One of the most misrepresented audio's in the Depp v Heard trial was the Bathroom Incident where Amber is heard saying, "I hit you". Depp supporters use this as a smoking gun to point to Amber as the abuser.
Depp leaked the portion of the audio which seems to incriminate Amber but the context is edited out. The conversation takes place in the last year of the couples relationship after Amber has endured many assaults from Depp. The Unsealed Documents which were released after the trial gives the full story.
Amber and Depp had arranged to have Rocky and Josh round to the apartment for dinner. As they arrive, Depp spends a few moments with Rocky and Josh then leaves to shower. He is gone for the entire meal and reappears as they are leaving. Depp then leaves to go to Isaacs apartment eventually returning to Amber who is sitting in bed with the TV on. At this point, she's understandably angry at his behaviour. She is further riled when Depp takes the TV remote.
Amber eventually snaps and (in Depp's words) 'started cracking into' him, saying, "get the fuck out of my bed, get the fuck out of my room".
Gaslighting 101
Trivialising and minimising bad behaviour is a common gaslighting tactic. Leaving dinner guests for hours is a bad behaviour. Spending the entire meal in the bathroom when you're an addict is even more concerning. Amber has every right to be annoyed. Depp belittles her reaction saying, "It's not like you caught me cheating" and "I didn't cause you any fuckin' harm" and "I didn't do anything that should have any effect on you".
Depp accuses Amber of picking the locks to the office door which leads to the bathroom. Amber denies this and they move on to the incident with the bathroom door. In the audio, Depp says that Amber knocked on the door and after a few times he opens it. She steps in and while she's still arguing with him he shuts the door on her, catching her foot and scraping her toes.
Although it's clear to see what happened according to Depp's words in the audio transcript, Depp supporters spread the lie that Amber was chasing Depp around the house for no apparent reason until she found him cowering in the bathroom and kicked the door in. A complete fabrication.
Depp explains that the door scraping her toes was an accident. He then moves on to say how he was bent down when Amber pushed the door back which hit his head. He accuses her of doing it on purpose saying, "you either pushed or you kicked, I think you kicked the door open. Yeah, I mean the door more open so that it would hit me".
Amber denies deliberately trying to hurt him with the door. It's completely logical for Amber to push the door away from her injured foot. She apologises regardless.
Depp then accuses Amber of punching him when he stood up. Amber denies punching him clarifying that she 'hit' him, not 'punched' him. She goes on to explain that she "thought he's getting violent" again because they'd "been there before".
It's important to note that victims who've been living in a cycle of abuse will often go into 'fight or flight' mode. Amber's instinct to react by lashing out in a panic, hitting Depp shows that she opted for the 'fight' mode in anticipation of his impending violence which she'd come to expect.
I DID START A PHYSICAL FIGHT
Relative to the Bathroom incident, Amber takes the blame for the physical fight even though hitting Depp was a reaction to the door Depp slammed on her foot. Depp is still going on and on about wether it was a hit or a punch and Amber is getting frustrated....
JD: You punched me
AH: I'm sorry that I didn't hit you across the face in a proper slap but I was hitting you, I was not punching you. Babe, you're not punched.
JD: Don't tell me what it feels like to be punched.
AH: You know you've been in a lot of fights, you've been around a long time, I know.... yeah.
JD: No, when you fuckin have a closed fist
AH: You didn't get punched. You got hit. I'm sorry I hit you like this, but I did not punch you. I did not fucking deck you, I fucking was hitting you.
JD: You can't deck me.
AH: I don't know what the motion of my actual hand was but you're fine. I did not hurt you I did not punch you, I was hitting you.
Eventually, Amber's patience wears thin after discussing the 'hit' for a disproportionately long time while her injury and concerns are ignored. Depp taunts Amber saying "how are your toes" in a sarcastic tone.
JD: How are your toes?
AH: I'm not sitting here bitching about it am I. You are. That's the difference between me and you.
JD: Awww... your poor toes.
AH: You're a fuckin' baby
JD: Because you start physical fights?
AH: You're such a baby. Grow the fuck up Johnny.
JD: Because you start physical fights?
AH: I did start a physical fight because......
Conclusion
The audio which Depp fans use against Amber to demonstrate her 'abuse' against Depp is a misrepresentation of her reaction to years of violence from Depp. The audio clearly shows that although Amber had every right to be upset with Depp for his behaviour that evening, he uses Amber's trauma response to turn the tables on her. A common trick by narcissistic abusers who push their victims to breaking point then claim to be the injured party.
It is important to note that Amber responds to Depp's sarcastic tone with an equally sarcastic "I did start a physical fight" because she is aware that her reaction was due to her fear that he may become violent. When she promises she can't guarantee it won't happen again, this is also because she knows her reaction was a 'fight or fight' instinct which can not be controlled.
Finally, context is important. That's why Depp tried to exclude it.
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