I haven’t really paid any attention to this story over the years that it has been playing out which means that catching some of the testimony today has been very eye-opening. I realized that Johnny Depp and Amber Heard had a troubled marriage and at some point she apparently cut off one of his fingers but what Depp is describing on the stand today is harrowing.

According to him, this relationship was a daily string of her berating him as a failure and a fool which would escalate to violence if he argued the point. Eventually he decided the only way out was to get away from her at which point she would become inconsolable and needy.

This defamation trial is really Depp’s chance to respond to allegations of abuse the Heard has made and so it really is diving deep into what really happened between them.

Johnny Depp testified in his defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard. Depp is suing Heard for $50 million over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she wrote about her experience with domestic abuse. Depp was not referred to by name in Heard's piece pic.twitter.com/yU2ReoMdyx

— CNN (@CNN) April 20, 2022

At one point, Depp compared it to being in a relationship with his mother, i.e. someone who is constantly looking for your weaknesses as a way to berate you.

#JohnnyDepp said that when #AmberHeard's behavior started to change during their relationship, he was not allowed to have a voice or be right. "You start to slowly realize that you are in a relationship with your mother," the actor stated. @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/I1focYRlaO

— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) April 20, 2022

In this clip he describes how those arguments would often escalate to violence, with Heard lashing out at him physically.

#JohnnyDepp testified on Wednesday that #AmberHeard would slap him and throw a TV remote at his head. @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/fXCSJEpapb

— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) April 20, 2022

The most infamous incident involved her throwing a bottle at him which shattered and cut off the tip of his finger. Here he is describing how that happened.

WATCH: #JohnnyDepp demonstrates how #AmberHeard allegedly threw two bottles at him, causing the tip of his finger to be severed. @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/0PtN0EOtGk

— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) April 20, 2022

And after that happened, Heard allegedly took a lit cigarette and put it out on his face. But Depp admitted he lied to the doctor about what happened because he didn’t want Heard to be blamed or brought into it.

Johnny Depp admits he lied to the emergency room doctor about what happened to his finger because he did not want to admit it was Amber Heard who caused the severing of his fingertip.

“I didn’t want to get her in trouble.”#IStandWithJohnnyDepp #JusticeForJohnnyDepp pic.twitter.com/CpJXlWPrYf

— Kaylee Manning (@kayleermanning) April 20, 2022

He also reenacted another one of their fights when he said he was hit from behind and tried to wrap up her arms to avoid being struck.

Depp gets up and demonstrates how he had to try to avoid an attack by #AmberHeard. #JohnnyDepp @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/jzU9pp0ndO

— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 20, 2022

At some point he was asked why he stayed with Heard if all of this was going on. He said he didn’t want to “fail” but added that part of it had to do with his own mother and threats of suicide she’d made.

#JohnnyDepp said on Wednesday that #AmberHeard spoke of suicide several times when he tried to leave and that it always reminded him of his mother attempting suicide when his father left. @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/SskNwO1kfv

— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) April 20, 2022

Here’s the full testimony from today. Based on what I’ve seen of it, I think Depp has certainly gone a long way toward convincing people his behavior wasn’t the source of the problem in this relationship. Whether that results in a win in court remains to be seen.

Update: Here’s testimony from yesterday in which Depp described waking up one day and finding his mother had attempted to kill herself by taking pills. This is what he was referring to in that clip above about why he didn’t leave.

#JohnnyDepp talked about how his late mother was depressed after she split with his father and how she tried to commit suicide by taking pills. @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/Ak3RefyAeJ

— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) April 19, 2022

Also, if you’re wondering how Depp ended up in a relationship with someone like Heard, he testified yesterday that in the beginning she was “too good to be true.”

"It was as if she was too good to be true": #JohnnyDepp described the beginning of his relationship with #AmberHeard. @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/q0UgemsSmx

— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) April 19, 2022