Isaac Baruch
Isaac Baruch is an artist and longtime friend of Johnny Depp, having known him since approximately 1980. He lived as Depp's neighbor and artistic protégé in the Eastern Columbia Building in downtown Los Angeles, where Depp provided him studio space, living expenses, and patronage in exchange for painting full-time. He had no professional role in the litigation and testified solely as a personal eyewitness to events during the week of May 21, 2016.
Testimony Impact
Baruch testified about his observations during the critical week following May 21, 2016, when Heard alleged Depp attacked her. He described making multiple close-range inspections of Heard's face on May 22, 23, 24, and 25 — in varied lighting conditions including corridor light, lobby sunlight, and a lit vestibule — and finding no cuts, bruises, swelling, or redness on any occasion. He also recounted seeing a security video he interpreted as showing Heard's sister Whitney simulate a slow, laughing fake punch toward Amber. On cross-examination, Bredehoft exposed his ignorance of Heard's makeup products and routine, established his substantial financial dependence on Depp, and introduced October 2016 text messages in which Depp called Heard a "cunt" and wished her dead — evidence that complicated Baruch's credibility and Depp's own character before the jury.
Notable Quotes From The Record
“Ike, don't worry. I do not care. I just want you to paint, however long it takes. Just I want you to paint every day.”
Baruch recounts Depp's words on the patronship arrangement, establishing the nature and depth of the friendship underlying his testimony.
“Johnny came by last night. He got violent, so I'm changing the locks on 1, 3, and 215.”
Baruch relays Heard's own words to him on May 22, establishing that Heard made a contemporaneous verbal allegation of violence — before Baruch inspected her face and found nothing.
“I don't see a cut, a bruise, swelling, redness. It's just Amber's face that she's going like this (indicating) and showing me.”
Core testimony: Baruch's close inspection of Heard's face on May 22 yields no visible injury, directly contradicting her later claims and photographs.
“Nothing. No cuts, no bruises, no swelling, no redness. It's Amber. It's Amber's face.”
Baruch's finding on May 24 — the third consecutive no-injury observation — reinforcing the pattern across multiple days and lighting conditions.
“Johnny came by last night and got violent, so I'm changing the locks on penthouse 1, 3, and 5. Don't worry about your place.”
Baruch's own account of what Heard told him on May 22, recounted under cross to establish Heard's contemporaneous statement about the previous night's events.
“And Whitney goes like this, (demonstrating) pow. Just a fake pow. And then they both start laughing.”
Baruch's description of the security video moment central to his direct testimony, recounted under cross-examination scrutiny of what he actually observed.
“Am I angry anymore? What I am is tired. And I want this all to end.”
Baruch's characterization of his current emotional state after Bredehoft presses him on his acknowledged anger toward Heard.
“He says that cunt ruined such a fucking cool life we had for a while.”
Baruch reads aloud from Depp's October 2016 text, confirming the language Depp used about Heard months after the divorce proceedings began.
Key Moments
Baruch describes Depp's offer of full art patronship — studio penthouse, living expenses, and all gallery proceeds — framing the depth and unusual nature of the friendship that underlies his testimony.
Day 2 · Direct of Isaac Baruch
Plaintiff's Exhibit 116, the rooftop floor plan of the Eastern Columbia Building, is admitted and published to the jury; Baruch annotates it interactively to orient the jury to the penthouse layout central to his observations.
Day 2 · Direct of Isaac Baruch
On the evening of May 21, Baruch discovers broken glass and a large wine spill outside penthouse 1; Josh Drew emerges from the door and tells him it has been a 'rough day,' providing the immediate prior-evening context for the next day's events.
Day 2 · Direct of Isaac Baruch
On May 22 — his birthday — Heard tells Baruch that Depp 'got violent' the night before; he then inspects her face at roughly two feet in good lighting and finds no cuts, bruises, swelling, or redness, directly contradicting her allegation.
Day 2 · Direct of Isaac Baruch
Baruch repeats the no-injury finding across May 23, 24, and 25 — including a May 25 vestibule encounter he describes as particularly clear because Heard was not wearing makeup — building a cumulative day-by-day pattern for the jury.
Day 2 · Direct of Isaac Baruch
Bredehoft walks Baruch through Heard's makeup products one by one — foundation, concealer, powder, tint, arnica cream — and he acknowledges knowing none of them, directly undermining the evidentiary weight of his 'no injuries' observations.
Day 2 · Cross of Isaac Baruch
Bredehoft establishes that Baruch lived rent-free in Depp's penthouses for years, currently lives rent-free at Depp's Sweetzer property, and received a $100,000 gift he never repaid — positioning him as financially dependent on the man whose case he is supporting.
Day 2 · Cross of Isaac Baruch
Baruch reads aloud from Depp's October 2016 text messages calling Heard a 'cunt' and wishing her dead, confirming the language before the jury and complicating both his own 'I'm just tired' demeanor and Depp's broader credibility.
Day 2 · Cross of Isaac Baruch
Locations
Evidence From Their Proceedings (5)
ECB Elevator Mezzanine: Whitney Henriquez Fake-Punch Clip
Eastern Columbia Building security footage showing Whitney Henriquez appearing to throw a fake punch toward Amber Heard in the elevator mezzanine area during the week of May 21,…
Catalog entry →Depp 116 — Exhibit 116 — floor diagram of Eastern Columbia Building pen
Exhibit 116 — floor diagram of Eastern Columbia Building penthouse corridor
Catalog entry →Depp–Baruch Texts Including 'Rotting Corpse' (Oct 2016)
Text messages between Johnny Depp and Isaac Baruch from October 2016, containing Depp's derogatory messages about Heard including the 'rotting corpse' text.
Catalog entry →Isaac Baruch deposition transcript, November 20, 2019, Anaheim
Isaac Baruch deposition transcript, November 20, 2019, Anaheim
Catalog entry →Plaintiff's Exhibit 116 — Floor plan of the rooftop penthouse level of the Eastern Col
Floor plan of the rooftop penthouse level of the Eastern Columbia Building, showing the layout of penthouses 1–5, elevator, pool, and gym.
Catalog entry →