Former assistant to Amber Heard alleges abuse

The Blast reported on Wednesday that Kate James, a former personal assistant who worked for the actress between 2012 to 2015, described what it was like to work for her. James’ testimony is in line with the assault and abuse Johnny Depp allegedly suffered at the hands of the actress. Some of the abuse was exposed in recordings obtained by The Daily Mail.

James’ testimony is a part of the discovery process by Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s legal teams as details of their divorce goes to court.

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In the testimony, James talks about her impressions with Heard, whom she says disparaged Depp without naming him directly.

The Blast reports that as Heard and Depp’s relationship progressed, the actress adopted more of his style and mannerisms and became more like him. In the document, James states that “Amber relished the fame that came with dating Johnny,” and that she soon realized she could ask for designer clothing just by dropping his name—a benefit that she allegedly took advantage of.

The worst was yet to come, however. Heard’s ex-assistant says that the actress was “regularly verbally and mentally abusive and would often scream at me in that way, over the smallest things.”

“She would fly into blind rages where no-one could reason with her, and even if I was trying to offer an explanation, I didn’t think that she could hear me as she was so angry,” she wrote. “It was like she thought regular things that can go wrong in any person’s life on any given day didn’t apply to her. Everything that went wrong was always my fault. I remember one occasion where she missed a connection on a flight on or around Christmas Day in 2012. My aunt was visiting from Australia at that time. She was screaming abuse at me for literally hours as though I had made it snow and caused the disruptions to the flight.”

The testimony against Heard further states that the actress often bragged about abusing drugs and alcohol, and that she would get upset if James spoke to Depp.

In contrast, Depp is described as “calm and quite shy in all of my experiences with him. He was always thoughtful and kind, and a genuinely decent person. I remember on more than one occasion where I had to bring my son back to work with me after picking him up from school. Johnny would be there and would hang out with him, teaching him how to play the guitar. He would be patient and kind with him. I would never have left my son with Johnny while I was working if I had any concerns about him whatsoever.”

In spite of the verbal abuse she allegedly faced, James testified that she did not see a single instance of physical violence between Depp and Heard by either of them. Heard previously accused Depp of physically assaulting her during the period of James’ employment, allegedly throwing a phone at her face.

”I never saw any physical violence by either Amber or Johnny,” said James. “I saw Amber much more frequently than Johnny, almost every day for three years apart from when she was out of town. I understand that the period of my employment overlaps with the majority of incidents in which Amber has alleged that Johnny was violent towards her. I never once saw any bruising, swelling, or any evidence of what could have resulted from violence. I would often see her naked, or semi-naked, when she was getting dressed or at fittings. I was around her a lot, often 7 days a week.”

James says that working with Heard was a negative experience she’ll not soon forget. Describing the actress’ alleged behaviour as “mental abuse.”

“I feel that I am permanently scarred by the experience,” she wrote. “It was an exercise in daily humiliation. I felt constantly embarrassed that someone so much younger than me could make me feel so worthless. Amber was a classic bully. She enjoyed making me feel stupid.”