Johnny Depp’s personal doctor has testified on the actor’s battles with substance misuse on the third day of the $50 million defamation case brought by Depp against his ex-wife Amber Heard.
Dr David Kipper recounted how he was hired by Depp in 2014 and was tasked with helping the Pirates of the Caribbean star recover from addiction.
The actor has previously had a history of substance misuse with alcohol, stimulants such as cocaine, opiates, and benzodiazepines. Kipper said that he was hired by Depp to help the actor detoxify from the substances.
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The doctor was called by the defence, and gave video testimony on a number of topics, including his clinical notes on Depp’s progress, as well as making mention of the times that Depp tried to stop the detoxification process.
On one such occasion, Kipper texted Depp: “Stop firing me. I know what I am doing.”
He then said that Depp was eventually convinced to continue with the treatment, Deadline reports.
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Kipper recounted some of the texts that Depp sent him, including one in which he wrote: “Forgot to tell you had a hopefully very positive and free of ego squawk with Amber last night that went very well…and then I shot a few n*groes in a club on Sunset Boulevard.”
In his deposition, Kipper said he couldn’t remember the exact text that was sent, ‘so that may have been an attempt at humour’.
The doctor testified that he never saw any violence between the pair, but he did talk about texts from his nurse Debra Lloyd that claimed that Depp 'punched a white board in the kitchen after a fight', and another that alleged that he kicked a door on set after getting annoyed with the director.
In March 2015, Depp texted Kipper to say that Heard was ‘as full of s**t as a Christmas goose’ and called her a ‘malicious evil and vindictive c***’.
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Depp wrote: “She is so desperate for success and fame. That is probably why I was acquired.”
However, in June he sent Kipper a note that said: “My deformed finger and I have no friends!!!
“By the way…Amber and I have been absolutely perfect for three f***ing months solid!!!
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“I have locked my monster child away in a cage within and it has f***ing worked!!!
“We’re goddam best friends now.”
The ‘monster finger’ remark refers to an incident in which Depp claimed he ‘cut the top of [his] middle finger off’.
Kipper later said there was a worry Depp was ‘taking more Xanax than he should have been’ and the effect that phone calls with Heard might have had on him.
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The court has now been adjourned until after the weekend.
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Topics: US News, Celebrity, Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, Film and TV
Tom Wood