Amber Heard’s former make-up artist has testified that she concealed injuries on Heard’s face before her appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden.
Melanie Inglessis gave evidence in the ongoing $50m defamation trial – brought by Johnny Depp against ex-wife Heard – on Wednesday (18 May).
Depp is suing Heard for allegedly implying he abused her in a 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post, claiming the article has impacted his ability to land the kinds of Hollywood roles he once used to.
During her testimony, which concluded on Tuesday (17 May), Heard has claimed she was physically abused by Depp on 15 December 2015 – the night before she was scheduled to appear on Corden’s chat show – resulting in a bruised face and a bleeding lip.
Appearing on behalf of the Aquaman actor in court on Wednesday via video deposition, Inglessis described covering the discolouration and bruises on Heard’s face on 16 December 2015.
“We covered the discolouration, the bruises with a slightly heavier concealer,” Inglessis testified, adding, “One that has a little more of a peach undertone which I normally don’t use on Amber but peach cancels blue so I did that under the eyes.”
“Although Amber always has a red lip – it’s her signature look – I remember clearly talking that we had no other option that night [of the interview] than to use a really red lipstick to make sure we could cover up the injuries on her lip,” she also told the jury.
When Heard’s lawyer Elaine Bredehoft asked Inglessis whether she was able to cover up all of Heard’s facial injuries, she replied: “Yes.”
An image was shown to the court of Heard wearing makeup with Corden and actor Luke Bracey during filming for The Late Late Show.
Inglessis also testified during Depp’s libel case with The Sun newspaper – over an article labelling the 58-year-old actor a “wife-beater” – that she had used make-up to cover up bruises on Heard’s face before she appeared on Corden’s chat show.
During her desposition, which was recorded in February last year, Inglessis also said that she told Heard she “had no interest in continuing a relationship either work-wise or friendship-wise” a month earlier.
“It was always, it was always some conflict, some fight,” Inglessis said about Heard and Depp’s tumultous relationship, adding, “There always was a problem.”
“It was a very consuming friendship… that’s why I decided not to continue it,” she said.
So far, the jury has also also heard testimonies from Heard’s sister Whitney Henriquez, her friends Raquel Pennington and Elizabeth Marz, acting coach Kristy Sexton, Ms Pennington’s ex-boyfriend Josh Drew.
Pennington testified seeing Heard’s injuries after a December 2015 fight with Depp, and intervening in a separate 2016 altercation at the penthouses in which they lived shortly before Heard filed for divorce. She also said she feared for her friend’s safety.
While Depp has denied hitting Heard, she has countersued the Pirates of the Carribbean actor for $100m, accusing Depp of orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her and describing his lawsuit as a continuation of “abuse and harassment”.
Follow live updates of the trial here.
Actor Amber Heard (R) talks with her lawyer Elaine Bredehoft during a defamation case against her by ex-husband, actor Johnny Depp, at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, USA, 18 May 2022
