Johnny Depp jokes about severed finger with child outside his latest gig with Jeff Beck

Actor claims his finger was cut when Amber Heard threw a vodka bottle at him

Johnny Depp has joked about his severed finger with crowds outside his gig on Thursday night (2 June).

The actor made his latest appearance alongside Jeff Beck at the Sage concert hall in Gateshead on Thursday night (2 June). During the gig, it was revealed that Depp will be releasing an album with Beck next month.

In photos from the evening, Depp can be seen surrounded by fans outside of the venue.

Stopping to take photos and sign autographs, the Pirates of the Caribbean star cracked a joke about his past finger injury with what appears to be a child in the crowd.

When he leant down to sign autographs, he pointed at the fan’s hand and said: “You have five. I have four and seven eighths. Mad.”

The interaction was caught on camera by Twitter user @tinyspookyghoul, who shared the clip on social media on Friday (3 June).

The gig came a day after Depp won his high-profile defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard, during which what became known as the “severed finger incident” became a focal point.

The incident took place in March 2015 when the couple were staying in Australia while Depp filmed the fifth instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Depp claimed that a “good chunk” of his finger was cut off when Heard allegedly threw a bottle of vodka at him.

Heard has claimed that she was not awake when the injury occured, alleging that she took sleeping pills after they fought and woke up to find Depp “missing a finger”.

Depp was absent from the Virgina court on Wednesday (1 June) when the jury announced their decision. The actor was seen leaving The Bridge Tavern pub in Newcastle shortly before the reading of the verdict, according to ITV News.

Singer Sam Fender had spent the evening with Depp, sharing a photograph with the star to his Instagram Stories minutes after the verdict came in.

The actor has taken to the stage with Beck multiple times this week (Scott Heppell/AP) (AP)

Depp sued Heard for $50m (£39.8m) over a Washington Post op-ed titled: “I spoke up against sexual violence – and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”

The article does not mention Depp by name, yet his lawyers said it falsely implies he physically and sexually abused Heard while they were together.

Heard countersued for $100m (£80.9m), accusing Depp of orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her and describing his lawsuit as a continuation of “abuse and harassment”.

During closing remarks, both sides urged jurors to think about other victims of domestic abuse.

(PA Media)

Heard’s legal team highlighted the message that a verdict in Depp’s favour would send to others, while the actor’s representatives said her claims were “an act of profound cruelty to true survivors”.

On Wednesday (1 June), the jury shared their verdicts, finding that Heard had defamed Depp on all three counts.

The jury found that Heard defamed Depp on all three counts and awarded him $10m (£8m) in compensatory damages and $5m (£4m) in punitive damages. Heard was awarded $2m (£1.6m) in compensatory damages, but no punitive damages.