A specialist in intimate partner violence asked to testify in Johnny Depp's defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard stated that the actor has borderline personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder, according to her assessment.
Shannon Curry, Depp's witness, testified that the diagnosis was based on a review of Heard's previous psychological assessments, direct examination on two occasions, and participation in the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) test, according to a court hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, on Tuesday.
Amber Heard, 36, gave a "reactive," "overly dramatic" performance, describing occurrences with terms like “magical” and “wonderful” to describe events according to Dr. Shannon Curry. Heard flitted between “princess and victim”, she added. “Cute and girlish” as such people appear may in reality be quite destructive, dramatic, erratic and unpredictable, and possessing an "underlying desire not to be abandoned but also to be the center of attention."
Dr. Shannon Curry described borderline personality disorder as an unstable personality that is sensitive to rejection, has limited self-control, and is characterized by "a lot of anger, cruelty toward people less powerful, concern with image, attention seeking, and prone to externalizing blame, a lot of suppressed anger that may explode outwards."
From idolized to dumpster
Curry believes that anyone who attempts an intimate relationship with such a personality will go from "idolized to dumpster." She went on to say that borderline personalities were "assaultive as spouses." They'll threaten to seek for a restraining order and claim abuse through the judicial system."
Kate James said in a video deposition aired in court Thursday during the trial for Depp's libel action against his former wife that Heard would scream bouts of blind wrath, send nonsensical text messages at 4 a.m., and was frequently intoxicated and high on illegal drugs.
Depp, on the other hand, was quiet and shy, Ms James added, "like a total Southern gentleman."
Ms James' video evidence painted an opposing picture: Depp was the calm one, while Heard was routinely inebriated and verbally nasty, including to her own mother and sister.
"Her poor sister was literally treated like a dog you booted," Ms James said.
Ms James said she was paid "extremely little" while working for Heard from 2012 to 2015.
She claimed she was employed for a $25-an-hour starting pay and that her responsibilities included anything from picking up Heard's dry washing to speaking with the actress's Hollywood agents.
Ms James also claims she was told to collect two copies of any magazine featuring Heard and store them in the garage so Depp wouldn't see them. Ms James claimed that Heard went into a "blind rage" after she failed to put the magazines in the garage.
Ms James described Heard as a "very emotional person" who was profoundly insecure in the relationship during their time together.
She claimed she was frequently called by Ms James to complain about Depp.
“I spoke up against sexual violence and faced our culture's fury”, wrote Amber Heard in a Washington Post opinion piece. “This must change.”
This article, in which she does not specifically name actor Johnny Depp, has sparked a celebrity court case in which surprising and salacious information about the former relationship have been revealed.
Mr. Depp is suing Ms. Heard for libel over the op-ed she wrote in 2018 and is seeking $US50 million claiming that the opinion piece defamed him and harmed his career and reputation in the film industry.
Ms Heard has filed a countersuit, alleging that Mr Depp slandered her by labeling her a liar. She is demanding $US100 million in damages.
Mr Depp has already lost a libel action against The Sun, which called him a "wife-beater," with a London High Court judge determining that he had regularly abused Ms Heard and placed her in dread of her life.
He has now completed his four-day testimony on the stand in the Fairfax County Courthouse in Virginia, during which he maintained that he, not Ms Heard, was the victim of domestic violence in their relationship.
The case continues with Ms Heard expected to also take the stand.