Amber Heard testifies Johnny Depp threatened to kill her 'many times'

The Johnny Depp libel trial is underway in London, and his ex-wife Amber Heard has given some highly-anticipated testimony.

Depp is suing News Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Sun, over an article calling him a "wife beater" in reference to Heard's allegations that he physically abused her, and Monday was the first of three days of testimony from Heard in the trial, The Associated Press reports. The actress, in a written statement given to the court, accused Depp of physical abuse and of threatening to kill her, Deadline reports.

"Some incidents were so severe that I was afraid he was going to kill me, either intentionally or just by losing control and going too far," she said in the statement. "He explicitly threatened to kill me many times, especially later in our relationship."

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Heard also spoke on the witness stand about an alleged incident in 2015 in which she and Depp got into an argument in a hotel room "that resulted in Johnny kneeling on my back and hitting me on the back of the head," per Deadline.

Depp previously denied Heard's allegations of abuse, saying "these sick claims are totally untrue." Depp has accused Heard of being "the abuser," in a statement saying that "rage-filled violent incidents on planes were common with Amber." Heard told the court, "When I felt my life was threatened, I tried to defend myself."