Johnny Depp jurors shown his explicit texts in defamation case

Lawyers for Johnny Depp's ex-wife Amber Heard questioned the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star on Thursday in his defamation case, showing jurors graphic text messages in which Depp referred to a "monster" inside him that he had to keep in check.

Depp, 58, is suing Heard, 35, for $50 million after she accused him of abuse before and during their roughly two-year marriage. He has argued that Heard was the one who became violent in the relationship.

In a Virginia courtroom, Heard's attorneys spent much of Thursday presenting emails and text messages that Depp sent to Heard, friends, family and associates and often filled with expletives and vulgar descriptions.

"We've been perfect. All I had to do was send the monster away and lock him up, we've been happier than ever," he texted to a former security guard in 2015 shortly after he and Heard wed.

In another text to one of his doctors, Depp said he had "locked my monster child away in a cage deep within and it has fu***** worked."

Depp said Heard used the word monster to describe when she thought he was drunk or using drugs, though he said her perception was not always accurate.

In other texts, Depp called Heard a "filthy whore" and other names and said he wanted her dead.

Writing to actor Paul Bettany in 2013, Depp said: "Let's drown her before we burn her" and "I will f*** her burnt corpse afterward to make sure she is dead."

Depp said he was "not proud of any of the language he used in anger."

In other messages, Depp talked about drinking and drug use.

"I, of course, pounded and displayed ugly colors to Amber on a recent journey," he wrote to Bettany. "I am an insane person and not so fair-headed after too much of the drink."..Reuters