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Everything that happened on wild Day 1 of Johnny Depp libel case

Hollywood’s battle royale between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard exploded in a British courtroom Tuesday — with the star blasting his ex as “sociopathic’’ while denying claims he beat her.

“[Heard] said to the world that she was in fear of her life from me and I had been this horrible monster, if you will. Which was not the case,’’ Depp said in a written statement released as he took the stand in a libel case.

“I am now convinced that she came into my life to take from me anything worth taking and then destroy what remained of it.”

The 57-year-old actor is suing Britain’s The Sun over a 2018 article that called him a “wife beater’’ based on Heard’s allegations that he repeatedly assaulted her during their doomed romance.

The warring couple’s ugly, years-long drama was laid out in the London courtroom as the trial began.

Depp during a break in the case.
Depp during a break in the casePA Images via Getty Images

By Depp’s account, he married a conniving, mentally twisted, fame-starved user who cheated on him, chopped off the tip of one of his fingers, burned his cheek with a cigarette — and may even have pooped in their bed as a “prank.’’

But Heard has claimed Depp is nothing but a jealous, rage-filled, drunken, drug-using abuser — with The Sun’s lawyer claiming in court that “his ‘wife beating’ behavior included throwing objects at [Heard], slapping her across the face, kicking her, gripping her around the throat and threatening to kill her,” while showing video of the actor in a rage.

The shaggy-haired “Pirates of the Caribbean’’ star arrived to court for the showdown dressed in a blue suit and wearing shades. Heard strolled through a separate entrance accompanied by her sister, lawyer and girlfriend in a black dress, using a red polka-dot scarf as a face mask.

Five different courtrooms were taken up by the proceeding because of social-distancing concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Depp was in the main courtroom with only the judge, a few clerks and lawyers. Heard remained out of sight in an overhead public gallery.

The actor started his testimony by giving his full name, John Christopher Depp II.

He soon admitted that he had already taken “every drug known to man” by age 14 — but insisted he was not a “monster” who beat Heard or any other woman.

Depp testified that it was “inconceivable’’ that he would ever hit a woman, saying his Southern upbringing taught him it was “very important’’ to respect females.

He was quickly confronted over his heavy drug use, his troubled childhood and his notorious hotel-trashing tantrum in New York.

The star admitted having used cocaine, ecstasy, LSD, psychedelic mushrooms and pot, calling them the “only thing I found to numb the pain.”

Complaining of a difficult childhood, he said he struggled with his fame, explaining, “Even when I speak my own name, it sounds foreign to me.”

He denied having a “nasty, angry side” even as he was confronted about trashing a hotel room at Manhattan’s Mark Hotel while with then-supermodel girlfriend Kate Moss in 1994.

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“I don’t know the exact amount of damage,” Depp said when it was suggested by the defense that he caused $10,000 in damage, dismissing it as “a few dents.”

He blamed it on a “particularly bad couple of days,” saying, “I was angry. That didn’t mean I had an anger problem. On that occasion, I chose to express my anger.”

The court also heard a statement from actress Ellen Barkin, who said Depp had thrown a bottle of wine across a hotel room on one occasion and had gotten jealous and angry.

“Untrue,” Depp replied, saying Barkin held a grudge.

Depp’s lawyer, David Sherborne, read an extract from a 2015 tape in which Heard called the actor “a f–king baby” after she allegedly physically assaulted him.

“You got hit … but I did not punch you,” Heard, 34, told him on the tape. “I did not f–king deck you. I f–king was hitting you.’’

Depp also claimed in a written statement that Heard once used his face as a punching bag aboard a private jet. He said he was forced to hide in the bathroom.

In addition, his camp introduced bloody photos showing Depp’s severed right middle fingertip and the actor lying on a stretcher after what they claim was a particularly vicious fight in Australia in March 2015, just a month after they were married.

“Amber severed my finger with the second of two thrown vodka bottles at me in the early afternoon of Sunday March 8,’’ the “Edward Scissorhands” actor claimed in a written statement.

Depp said he also suffered “a cigarette stubbed out on my cheek.’’

Heard’s camp has previously denied the allegations, and claimed to The Post that Depp mutilated himself in a booze- and drug-fueled jealous rage when he smashed a telephone against a wall and a piece of plastic from the phone severed his digit.

