LOS ANGELES • Actor Johnny Depp was hit with a restraining order on Friday after his wife appeared in court with a black eye, accusing the Oscar-nominated star of assaulting her.
Amber Heard, who filed for divorce in Los Angeles earlier this week and is seeking spousal support from the 52-year-old Pirates Of The Caribbean star, says she is the victim of repeated attacks by Depp.
Heard submitted pictures to the court showing a bruise on her face that she claims was inflicted during a fight between the couple on Saturday and said she feared Depp might harm her.
"During the entirety of our relationship, Johnny has been verbally and physically abusive to me," she said in a sworn statement.
She said that Depp has a "totally acknowledged public and private history of drug and alcohol abuse", and that she was scared of his temper.
Celebrity news website TMZ published a picture showing Heard with bruising around her right eye. It reported that she said it was taken shortly after Depp hurled his iPhone at her face on Saturday night.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department told wire agency Agence France-Presse that officers who showed up at their residence were neither asked to take a complaint, nor was there any "evidence provided by the victim that warranted a report". "The police investigators concluded a crime had not occurred," he said.
TMZ said Heard alleges she is facing an immediate threat of harm from Depp, even though the actor is in Europe promoting his new film Alice Through the Looking Glass, which was released on Friday.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carl Moor ruled after reviewing 40 pages of evidence behind closed doors that Depp was banned from coming within 90m of Heard.
The order will be reviewed on June 17.
The couple's separation came less than a week after the death of Depp's mother Betty Sue Palmer at the age of 81.
The pair, who have no children together, have been embroiled in a spat with Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce since Heard failed to declare the couple's two dogs when they arrived in Queensland state a year ago.
Mr Joyce, who is also the agriculture minister, threatened to have Pistol and Boo put down unless they "buggered off back to the United States" for breaking Australia's strict quarantine laws.
Actress-model Heard last month admitted falsifying her immigration arrivals card and was placed on a A$1,000 (S$990) one-month good behaviour bond.
Depp and Heard married in a small, private ceremony in Los Angeles last February.
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
