd’s lawyer then asked Baruch if he was angry with the “Aquaman” actress. The story goes on “About the fake photos taken and published on the tabloids, the fake storytelling and the way he has a fraudulent DV [domestic violence] claim to blackmail and blackmail a man? Yes, that disappointed me, confused me, made me angry, upset me. “Yes,” he replied. At one point, Baruch was overwhelmed with emotion. In tears, he told the jury: “It’s not right. It is not fair what he did and what happened to so many people being affected by it. “It’s crazy how this happened.” During the interrogation by Herd’s lawyer, Elaine Bredehoft, text messages from October 2016 were revealed between Depp and Baruch. In an exchange, Depp referred to Herd’s “rotten corpse.” Baruch confirmed that the message was sent, “Yes, it was written.” Earlier in the day, Depp’s older sister and personal manager, Kristi Debrovsky, returned to the podium and told jurors that the Pirate star was “very sad” during his troubled marriage to Herd. When Herd’s lawyers questioned Debrovsky about Depp’s alleged toxic behavior and the aggressive messages he sent in May 2014, his sister did not remember the examples, but told the court: “They were arguing all the time.” Herd’s lawyer, Ben Rothenborn, pressured Debrovsky about the alleged drug abuse and Depp’s financial problems. Debrovsky told the court she hired a doctor to help the actor with the painkiller addiction. Rottenborn then asked her for updates via email sent to her by the doctor. “She wrote this [Depp] “He has no responsibility for his behavior,” Debrovsky said as she read the email aloud. Just two days later, the trial is filled with mudslinging on both sides. During the opening remarks, Depp’s lawyers said that Herd fabricated stories of abuse because her husband “wanted to leave” the relationship. Herd’s lawyers responded to their opening remarks by saying that Depp was punishing Herd for wanting a divorce. Depp is suing Herd for $ 50 million, claiming that he slandered him in a 2018 article in the Washington Post, derailing his career and costing him a lucrative role in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise. Herd did not name Depp in the article, but described herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” Depp’s lawyer, Ben Chu, said that for decades Depp’s name was associated with “box office success.” “Today, his name is associated with a lie, a false statement made by his ex-wife.” Chu said no one had ever accused Depp of being violent and that this was “a case of how destructive words can be when they are false and spoken in public”. Heard’s lawyers claim that she had a right to freedom of speech and that “Amber was abused”. Herd’s lawyer told jurors that she had been physically, emotionally, verbally and psychologically abused throughout their marriage, saying that Depp was prone to drug and alcohol blackouts and that he had sexually assaulted her. Herd has filed a $ 100 million defamation lawsuit against Depp’s lawyer, Adam Waldman. Co-counsel Elaine Bredehoft showed the court the statements where Waldman called Heard’s story a “prank abuse” and said his comments were “extremely damaging to Amber” and her career. Both Depp and Herd are expected to take a stand during the trial, which is expected to last six weeks.
