defamation trial Johnny Depp security guard tells of actor's shock when Amber Heard 'punched him in the face'

Mr McGivern said he agreed and that there was “a nice little shiner” on Mr Depp’s face

Amber Heard looks on as Travis McGivern, security guard for Johnny Depp, testifies remotely at Fairfax County Circuit Court. Photo: Steve Helber/Reuters

Gustaf Kilander

May 02 2022 05:59 PM

Johnny Depp’s security guard Travis McGivern spoke of the actor’s shock when Amber Heard punched him in the face during a fight, as he testified in the former couple’s defamation trial.

The defamation trial between Mr Depp and Ms Heard began on April 11 in Fairfax, Virginia, following Mr Depp’s lawsuit against his ex-wife in March 2019. Mr Depp is arguing that she defamed him in a December 2018 op-ed published in The Washington Post titled “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change”.

Mr McGivern said the fight took place on March 23, 2015. Ms Heard left during an argument and came back with her sister Whitney. The bodyguard testified that he felt it was time to get Mr Depp away from the situation.

He said he “heard and saw a closed fist contact Mr Depp in the left side of his face”, noting that it was Ms Heard’s fist.

“The initial look on” Mr Depp’s face was “shock”, the guard said, adding that he moved him and told him they were leaving.

“It wasn’t up to him anymore,” he said, adding that it was “my time to do my job”.

He said Mr Depp wasn’t happy with him and that the actor pulled down his glasses, pointed to the left side of his face and said “that’s your fault”. Mr McGivern said he agreed and that there was “a nice little shiner” on Mr Depp’s face. He said it wasn’t black and blue “yet”, but that it was “swollen and red”.

In her 2018 op-ed, Ms Heard wrote that “like many women, I had been harassed and sexually assaulted by the time I was of college age. But I kept quiet - I did not expect filing complaints to bring justice. And I didn’t see myself as a victim”.

“Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out,” she added at the time.

While Mr Depp was not named in the piece, his legal team argues that it contains a “clear implication that Mr Depp is a domestic abuser”, which they say is “categorically and demonstrably false”. Mr Depp is seeking damages of “not less than $50m”.

Ms Heard has filed a $100m counterclaim against Mr Depp for nuisance and immunity from his allegations.