Johnny Depp Says Amber Heard 'Despised' Paul Bettany Because He Was a 'Threat' to Their Time Together

Johnny Depp claims his ex-wife Amber Heard and friend Paul Bettany did not get along, suggesting that she felt threatened by the time the two actors spent with each other.

While answering questions from his lawyers on the stand Monday, Depp, 58, described Heard's past interactions with Bettany as "abominable," saying that they often butted heads when together.

Depp said, "Ms. Heard despised Mr. Bettany, mainly because we had become such close friends, and for her he was a threat and would take me away from her, with regard to if Paul Bettany were getting the attention from me, that was a show-stopper. It would cause all kinds of unpleasantries."

He recalled one instance when they were with Bettany, 50, his wife Jennifer Connelly and their kids. Depp said Heard and the WandaVision actor got into a "debate over lunch" and "whenever Mr. Bettany tried to make a point, she would talk over him."

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"And then it started to get quite rude. She got mean and she got loud," said Depp of Heard, 36, adding that Connelly and Bettany's then-18-year-old "brilliant" son Kai entered the conversation to speak on something he'd studied about in school.

"He voiced his opinion, and Ms. Heard demeaned that young man to the point of where he burst into tears and walked away," the actor said. Depp said he later told Heard that "behavior was unacceptable" and that she "had no right." He said he told her, "You cannot always be right. You should try being wrong sometime, because you might learn something."

Depp's comments about Heard and Bettany came after audio recordings were played in which Depp called Heard a "fat-a--" and a "c---," among other obscenities.

Bettany was brought up last week while Depp was being cross-examined, and Depp confirmed that the actor, whom he met while making the 2010 movie The Tourist, is a friend he has done recreational drugs with at times. Their text messages were also made into evidence, including one in which they joked about drowning and burning Heard. Depp said in court Monday that that was a Monty Python reference not to be taken literally.

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Bettany has previously expressed that it was "embarrassing" to have his texts made public when they were used in the U.K. libel case Depp brought against The Sun, which he lost in November 2020. Bettany clarified that he "didn't know Johnny when he was married to" Heard.

"I knew him before. But we hadn't spoken for years. During the marriage I didn't know them. So I wasn't around for any of that," Bettany added to U.K.'s The Times in February, after saying, "We live in a world without context."

Depp is suing Heard for defamation over a 2018 op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post about surviving domestic violence, though she never mentioned Depp by name in the article. Depp originally filed the $50 million lawsuit in March 2019 and has argued that being painted as an abuser has ruined his Hollywood career. Heard has not yet testified in this case.

Heard and Depp met while making the 2011 movie The Rum Diary, and they wed in 2015. They broke up in May 2016, when Heard sought a domestic violence restraining order against him, accusing him of abusing her. Depp denied the claims, and the former couple settled their divorce out of court in August 2016.

During opening statements earlier this month, Heard's attorney Ben Rottenborn said evidence will show she suffered domestic abuse by Depp that "took many forms," including physical, emotional, verbal and psychological, as well as "sexual violence at the hands of Depp." A spokesperson for Depp denies the allegations, calling them "fictitious."