The Upsetting Claim Johnny Depp Made About His Life During His Trial

The following article contains discussions of domestic abuse.

The legal battle between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp is in full swing, and since the hearings kicked off on April 12, revelation upon revelation have unraveled in the courtroom.

Depp is currently suing Heard for defamation when she wrote a Washington Post op-ed stating that she was a "public figure representing domestic abuse." While Depp's name wasn't mentioned, he claimed that it had done irreparable damage to his public image, causing him to lose out on a bevy of projects in recent years. His legal team argues that Heard is "choosing to lie about him for her own personal benefit" and to "advance her career," per E! News.

In the past couple of weeks, a slew of bombshells has been revealed in court, with Depp saying that he had suspected Heard of having an affair with James Franco and his ex-wife once lit a cigarette and "stomped it out on my face." Depp also claimed that Heard had used his troubled childhood against him, and his past "became ammunition for Miss Heard to either verbally decimate me or to send me into a kind of tailspin of confusion and depression." While all these revelations are no doubt significant, Depp made another claim that could be the most important yet.

Johnny Depp is firm in his stance that he has never inflicted physical abuse on Amber Heard — or any woman for that matter. "Never did I myself reach the point of striking Ms. Heard in any way, nor have I ever struck any woman in my life," he told the jury, per The New York Times.

But if there's one person he ever deliberately mistreated, he said that it's himself. "The only person I've abused in my life is myself," Depp said in court, per Yahoo! Entertainment. "I was guilty until proven innocent." His legal team also vehemently denies Heard's sexual assault allegations. "[This] follows a pattern of her elaborate, erroneous claims which have continued to change and evolve over time for the purpose of Hollywood shock value of which Amber has mastered and used to exploit a serious social movement," a spokesperson for the actor proclaimed, per The Guardian.

It's been more than half a decade since Depp and Heard split, but he said that he's pushing for this defamation trial to protect the people he loves. "It's been six years of trying times," Depp said, per Us Weekly. "It's pretty strange when one day you're Cinderella ... then ... you're Quasimodo. I didn't deserve that, nor did my children, nor did the people who have believed in me for all these years. I didn't want any of those people to believe that I had done them wrong or lied to them ... I pride myself on honesty."

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.