Johnny Depp's Sister Accuses Mom of Physical Abuse in Defamation Trial Testimony

Johnny Depp‘s sister Christi Dembrowski took to the stand on Tuesday (April 12) as part of the actor’s defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard.

During her testimony, Christi claimed she and her brother were abused by their mother Betty Sue Palmer during their childhood.

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“We would run and hide,” she recalled of seeing her mom being physically abusive toward their father, who she said would not react. Christi also alleged, “She would hit us. She would throw things.”

When asked if Johnny ever retaliated against the abuse, his sister said no, “He never went to that place.”

“Really early on as a young child,” she said, “none of what was happening in our home felt good. And so, as I got older, both Johnny and I actually, we decided that once we left, once we had our own home, we were never going to repeat, ever, anything similar in any way to our childhood. We were gonna do it different.”

Christi went on to say that Betty “softened” as she got older. She passed away in May 2016 at the age of 81, days before Amber filed for divorce from Johnny.

Johnny sued Amber in 2019 over an op-ed published in the Washington Post, in which she alluded to allegations she had made against him in the past and said she had become “a public figure representing domestic abuse.”

Johnny responded with a $50 million dollar claim, though Amber did not name Johnny in the piece or detail any of the alleged abuse. She subsequently filed a $100 million counterclaim.

Amber‘s attorneys claimed in their opening statements that the Pirates of the Caribbean star “sexually assaulted” the actress towards the end of their relationship, an allegation that had never been made publicly before.

However, Johnny‘s legal team refuted the allegations, calling Amber “a profoundly troubled person” who was a perpetrator of domestic violence despite claiming to be a victim.