A file photo of Johnny Depp, Amber Heard (courtesy AFP)

London:

Hollywood actor Johnny Depp on Wednesday denied claims that he slapped his ex-wife Amber Heard, as he faced a second day of questioning in his high-profile libel trial in London.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean star is suing British tabloid The Sun for a 2018 article which claimed he was a “wife-beater”.

Both Depp, 57, and Heard, 34, were in court as lawyers for The Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), questioned him about allegations of violence during the couple’s time together.

NGN is disputing the claim for libel, and said there is “overwhelming evidence” that he attacked Heard while under the influence of drink and drugs between 2013 and 2016.

The former couple first met on the set of the 2011 film The Rum Diary, married in 2015 but divorced two years later.

Lawyer Sasha Wass, representing NGN, put it to Depp that he had slapped Heard three times after she made fun of a “Wino Forever” tattoo on his arm in March 2013, when he was drinking heavily.

“I’m sorry but that is not true, you are mistaken… I didn’t hit Ms Heard,” the actor replied.

The tattoo originally read “Winona Forever” and referred to the actress Winona Ryder, with whom he had had a previous relationship. He changed it after they broke up.

– ‘I never abused Heard’: Depp –

NGN is relying on 14 separate claims of domestic violence in its defence, all of which Depp denies.

The case opened at the High Court on Monday with Depp insisting in a witness statement that had “never abused Ms Heard, or, indeed any other woman” in his life.

He said Heard, an actress, was calculating, sociopathic, narcissistic and emotionally dishonest, with a diagnosed borderline personality disorder, and was intent on destroying his life.

Much of the questioning has involved his drinking and drug-taking but he insisted he did not have a “nasty side” and lost control while under the influence, as Heard has asserted.

His legal team called Heard’s allegations “complete lies”. They said she was a “complex individual”, prone to wild mood swings under a variety of prescription medication and other drugs.

Rather than Depp being the perpetrator, she had subjected him to verbal and physical attacks, and he had had to defend himself on occasions, they argued.

“He is not a wife-beater and never has been,” his lawyer David Sherborne said.

Depp maintains The Sun article, which was published despite a previous public denial of violence, had caused “significant reputational damage” to his career.