Actor Johnny Depp told jurors Tuesday that he felt obligated to sue his ex-wife Amber Heard for libel after she accused him of domestic abuse because he was obsessed with the truth.

“My purpose is to tell the truth because it kills me that all these individuals I’ve met over the years… think I’m a phony,” he explained.

Depp categorically denied ever striking Heard, calling the charges of physical and sexual assault against him “not grounded in any species of fact.”

In court, Depp stated, “Nothing of the kind ever happened.”

“It’s been six years of tough times,” the former “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor stated, referring to the collapse in his career after Heard made abuse charges against him. It’s weird when one day you’re Cinderella and the next you’re Quasimodo in 0.6 seconds.”

Depp provided extensive, stream-of-conscious replies to questions about his childhood and early film career during the first hour and a half of his evidence on Tuesday, speaking in his distinctive deep baritone. “I forgot what the initial question was,” he said after a long response.

He admitted to having a meandering manner, especially when it came to his writing style. He talked about his lengthy connection and cooperation with Hunter S. Thompson, the late gonzo writer, and how he tried to replicate his approach, which included loud language and exaggerating thoughts.

He said that this drove him to send text messages that he now regrets, and he apologized to the jury for the foul language he used in text messages used to characterize Heard.

“I went to dark places in the heat of the moment, in the heat of the sorrow I was feeling,” he stated.

After Heard filed for divorce and sought a restraining order against him in 2016, he said he’d been waiting six years to share his side of the tale.

Prior to Tuesday, jurors had only seen the Hollywood actor sitting calmly with his team of attorneys as each side attempted to disgrace the other in a trial that Heard’s lawyers correctly anticipated would evolve into a mudslinging soap opera.

Depp spoke at length about a childhood in which physical violence from his mother was “continuous” after disputing Heard’s abuse accusations. Depp stated he made sure his children didn’t have that sort of upbringing when he became a father.

Depp’s testimony will resume on Wednesday. He spoke mostly on the early years of his relationship with Heard at Tuesday’s hearing, claiming she appeared “too good to be true” at first.

Depp remarked of the lady he married in 2015, “She was attentive.” “She was a wonderful person. She was astute. She was a kind person. She was a hoot. She was receptive… We had a lot of interests, such as blues music and literature.”

He did say, though, that there were small things that gave him signals of a problematic relationship ahead. He stated she grew irritated when he interrupted a pattern in which she removed his boots for him when he returned home. He also said that she was enraged when he refused to go to bed when she was ready.

“I couldn’t understand why, as a 50-something man, I couldn’t sleep when I needed to.” he stated

Depp, 58, admitted that he was aware of the age gap between himself and Heard, 35.

“I accept the reality that I was the old, crooked fogey and she was this lovely creature,” he explained.

However, Depp said that within a year and a half, Heard had transformed into a completely different person.

Depp’s friends, relatives, and coworkers have all attested that Heard was the aggressor in the relationship, hitting him violently on several occasions. Heard’s former personal assistant said that in a fit of passion, Heard spit in her face.

Depp allegedly attacked Heard physically and sexually on many occasions, according to her lawyers, frequently in situations where he had consumed so much alcohol that he passed out afterwards.

Depp said that Heard’s claims of substance misuse were “grossly overblown” and that he has never been out of control.

Depp stated, “I’m not some madman who needs to be high or loaded all the time,” but he acknowledged to using “a line or two” of cocaine with Heard’s sister, Whitney.

The actor admitted to being addicted to painkillers after suffering an injury on the production of the fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” film. He also admitted to using his mother’s “nerve medications” as a child.

Depp, on the other hand, claims to have detoxed from the painkillers and has had extended periods of abstinence throughout the years.

“Ms. Heard’s characterisation of my’substance usage’ is highly overblown,” Depp claimed. “And, I’m sad to say, a lot of it is simply untrue.” I believe that was a simple target for her to strike.”

The case is intended to be about whether Heard libeled Depp when she penned an op-ed piece about domestic abuse in The Washington Post in 2018. Heard described herself as a “public figure symbolizing domestic abuse” in the piece.

Depp and his attorneys said it was an obvious reference to charges Heard made in 2016 when the couple split and she filed a restraining order against him.

Nothing in the piece libels Heard, according to his attorneys, who have launched their own countersuit against Depp. They claim that the charges of abuse are accurate, and that Depp’s terrible behavior caused the harm to his image, which he claims cost him the lucrative “Pirates of the Caribbean” film franchise.