Amber Heard claimed her ex-husband Johnny Depp "explicitly threatened to kill" her "many times" during the course of their marriage while testifying in court on Monday.
The Pirates of the Caribbean actor is suing bosses at Britain's News Group Newspapers (NGN) for libel, after he was labelled a "wife beater" in a 2018 article published in The Sun. Depp has vehemently denied accusations of domestic violence levelled at him by his ex-wife.
Taking to the witness stand at London's High Court on Monday, the Aquaman star alleged Depp told her "death was the only way out" of their marriage and threatened her life on several occasions.
"Some incidents were so severe that I was afraid he was going to kill me, either intentionally or just by losing control and going too far," she claimed.
"He explicitly threatened to kill me many times, especially later in our relationship."
Heard claimed Depp told her he would kill her if she ever tried to leave him, adding the Sweeney Todd star "talked about our relationship being 'dead or alive' and telling me that death was the only way out of the relationship; the way he would describe what he wanted to do to me if I left him or hurt him."
She went on to allege Depp called her a "w**re" and often insult her looks.
"He demeaned me anytime I tried to wear anything that could be seen as sexy, calling me a 'whore', 'slut', 'fame-hungry' and 'an attention whore', but it got worse over time," Heard claimed. "His verbal abuse was often sexualised, but it was also about my looks and related to my work, saying things like 'no one will hire you when your tits and ass sag' or calling me 'fat ass'."
The Justice League star also told the court Depp kicked her in the back during a fiery argument on a flight from Boston to Los Angeles in May, 2014.
She alleged: "At one point, I got up to move elsewhere on the plane and he said, 'Are you f**king walking away from me?' and he kicked me hard in the back... He kept verbally abusing me, saying things like, 'When we land, I can call some black brothers who can f**k you if you’re so desperate for it'."
Depp has repeatedly insisted he was the victim and that Heard abused him. The trial continues.
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