Amber Heard leaves the trial earlier today.
Amber Heard leaves the trial earlier today.WireImage

Depp then allegedly used his finger stump to scrawl accusations of infidelity by Heard in blood and blue paint on the walls and a mirror at their villa.

His handiwork included the words, “STARRING BILLY BOB EASY AMBER,” referring to actor Billy Bob Thornton. Heard has denied cheating on Depp with Thornton.

Depp told the court that Heard has “a calculating, diagnosed borderline personality.

“For example, at the time [the pair met], she repeatedly told me how much she admired my films,’’ Depp said. “However, later in our relationship, she admitted that she had never seen any of my films.

“She is sociopathic; she is a narcissist, and she is completely emotionally dishonest,’’ Depp alleged of Heard.

He said in a written statement in court that the actress or “possibly one of her friends” even once put feces in their bed — and that Heard later claimed it was “just a harmless prank.’’

Depp said the disgusting incident occurred after a party for Heard’s 30th birthday in their Los Angeles penthouse in May 2016 — and following a blow-up between the stormy couple.

“I understand that the following morning [after the party], Ms. Heard (or possibly one of her friends) defecated in our shared bed,” Depp said, according to the statement.

“On 12 May 2016, Ms. Heard confessed to our estate manager, Kevin Murphy, that leaving the feces in the bed had been ‘just a harmless prank,’ thereby effectively acknowledging that she had been responsible, whereas she had previously sought to blame our dogs,’’ the star said.

But Depp said the poop couldn’t have been the work of the pair’s tiny Yorkshire teacup terriers because they were too small to jump up on the high bed and besides, their excrement would have been a lot smaller.

Depp said that’s when he decided to divorce Heard, whom he has been locked in a vicious public battle with for several years, even after their official split in 2017.

His lawyers also revived claims that Heard cheated on Depp by having affairs with Tesla chief Elon Musk and actor James Franco, which the actress and the two men have denied.

The Sun’s lawyer battled back by focusing on Depp’s own past violence and notorious partying.

They showed the court a video that captured Depp once violently kicking in his and Heard’s kitchen cabinets while tossing a wine bottle and yelling “motherf–ker.”

Asked by The Sun’s lawyer, Sasha Wass, if he’d describe his behavior as violent, Depp responded, “I was violent with some cupboards.

“Clearly, I wasn’t in the best frame of mind. I was upset, very upset,’’ he said.

Pressed by Wass, Depp also admitted to supplying his then-13-year-old daughter, Lily-Rose, with pot.

He argued he was being a “responsible parent’’ by making sure her stash wasn’t tainted with anything.

Depp also admitted to once spending nearly $30,000 a month on wine, although he claimed it wasn’t all for himself.

Depp credited Elton John with helping to eventually get him sober — admitting to the superstar singer once in an email that he had a “brain and liver resembling [former British Prime Minister] Mrs. [Margaret] Thatcher,’’ according to court documents.

“I would have been swallowed up by the monster were it not for you,’’ Depp wrote John, referring to his demons.

While on the stand, Depp said he partly got into drugs because of his interest in the “counter-culture.”

“And many literary heroes of mine have been opium users,’’ the actor said. “It has been a subject that I have learned about.’’

Depp also talked about several of his famous idols, including Rolling Stones guitar legend Keith Richards and late writer Hunter S. Thompson, whose ashes the actor had fired from a cannon at a cost of $5 million. Depp portrayed Thompson in the 1998 flick “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.’’

“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me,’’ Depp quipped, quoting Thompson — to laughter in the courtroom.

Depp’s lawsuit centers on an April 2018 story in the British tabloid headlined: “Potty – How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”

The Sun’s lawyer said in court, “The defendants will demonstrate that the description of Mr. Depp as a ‘wife beater’ is entirely accurate and truthful.

“This defense is supported by witness testimony, medical evidence, photographs, video, audio recordings, digital evidence and Mr. Depp’s own texts.”

But Depp said the “sick” allegations that he ever physically hurt the actress “are totally untrue.’’

Heard is expected to testify during the three-week trial, and there may also possibly be words from Depp’s former partners Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder, both of whom have submitted statements supporting the Hollywood star.

Additional reporting by Lee Brown