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- Amber Heard’s acting coach said the actress often came to her sessions in tears.
- In a pre-recorded statement, Kristina Sexton said Heard has “difficulty crying as far as acting goes.”
- Sexton testified that she saw Heard and Johnny Depp’s relationship deteriorate.
An acting coach who worked with Amber Heard from 2011 to 2017 said she can tell when the actress is really crying because Heard often struggles to produce actual tears during performances.
In pre-recorded testimony played for a Virginia courtroom on Wednesday, Kristina Sexton said she got used to seeing Heard cry during her acting classes due to violent fights between Heard and her then-husband Johnny Depp.
“When [their] As the relationship progressed and the fighting got more intense I had to build in time because she was sobbing at the beginning of the sessions and we couldn’t work until we got her together,” Sexton said in a December 2019 statement.
Sexton’s testimony was played before the jury this week as part of Depp’s ongoing defamation trial against his ex-wife. At the heart of the case is Heard’s 2018 Washington Post op-ed article in which she implied she was a survivor of domestic and sexual violence. Depp did not name the piece.
Depp has accused Heard of ruining his reputation and career by alleging he abused her. An attorney for the actor said in opening remarks that the publication “Mr. falsely and unfairly characterized Depp as a villain”. Heard has denied Depp’s defamation allegations and says in a $100 million countersuit that he assaulted her multiple times before and during their marriage, which ended in divorce in 2016. Depp has denied the claims.
The Virginia jury heard Wednesday as Sexton described her professional and personal relationship with Heard. In addition to being Heard’s acting coach, Sexton was friends with the actress, who took her on birthday trips and vacations.
At the beginning of Heard and Depp’s relationship, Sexton said she witnessed the couple being “incredibly in love and passionate” and “always together in a positive way.” But over time, Sexton said she started seeing fewer of them together and often heard loud arguments while they were at her house for acting sessions.
“It went from being a normal couple to a very tense state, especially in the last few months they’ve been together,” Sexton said.
Once they began working together professionally, Sexton said Heard was never late for scheduled classes at her home studio. But gradually, Sexton said she had to start adding “cushion time” to her meetings because Depp and Heard would have discussions or fights that would leave Heard in tears.
“I would say last year they were together, probably 80-90% of our sessions started with her crying,” Sexton said.
In her statement, Sexton said she could tell when Heard’s tears were real because “ironically, she has a little trouble crying acting.”
During her four-day testimony earlier this month, Heard cried several times as she spoke about the assaults she allegedly suffered at the hands of Depp.
Sexton said she cares for Heard and tries to calm her down when she’s distressed.
“I have a caretaker personality, so I would prioritize caring for the person in front of me over work, which is why I put all the extra time into the build,” she said.
The jury also heard from Heard’s sister, Whitney Henriquez, who said she saw Depp repeatedly punch Heard during a fight that took place shortly after their marriage. Two of Heard’s former friends and her makeup artist also testified Wednesday.