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 Depp is suing the publisher of
Britain's Sun tabloid, News Group Newspapers,
and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an
article in which he labelled the actor a "wife
beater", based on allegations from his former
wife, actress Amber Heard.
Appearing in the witness box for the third day
of a three-week libel trial, Depp was asked
about an incident in August 2014 on his island
in the Bahamas where he had gone to cut his
dependency on prescription drugs and where Heard
alleges he hit her and pushed her.
Depp told the court it was the "lowest point of
my life", when he was in a great deal of pain,
suffering uncontrollable spasms and sobbing like
a child on the floor.
He accused Heard of withholding medication that
would ease the process, calling it "one of the
cruellest things that she has ever done", the
court was told.
However, the Sun's lawyer Sasha Wass said Heard,
34, was following instructions from Depp's
medical team and pointed out she had contacted a
nurse who was staying on the island to say he
was screaming and had pushed her.
"I did not push Miss Heard or attack her in any
way," Depp said. "I was not in a condition to do
so in any case."
In text messages Depp sent to Heard's mother at
the time, read to the court by Wass, he praised
her daughter for her "heroism" in "taking care
of this old junkie" and that "it was Amber and
Amber only who got me through it".
He also sent a text to Heard herself saying
"Thank you so much for getting me fucking clean
baby".
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 During the trial, the court has
heard evidence about Depp's heavy drinking and
drug use, and about his toxic relationship with
Heard whom he married in 2015.
She filed for divorce 15 months after they wed
and first aired allegations of abuse in 2016.
But the court has heard claims that the
57-year-old actor started to physically abuse
her three years earlier when he became "the
monster" - an angry, violent alter ego brought
on by jealousy, alcohol and drugs.
On Wednesday, Depp was asked about slapping and
kicking her in a row on a plane over his belief
she was having an affair with actor James
Franco, and striking her during other arguments
when he had fallen into a rage.
Depp argues that Heard was the aggressor, saying
she had severed one of his fingers when she
threw a bottle at him, and that he has never hit
her.
He has told the court that the allegations were
a hoax, and Heard appeared to have been building
a dossier as an insurance policy, a suggestion
he repeated on Thursday.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Mike
Collett-White)
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