Johnny Depp’s nurse recalled having to scour a turned-upside-down house in Australia for the tip of the actor’s severed finger — which he injured during a fight with his now-ex-wife Amber Heard.
On Monday, jurors in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star’s defamation trial against Heard reviewed pre-recorded testimony from his former private nurse, Debbie Lloyd, who traveled with the then-couple down under in March 2015 and was part of the team helping treat Depp’s opioid addiction.
Lloyd said she arrived at the house where Depp was staying while filming “Pirates of the Caribbean” only to find a smashed-up TV and writing on the walls.
Depp’s hands were covered in paint and grime, she testified in the March 8 deposition that was playing in Virginia court Monday.
“I remember looking for his finger in the downstairs area,” Lloyd said in the video. “The house was a mess.”
Lloyd said the house manager ultimately found Depp’s fingertip and brought it to the hospital. She also recalled hearing “different stories from people” about what led to the gruesome injury.
“I have heard that Amber threw a bottle of vodka at him,” she said. “I have heard that he had slammed it with a phone.”
Heard denies the allegation she threw a vodka bottle at him, and what happened that night remains hotly contested between the warring exes.
Testimony given earlier on Monday by Depp’s former private doctor David Kipper complicated the story. In a deposition recorded Feb. 22, Kipper said he went to the house right after the finger incident, and saw broken glass and blood on the floor — but notably saw no blood on the glass. Kipper also testified that Depp told the doctors at the emergency room in Australia that he cut his finger with a knife. The doc didn’t put anything about a broken bottle in his notes.
Depp texted Kipper after the incident, for which he ultimately needed to get surgery, saying: “I cut the top of my middle finger off… What should I do!?? Except, of course, go to a hospital…. I’m so embarrassed for jumping into anything with her… F**K THE WORLD!!! JD.”
More than a week after his emergency visit to the hospital, Depp again texted his doctor: “Thank you for everything. I have chopped off my left middle finger as a reminder that I should never cut my finger off again!! I love you, brother. Johnny.”
News about Depp’s sliced-off digit first emerged during his UK trial against the Sun newspaper in 2020, when his house manager testified about finding the fingertip. The “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” actor eventually lost his libel case against the newspaper, which referred to him as a “wife beater” in a 2018 piece.
Depp, 58, is seeking $50 million in damages from Heard, 35, who he claims defamed him when she wrote in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed that she was a victim of “sexual violence.”
While Depp wasn’t named in the op-ed, the actor claims the piece damaged his reputation and career after it was widely assumed Heard was writing about their five-year relationship.
The actor is slated to testify Tuesday, a source close to Depp told The Post Monday, and cross-examination is expected Wednesday. Heard is expected to take the stand as well, but it’s not yet clear when.
In his suit, Depp claims to be a victim of physical abuse in their rocky relationship — citing the finger injury as a key example of Heard serving as the aggressor.
Depp has also claimed he almost died from the injury after developing an MRSA infection, and said the fight was over the couple’s lack of a prenuptial agreement.
In a court filing, Depp wrote: “I had to have 3 surgeries to reconstruct my finger and contracted MRSA three times” and “I feared that I would lose my finger, my arm, and my life.”
Heard, meanwhile, says he sliced off his own finger at the end of a three-day, drug-fueled bender. She admits she threw a bottle of liquor, but says it was directed at the floor.
“On the third day of Johnny staying awake without sleeping, I came downstairs to find numerous messages Johnny had written to me around the house, on the walls and on my clothes, written in a combination of oil paint and the blood from his broken and severed finger. Johnny also urinated all over the house,” the actress said in a previous statement.
The case will last around six weeks in the Fairfax, Virginia, court and was already off to a dramatic start last week, with one witness dismissed mid-testimony for admitting to watching clips online of the trial and supporters of both Depp and Heard kicked out of the courtroom for their behavior.
On Monday, one of the 11 jurors was dismissed after suffering a medical issue.
Lloyd, Depp’s nurse, also said in her deposition that she once found the “Black Mass” star sitting with bloody knuckles on his right hand after he punched a whiteboard following a fight with Heard.
But both she and Kipper testified to never seeing abuse between the two.
Text messages in court between Depp and the nurse revealed their close relationship. He once texted Lloyd to give him “some f—kin’ knockout yum yum” because Heard had a “nasty freakout.”
He once also wrote to the nurse that “even attempting to say thank you would be like a monkey trying to f–k a football…it’s just simply impossible.”
Lloyd said she was almost moved to tears upon hearing a lawyer read out her messages with the actor.
Other texts from Lloyd to Depp shown to the jury included her telling Depp “I love you too..be safe and be smart my son” and “I care about you deeply.”
Medical notes written by the nurse were also introduced into the record, in which she stated that Depp told her the majority of the issues in his marriage stemmed from his drug and alcohol use, that Depp discussed suffering from depression and anxiety due to emotional trauma. She also wrote that he became dependent on opiates after having them prescribed to recover from dental work.
After Lloyd’s deposition, Sean Bett, Depp’s bodyguard who still works for the actor, took the stand and described watching the demise of the couple’s relationship.
“I noticed they went from being that loving, almost like high school couple, where they were very giddy toward each other, he was very happy, she was very happy, to, they started to argue,” said Bett, who was called as a witness by Depp’s lawyers. “They started to argue periodically and then the arguing started to progress more and more and more, and it was always taking place because Miss Heard would start this argument.”
Bett said he once warned Heard, “You can’t continue: You guys are either going to kill each other or you’re going to be in jail,” and she responded, “I love him, I’m not gonna lose him.”
The security guard also testified about pictures he took of Depp’s injuries from alleged fights with Heard, including the actor’s swollen and red left cheekbone and scratched face.
His testimony was interrupted by constant objections from the defense, especially when he made remarks about Heard.
“Sir, if you didn’t see it, you can’t testify to it,” the judge reminded Bett.
He will be cross-examined on Tuesday.
