Los Angeles // Johnny Depp was hit with a restraining order on Friday after his wife appeared in court with a black eye and accused the Oscar-nominated star of assaulting her.
Amber Heard, who filed for divorce in Los Angeles on Monday and is seeking spousal support from the 52-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean star, says she is the victim of repeated attacks by Depp.
“The judge issued a restraining order against Depp,” a court official said, adding that Heard, 30, had shown up at LA’s superior court with a bruised face.
Heard submitted pictures to the court to support her claims of abuse and said she feared Depp might harm her.
“During the entirety of our relationship, Johnny has been verbally and physically abusive to me,” she said in a sworn statement.
She added that Depp had a “totally acknowledged public and private history of drug and alcohol abuse,” and that she was scared of his temper.
The entertainment website TMZ published a picture showing Heard, with bruising around her right eye, reporting that the actress says it was taken shortly after Depp smashed his iPhone into her face on Saturday night.
“Heard claims after he allegedly hit her, he offered her money to stay quiet, but instead she filed for divorce first thing Monday morning,” TMZ reported.
It added however that Heard refused to file charges against her husband when police showed up at their residence on Saturday.
The website noted that Heard says she is facing an immediate threat of harm from Depp, even though the actor is in Europe promoting his new film Alice Through the Looking Glass, which was released on Friday.
The court order, which is in effect until June 17, bans Depp from coming within 100 metres of Heard.
Depp’s lawyer Laura Wasser denied requests for comment, while Heard’s attorney Samantha Spector was not immediately available.
* Agence France-Presse
