Johnny Depp says Amber Heard chose to file for restraining order on same day as Alice premiere and daughter’s birthday

Actor told defamation trial he viewed ex-wife’s filing as ‘treachery’

Johnny Depp says Amber Heard chose to file a “cruel” restraining order against him on the me day as the Alice Through the Looking Glass premiere and his daughter’s birthday.

Mr Depp told the court in the former couple’s $50m defamation trial how he learned about the order filed by Ms Heard on 27 May 2016, and that he believed she had chosen that date on purpose.

“I felt like it was incredibly cruel.... I felt it was treachery,” he told the court in Fairfax, Virginia.

“I don’t know if she just wanted me to be erased or drop dead or just let me stick around and allow her to ruin my life for a while.”

The Hollywood star said that he and Ms Heard had finally sealed their divorce on 13 January 2017, and that under the agreement he had paid her $7m.

In December 2018, Ms Heard wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post that her filing of the restraining order had made her “a public figure representing domestic abuse”.

Although Mr Depp was not named in the op-ed, three months after it was published he sued Ms Heard for $50m.

He testified on Wednesday that he had “no idea” who wrote a joint statement released after the divorce.

“I wasn’t given much of a choice (in releasing it),” he added.

Mr Depp said that in the statement Ms Heard had said that her portion of the settlement would go to charity, but that after Mr Depp made a payment to the organisation in her name, Ms Heard accused him of trying to get a tax break.

He also said that despite the divorce agreement, Heard had tried to get him to double his $7m payment.

Mr Depp was asked by his lawyers what Ms Heard’s public allegations had caused him to lose.

“Nothing less than everything,” he replied.

“I lost then, no matter the outcome of this trial…I will live with that for the rest of my life.”

He also denied ever physically or sexually assaulting Ms Heard, despite her claims.