Amber Heard ‘twisted’ assault story, says ex-assistant

Amber Heard's former personal assistant claimed, on Wednesday, that she told the Aquaman star about a violent sexual assault she had endured, only for Heard to "twist" the story for her own use, revealed The Hollywood Reporter.

Kate James gave dramatic testimony at Johnny Depp's libel trial against British tabloid The Sun that accused the actor of abusing ex-wife Heard during their relationship. Depp is suing News Group Newspapers, publisher of The Sun, and the paper's executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an April 2018 article that called him a "wife-beater" as he strongly denies abusing Heard.
James, who worked for Heard between 2012 and 2015, gave evidence in support of Depp, and said she had told Heard that she was raped at machete-point in Brazil about 25 years ago. She said she was shocked to learn that in a witness statement, Heard misrepresented and exploited the incident.

"She referred directly to a violent rape that occurred to me 26 years ago and twisted it into her own story and used it for her own use," James said by video link from LA. "I am a sexual violence survivor and it is very, very serious to take that stance if you are not one.”

Heard is due to give evidence in the case later this week. The actor, 34, has made 14 allegations of violence by 57-year-old Depp between 2013 and 2016. He denies them all. Both stars give wildly differing accounts of their volatile relationship, which began after they met on the set of the 2011 comedy The Rum Diary. 

Also on Wednesday, Depp's former estate manager accused Heard of asking him to lie under oath after she was charged with bringing her two dogs to Australia illegally. In a written witness statement, Kevin Murphy said she asked him to falsely claim that she didn't know it was illegal to bring the dogs to Australia, which has strict animal quarantine rules.
James described Heard as a demanding employer, saying she received "incoherent, abusive text messages" between 2 am and 4 am on an almost daily basis.

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