Amber Heard stole my rape story, says former aide Kate James

Amber Heard's former aide, Kate James, told a London court that the actress stole her story of sexual abuse and made it her own to receive mass sympathy.

James gave her testimony remotely from Los Angeles, in support of Johnny Depp in his trial against The Sun's publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor Dan Wootton. The actor is suing the publication for an article that labeled him as a "wife-beater," an accusation that he has vehemently denied under oath.

Heard's former personal assistant was among those who gave their testimony and she claimed the actress stole her story of sexual abuse and twisted it to a different story to make it her own. James said in her video testimony that she confided in Heard about the time she was raped and held at machete-point in Brazil 26 years ago. She expressed her "utter shock and dismay" when she read Heard's witness statement.

"She referred directly to a violent rape that occurred to me 26 years ago and she twisted it into her own story and she used it for her own use. I am a sexual violence survivor and that's very, very serious to take that stance if you are not one," she said as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.

"I discovered that Ms. Heard had in fact stolen my sexual violence conversation with her and twisted it into her own story to benefit herself. This of course caused me extreme distress and outrage that she would dare to attempt to use the most harrowing experience of my life as her own narrative," James added.

James, who worked for Heard between 2012 and 2015, also revealed that the actress would drink "vast quantities of red wine each night" and that she would receive drunken and abusive text messages from her between 2 am and 4 am. Depp's former butler, Ben King, likewise revealed in court that Heard would often drink a bottle or two of wine each night and that she is the "antagoniser" in her marriage. James asserted that she is not working with Depp to tell lies about Heard and referred to the actress as "probably the least known person" in Hollywood she has worked with.