Court hears claim Amber Heard paid less than half of what she promised to charity from Johnny Depp divorce settlement

Johnny Depp’s security guard has taken the stand in the court case with Amber Heard, opening up about the star’s drug and alcohol use.

Amber Heard has been accused in court of paying less than half of what she promised to donate to charity out of her US$7m (A$9.8m) divorce settlement from Johnny Depp.

Mr Depp is suing his ex-wife for defamation over a column she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018. In the article, Ms Heard described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” Ms Heard, 36, never named Mr Depp, 59, but he claims she clearly implied that he was a domestic abuser and is seeking $50 million ($A67m) in damages.

Ms Heard countersued, asking for $100 million ($A134m) and claiming she suffered “rampant physical violence and abuse” at his hands.

Terence Dougherty, from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), testified at the high profile trial in Fairfax County, Virginia on Thursday

Mr Dougherty told the court that Ms Heard is an ACLU ambassador for gender-based violence issues. He said the non-profit organisation’s communications team had drafted the op-ed under the actor's name following discussions with her about her “personal experiences”.

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US actor Amber Heard arrives at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Virginia, on April 28, 2022. Picture: Michael Reynolds / AFP.

Ms Heard reached a divorce settlement with Mr Depp in 2016 and had previously announced she would donate her entire $US7 million payout to charity, splitting it between the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and the ACLU.

On Thursday, Mr Dougherty testified that Ms Heard had promised to donate $US3.5m ($A4.9m) of her $7m divorce settlement to the organisation but that it had only received $A1.3m ($A1.8m) to-date.

That left $US2.2m owing, or just over three million in Australian dollars.

Mr Dougherty said $US350,000 was paid directly by Ms Heard; $US100,000 was paid via Mr Depp; $US500,000 was paid via a donor-advised fund; and $US350,000 was also paid via a donor-advised fund.

According to Mr Dougherty, the organisation reached out to Ms Heard in 2019 about her “next instalment of her giving but we learned she was having financial difficulties”.

Terence Dougherty, the general counsel and COO of the #ACLU, said in a prerecorded testimony that #AmberHeard did not donate $3.5 million to the organization but only $1.3 million. @LawCrimeNetworkpic.twitter.com/n0a2N2v8Yo

— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) April 28, 2022

The court heard it was understood — based on an email from billionaire Elon Musk who was connected to the donor-advised fund that contributed $850,000 on behalf of Ms Heard — that the $3.5m would be paid over the course of ten years, although this was never confirmed.

Ms Heard is yet to testify and provide her version of events but she is expected to take the stand next week.

Bodyguard speaks

A former bodyguard for Depp testified that he never saw injuries on Heard — but did see them on the Pirates of the Caribbean star.

“It would be scratches on his neck, maybe a fat lip in the corner,” security guard Malcolm Connolly said, testifying over a video link from England.

“He had bruising on the eye socket,” Connolly said. “It would get more regular. Not every week, but it definitely happened, yeah.”

Testifying about a photo taken in 2015 during Depp’s and Heard’s honeymoon in Malaysia, Connolly said there is swelling evident on the actor’s face.

“He walked into a door, or a door walked into him,” he said.

But Connolly also conceded that he saw Depp under the influence of drugs on several occasions and that he appeared “happier” and “up” at those times.

“I’ve seen him smoke marijuana,” he said. “I have my suspicions that when he was off to the bathroom he probably does cocaine. I’ve never seen him do it.

“He’s got a very high tolerance of any substance,” he said, adding, “I think Jack Sparrow was drunker than Johnny Depp.”

Jack Sparrow is the pirate captain Depp portrayed in the hit Disney movie series Pirates of the Caribbean.

“I could see Amber wanted to wear the pants in the relationship,” Connolly testified. “Amber could get frosty in the drop of a hat.”

Before Connolly began testifying, Depp’s business manager Edward White told the jury about the star’s finances — which were “challenging.”

White said he even settled a $160,000 wine bill for Depp in 2020 in the wake of his split from Amber Heard.

Heard’s attorney Ben Rottenborn asked to introduce Depp’s tax returns from 2009 through 2019, but the records have to first be redacted, the judge said.

Depp dumped from Pirates of the Caribbean

Mr Depp filed the defamation complaint in the US after losing a separate libel case in London in November 2020 that he brought against The Sun for calling him a “wife-beater.”

To clarify all of this, and to note how Elon Musk is related, Dougherty testifies Heard's Vanguard donation was facilitated through Musk. He says this stems from a previous relationship Musk had with an ACLU representative.#JohnnyDepp#[e-mail]/1tdouVrsnD

— Sierra Gillespie (@sierragillespie) April 28, 2022

On Wednesday, Mr Depp and Ms Heard’s former agent Christian Carino said it was never explicitly stated by Disney that Mr Depp was being dropped from the “Pirates” franchise because of the domestic abuse accusations but it was “understood.”

He also revealed he set up a meeting between the pair two months after Ms Heard filed a restraining order against Mr Depp. Mr Carino said Ms Heard was dating Mr Musk during the time she was attempting to reconcile with her ex-husband and he had advised her dating famous men meant things would be public.

Mr Depp, testifying earlier on his own behalf, blamed the accusations by Ms Heard for the loss of his lucrative role in “Pirates” as Captain Jack Sparrow.

US actor Johnny Depp is suing his ex-wife Amber Heard for libel after she wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington Post in 2018 referring to herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse”. Picture: Michael Reynolds/ AFP.

Both Ms Heard and Mr Depp, who met in 2009 and were married from 2015 to 2016, have accused the other of physical violence during their relationship. They have both denied the claims.

In court papers, Ms Heard has accused Mr Depp of abusing her throughout their relationship, alleging that he slapped her, kicked her, headbutted her and tore clumps of hair out of her scalp.

Earlier, Mr Depp was presented with several damning text messages that he sent to Ms Heard, friends and associates during the couple’s relationship.

“Let’s burn Amber,” read one text sent by Depp to his friend Paul Bettany on June 11, 2013.

“Let’s drown her before we burn her. I will f**k her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she’s dead”.

Originally published as Court hears claim Amber Heard paid less than half of what she promised to charity from Johnny Depp divorce settlement