After Dr Dawn Hughes’s testimony supported Amber Heard’s accusations of having undergone domestic abuse while married to Johnny Depp, her WebMD page was flooded with nasty user reviews. All of the bad feedback has been removed. According to the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP), Hughes is a qualified forensic psychologist in New York City. Hughes testified on Heard’s behalf as the first defence witness in the continuing defamation action launched by Depp during the Fairfax trial. The doctor testified on May 3 that she had previously diagnosed the Aquaman actress with PTSD (PTSD). She concluded that Heard had been a victim of domestic abuse during her marriage to Depp.
Hughes’s professional WebMD profile was attacked while she was testifying in Heard’s favour. However, the question remains of whether the profile was her own. According to NBC News, several reviewers found Hughes sexist and immoral because of her apparent prejudice towards men in domestic violence cases. Some reviewers were so offended by Heard and Dr Dawn Hughes that they used an obscenity and other insults. However, as of May 10th, there are no longer any comments or reviews on the doctor’s website.
What was Dr Dawn Hughes’s testimony?
On May 3, after Johnny Depp’s attorneys had presented their case, Dr Hughes was summoned as the first witness to testify in Amber Heard’s favour. It was confirmed by Dr Dawn Hughes that Heard’s diagnosis of emotional and physical abuse throughout her marriage was consistent with what Heard had said. She claims that she came at these findings after considering several indicators diagnostic of Heard and Depp’s relationship dynamics. One factor to consider is Depp’s controlling behaviour, which included trying to control what Heard wore and what she did for a living. Heard testified that Depp sexually assaulted her with a vodka bottle in Australia. Dr Dawn Hughes says that Heard told her that, out of his jealousy of her friendship with James Franco at work, Depp kicked her on a flight to Los Angeles.
The defamation trial was put on hold and then resumed
Due to Judge Penny Azcarate’s absence, the trial of Johnny Depp’s defamation action against his ex-wife Amber Heard was once temporarily postponed. On May 16, the trial was later continued. The trial, which started on April 11, is expected to go through May 27 and will be broadcast live online. The trial, so the story goes, was put on hold because Judge Azcarate had made certain promises. According to many sources, the trial proceedings will be delayed since the judge has a conference to attend during that period. Depp is suing Amber Heard for $50 million for an editorial piece she published in The Washington Post in 2018 in which she claimed that she had become a public figure symbolising domestic violence. Though Depp wasn’t specifically named, his lawyers say the piece references her allegations against him during their 2016 divorce. So, Heard is attempting to sue Depp for $100 million.
