Johnny Depp and Amber Heard ran up a $160,000 wine bill by the end of their marriage, Depp's business manager, Ed White, testified in court Thursday.
Depp is suing Heard for $50 million, alleging she defamed him and ruined his career and reputation by insinuating she had been the victim of domestic violence in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed. Heard has denied the allegations and accused Depp of physically assaulting her on multiple occasions during their relationship, which ended when Heard filed for divorce in 2016.
On Thursday, White was asked about his role in settling the couple's finances during their divorce, which was finalized in early 2017.
One of the financial issues at stake in the divorce was settling the couple's outstanding bills, which included a $160,000 tab at Twenty Twenty Wine Merchants, a purveyor in Los Angeles.
Since the divorce, Depp's tab at the wine company has been nearly eliminated, White testified, though he still racks up wine bills around Christmastime because he gives bottles as gifts.
"His wine bill has shrunk to virtually zero because he does not continue to consume much in the way of wine," White said.
White said Heard had an affinity for a $500 bottle of wine produced by the Spanish winery Vega Sicilia. For Heard's 30th birthday party in April 2016 — the night of a fight that led to their separation — she ordered five bottles of that wine and eight bottles of another wine.
Depp's and Heard's alcohol and drug use have been focal points of the trial. Heard alleges Depp would get violent during drug- and alcohol-fueled rages. When Depp took the stand, he alleged it was Heard who was the abuser in their relationship and that she typically drank two bottles of wine a night. Depp previously said his personal wine bills were in excess of $30,000 a month.
On cross-examination, Depp's business manager was grilled about the actor's spending.
"Ms. Heard didn't buy any of the dozens of properties that Depp owned, correct?" J. Benjamin Rottenborn, Heard's lawyer, asked. "She didn't pay $5 million to blast Hunter Thompson's ashes out of a cannon, did she?"
He added: "She didn't buy a yacht that she couldn't afford and then have to sell it to J.K. Rowling, did she?"
