American actress Amber Heard has told London's High Court that her ex-husband Johnny Depp had threatened to kill her, testifying as a witness in the Hollywood star's libel action against the Sun newspaper.
Mr Depp is suing News Group Newspapers, publishers of the Sun newspaper, over a 2018 article which labelled him a "wifebeater" and questioned his casting in the "Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them" franchise.
The 57-year-old actor, who earned a fortune from his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie series, told the court last week that all of Ms Heard's allegations of physical and verbal abuse were untrue.
He denies ever being violent with her or with any other woman.
In a sworn written statement to the court, released as she began her oral evidence in the witness box, Ms Heard said she had been severely abused by Mr Depp.
"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 said in the statement.
"He explicitly threatened to kill me many times, especially later in our relationship."
Ms Heard, 34, said the actor would obsess about her appearance and would call her "a slut", "fame-hungry" and "an attention whore" if she wore certain outfits.
"The physical abuse included punching, slapping, kicking, head-butting and choking me, as well as throwing me into things, pulling me by my hair, and shoving me or pushing me to the ground. He threw things at me, especially glass bottles," She said.
Ms Heard also said that after his rages had abated, Mr Depp would blame his actions on an alter ego he would call "the monster".
Ms Heard was asked by Eleanor Laws, a lawyer for Mr Depp, about allegations from his side that the couple had clashed over whether to sign a prenuptial agreement and that she was motivated by money.
Ms Heard said she was "not interested in Johnny's money, never have been".
She said the actor had told her he would rip up any prenuptial agreement and told her "the only way out is death".
Mr Depp says the accusations are a hoax, with some collated for years as part of an insurance policy by Ms Heard.
Witnesses called by his legal team have concurred with his version of events.
His former long-time partner Vanessa Paradis, the mother of his two children, and actress Winona Ryder, to whom he was engaged in the 1990s, said he was never violent and they do not believe Ms Heard's allegations.
Ms Heard also insisted she was "never violent" towards Johnny Depp and does not have a problem with her temper.
The Aquaman actress claimed her ex-husband often put her in situations where she was "confronted with unimaginable frustrations and difficulties", adding she would "try to defend" herself when he "got serious".
Ms Heard has also denied allegations that she was often the one to start arguments with the Hollywood star.
"When I felt my life was threatened, I tried to defend myself and that started to happen years into the relationship, years into the violence.
"Before that, I didn't even try to defend myself, I just checked out."
The court heard a recording of a conversation between Ms Heard and Mr Depp, in which Mr Depp can be heard to say: "I'm not the one who throws pots and whatever the f*** else at me."
Ms Heard told the court: "That's different. That's different ... that's irrelevant, that's a complete non sequitur."
Ms Laws went on to say: "You were admitting throwing things at him but not in the context of self-defence. It sounds as if you are admitting throwing pots and pans."
Ms Heard replied: "It might sound like that to you, but because I lived it I can explain to you... (it is) not what it sounds like."
She also said she threw things "only to escape him", adding: "I'm not admitting throwing pots and pans, I'm trying to keep Johnny on track in this argument or in this conversation."
Ms Laws also asked Ms Heard if she has "a problem with controlling your temper", to which the actress said she did not.
The barrister then suggested: "You would have outbursts of rage and anger."
Ms Heard replied: "I did have outbursts of anger at times and there were times when, yes, I lost my cool with Johnny in our fights, in our arguments."
Ms Laws referred to "a number of witnesses" who had described Ms Heard as "being the person who would start an argument with Mr Depp... you would be the one to start the argument, do you agree with that?"
Ms Heard said: "No... they didn't see our arguments, his employees didn't see our arguments. These things happened behind closed doors."
The court has so far heard nine days of evidence about Mr Depp's Hollywood lifestyle, his use of drink and drugs and his attitudes towards women, as well as his and Ms Heard's volatile relationship - described by Mr Depp as "a crime scene waiting to happen".
Mr Depp and Ms Heard met on the 2011 film The Rum Diary and began living together in 2012 before marrying in Los Angeles in February 2015.
