Who is Rocky Pennington? Amber Heard reveals text with close friend amid alleged abuse by Johnny Depp, shares photos of actor passed out after drug binges

On Thursday, May 5, Amber Heard’s legal team showcased texts between Rocky Pennington (aka Raquel) and the actress, where she revealed her distress.

Pennington and her then-fiancé Josh Drew were also involved in the incident on May 21, 2016, when police were called to Depp’s Eastern Columbia Building penthouse.

In the trial, jurors were shown the following text by Heard’s legal team:

“I’m not good.”

As per the screengrab showcased in court, the text was sent on May 24, 2014, around 6.52 pm. According to Heard and her legal team, the text insinuated the abuse she received from Depp. Notably, this text was sent two years before the police came to Depp and Heard’s residence over domestic violence claims.

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Rocky Pennington (Raquel) and her connection with Amber Heard in this case

Pennington, a Los Angeles-based yoga teacher, is reportedly a long-term friend of Amber Heard, and the two have known each other since 2003. She was also a neighbor of Depp and Heard circa 2016, when they all lived in penthouses in the Eastern Columbia Building.

Raquel “Rocky” Pennington had previously backed her friend Heard’s claims of assault in 2016, when the Texas native applied for a restraining order against Depp following their divorce. Furthermore, during Johnny Depp's libel lawsuit against The Sun in 2020, Pennington provided her written testimony.

In 2016, Raquel Pennington (not to be confused with the MMA personality) claimed that Johnny Depp threw a cellphone at Amber Heard. Meanwhile, in the 2020 trial against The Sun, Pennington revealed that she had expressed her concern to Heard about Depp. She allegedly told her that “Johnny might accidentally kill her while he was intoxicated or delusional like he was in Australia.”

She also testified that Heard was left with bruises on her arm after Depp had allegedly been violent with her.

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What did Amber Heard say about the text?

In her testimony, the Aquaman star addressed the text. She said:

“I needed help. I was scared. I was scared of what had just happened to me. I was scared of what would happen to me.”

Amber Heard has accused Depp of both s*xual and physical assault during their time together. Meanwhile, the crux of the actor’s lawsuit against her was due to the 2018 op-ed she had published in The Washington Post, where she spoke about being a victim of s*xual assault. While she did not mention Depp’s name, the Pirates of the Caribbean star’s legal team claims that the heavy accusation of s*xual assault was clearly directed towards Johnny Depp.

In the trial, Amber Heard's attorneys also showcased a picture of Depp being passed out after alleged drug use. Heard had previously recalled their Bahamas Island trip and claimed that the actor shouted and shoved her against a wall while intoxicated.

The actress also claimed that Depp had penetrated her with a vodka bottle. She said:

“Johnny had the bottle inside of me. And was shoving it inside me over and over again.”

However, as per the norms of any trial, many witnesses and experts from Depp’s side scrutinized the actress’ claims of s*xual assault. Depp’s security officer Travis McGivern claimed that Heard had punched the actor during the 2016 incident at their Eastern Columbia Building penthouse.