US actress Amber Heard on Wednesday said her ex-husband Johnny Depp threw dozens of bottles at her "like grenades", as she gave evidence for a third day at his London libel action.
Heard, 34, said Depp, 57, had lobbed "all the bottles in reach" towards her during an explosive 2015 row on a trip to Australia. Depp is suing the publishers of British tabloid The Sun, News Group Newspapers (NGN) and the author of a 2018 article that labelled him a "wife beater" at London's High Court.
The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star has emphatically denied 14 claims of violence that NGN said proves its story, and sought to portray Heard as a calculating and dishonest fantasist intent on destroying his life.
The article in The Sun caused him serious reputational damage, he argues. But Heard has accused Depp of sustained verbal and physical abuse, as well as displaying "extremely controlling and intimidating behaviour".
The couple met on the set of the 2011 film "The Rum Diary", married in 2015 but divorced two years later.
'Violent nights'
Wednesday's cross-examination focused on Heard's allegations that Depp repeatedly assaulted her in Australia, fuelled by drink and drugs, as well as other incidents in the United States. "He started picking them (bottles) up one by one and throwing them like grenades," she said during questioning by one of the actor's lawyers, adding he lobbed around 30 in total. "He threw all the bottles that were in reach, all except for one which was a celebratory magnum-sized bottle of wine."
The court has previously heard that Depp's finger was severed during the alleged incident. The Hollywood star blamed his ex-wife for the injury. But Heard denied that and rejected another claim that she had stubbed a cigarette out on his cheek. "No, Johnny did it right in front of me, he often did things like that," she added of the burn.
Depp's lawyer Eleanor Laws also asked her about an alleged December 2015 incident of domestic violence in Los Angeles, which Heard has described as "one of the worst and most violent nights of our relationship".
She defended claims Depp slapped her, dragged her by the hair through their apartment -- pulling clumps of her hair out -- and then repeatedly punched her in the head. "I had two black eyes, a broken nose, a broken rib... I had bruises all over my body," she said, after Laws argued a nurse who had examined her shortly after the row said she found no bruises.
The three-week trial is expected to run into next week, with a judge expected to rule on the case at a later date.