Johnny Depp’s finger tip ‘found on kitchen floor’

The tip of Johnny Depp’s finger was found on a kitchen floor in Australia by a chef and may have been severed when Amber Heard threw a vodka bottle at him, a court has heard.

Amber Heard talks to her lawyer in court on Monday. Picture: AFP

The tip of Johnny Depp’s finger was found on a kitchen floor in Australia by a chef and may have been severed when Amber Heard threw a vodka bottle at him, the court hearing the former Hollywood couple’s defamation battle has been told.

Depp’s private doctor and nurse gave evidence on Monday about an injury he suffered at a rented house on the Gold Coast, where he was filming the fifth film in the ­Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, in March 2015.

David Kipper testified in a video deposition that he had ­entered the house and found Heard, whom he described as “certainly upset” but without any visible injuries. He said the top of Depp’s finger had been sliced off and that he provided emergency treatment.

The tip was found by a chef on the floor of the kitchen, Dr Kipper said. During a trip to hospital the actor is said to have told doctors that he had cut his finger with a knife. Dr Kipper made no mention in his notes of a bottle being thrown at Depp, the court was told.

Debbie Lloyd, Depp’s nurse, said that she had heard conflicting claims over how the injury had occurred. These included that he had slammed his hand on a phone and that Heard had “thrown a vodka bottle at him”.

Ms Lloyd said the house had been in a state of disarray and that there was writing on the walls. She searched for the fingertip in a “downstairs area” she described as an entertainment room with a pool table. She said that she did not find the tip but a man named Ben, who she said might have been the house’s manager, did.

Depp had dirt on his hands, she said, but she did not recall seeing shards of broken glass around the house. Ms Lloyd accompanied Depp to hospital with Dr Kipper.

Both said they had never witnessed Depp be violent towards Heard and that they had never seen visible injuries on her.

Depp, 58, made notes throughout the testimony and laughed at a reference to his penis as texts ­between him and Ms Lloyd, a psychiatric nurse who works with ­patients suffering from addiction, were read out. The pair appear to have enjoyed a close bond and he nicknamed her “nurse shark”.

In one exchange Depp called Ms Lloyd a “sweetheart” and a “lifesaver” and told her “love you so much”. She said Depp gave her gifts in the form of a jewellery box and a “fancy notepad”.

Heard’s former husband Johnny Depp arrives after a lunch break. Picture: AFP

In Ms Lloyd’s notes from September 2014 Depp complained that Heard, who at the time was his fiancee, had had a “nasty freakout”.

Depp had injured his knuckles from “punching a whiteboard” and “kicked in the door of his trailer and refused to speak to the director”, according to Ms Lloyd’s writings from the time.

Depp and Heard married in February 2015. In a note from April that year Ms Lloyd wrote that Depp felt he was in “good spirits” and that problems in his marriage stemmed from his drug and alcohol use.

In a text exchange in July 2015 Depp complained of a “jumbled brain” and his struggles with his family, company and business manager. Heard filed for divorce in May 2016.

Fairfax circuit court in Virginia was told of Depp’s struggle with drug and alcohol addiction and that he had a detox period in the Bahamas in August 2014. Dr Kipper oversaw the detox and described Depp as “frustrated and uncomfortable” without drugs.

Ms Lloyd’s notes state that Depp “expressed fears of never feeling normal without his drugs”. She said he experienced “muscle spasms and chills” during his detox from opioids, adding that she was not aware if he was also addicted to other drugs.

The nurse told the court there was “tension” between Depp and Heard around this time and he felt she was “trying to interfere”. Asked to elaborate on the claim, Ms Lloyd said that Depp had felt Heard was “reporting things to us that he felt were not true”.

Depp may take to the stand on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) to give evidence in the trial, which is into its second week.

He sued Heard, 35, for $US50m ($68m) after she ­described herself as a victim of domestic abuse in a 2018 Washington Post column, a claim he ­argues has damaged his career and reputation. Heard countersued for $US100m. The case is being heard in Virginia because the newspaper is printed and has its servers there.

The Times