The Johnny Depp / Amber Heard story is quickly turning into a ‘he said – she said’ scenario, with a friend of Heard’s now making some pretty hectic allegations of abuse against the Pirates Of The Caribbean star.

This follows on from Depp’s daughter and ex-wife publicly defending him, after pictures of Heard’s bruised face were splashed across the internet.

Then another friend of Depp’s, a certain Doug Stanhope, said Heard has always had a case of the crazies (HERE).

Anyway we move on – so the confidante, as the Daily Mail are calling her, has said that she received a distressed text from Heard last December:

She then claims she rushed to her Los Angeles apartment, where she found the Friday Night Lights star ‘battered and bruised’, and with a chunk of hair missing from her head.

The pal told the newspaper: ‘This incident really stuck with me because she confided in me that day that she feared for her life after an intoxicated Johnny tried to suffocate her with a pillow.’

She added that it wasn’t the only time she had seen a drunk Depp attack Heard.

The latest claims follows allegations Depp punched a wall during a fight with Amber Heard, forcing him to take a month off from filming.

Depp is said to have turned violent during a heated row with his estranged wife in March 2015 while he was working on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest in Australia.

He injured his hand during the reported confrontation in the apartment the couple were sharing and was forced to fly back to the United States for surgery, Entertainment Tonight reports.

Depp had a pin inserted in one of his fingers and filming was halted for a month. His injury was reported at the time, but it wasn’t clear how it had occurred.

One thing that has become clearer as this story unfolds – Depp is a popular figure, and people seem far more keen to discredit Heard’s account than his. That hasn’t escaped the attention of the Daily Beast:

In the wake of those claims going public and that photo going viral, there has been some shock and awe. A lot of skepticism. Many conspiracy theories that Heard is inventing the history of abuse in order to extort more money in the divorce. An aggressive smear campaign launched by Depp’s friends and family to discredit Heard and her character. And a media culture that is bizarrely hospitable—occasionally even complicit—in this campaign…

On Monday, after a long weekend of accusations that Heard is making the entire thing up, Heard’s legal team has been forced to file a statement to both police and the media in response to what the team says are “vicious false and malicious allegations.”…

No one has been convicted of anything, and the conflation between “accused” and “convicted” that poisons modern media coverage is an irredeemable issue. Evidence is only surfacing; these are allegations. But perhaps the kneejerk reaction when a woman shows up to court with a bruise on her face shouldn’t be “she’s lying.”

The team at Huffington Post decided to answer some of the questions that have been thrown Amber’s way, mostly by those looking to discredit her. A few below:

If Amber Heard was abused as she claims, why was she photographed smiling on Saturday?

What audacity she has, to crack a smile. Victims of domestic violence are multifaceted, complex human beings. Even if they are upset, they are likely to still smile, laugh and joke around. They may even go to the movies or eat food in public.

If it was as bad as Heard says, wouldn’t she have left earlier?

This is the question that domestic violence victims hear over and over again. “Why didn’t you just leave?” But it’s not unusual for women in abusive relationships to stay with their partners, for reasons that are entirely their own.

Maybe they love their partner. Maybe they think it will get better. Maybe they think they can help fix them. Maybe they don’t want to give up on their dreams for the future. Maybe they are scared of what will happen if they leave.

We can’t know exactly what happened in Heard and Depp’s relationship. But her not leaving doesn’t prove anything about her truthfulness.

Instead, the fact that we are still asking these questions speaks volumes about how little the public understands about domestic violence.

…one in four women has or will be a victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in her lifetime. Around three women a day are killed by intimate partners. And yet, we are still so hesitant to believe a woman when she comes forward.

They make a good point, and let’s just imagine for a second she came forward with allegations of abuse at the hands of someone who wasn’t (previously) universally loved.

Something tells me we would have been a little more willing to believe Amber’s side of things.

[sources:dailymail&dailybeast&huffingtonpost]