Amber Heard admits to “hitting” ex-husband Johnny Depp and warns she “can’t promise you I won’t get physical again” in an explosive audio confession published by The Daily Mail.

The recordings, taped on the Aquaman actress’ phone in 2015 as the couple attempted to talk through their marriage problems, caused the hashtag “#JusticeForJohnnyDepp” to trend on Twitter as fans claimed vindication for the Pirates of the Caribbean star.

Heard, 33, and Depp, 56, are locked in a tumultuous legal and public relations battle amid the fallout from their toxic 18-month marriage that ended in 2016, with both accusing the other of domestic violence.

In the audio, recorded a few months before Heard filed for divorce, the pair discuss a violent dust-up the previous evening where Depp accuses her of punching him in the jaw.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t … hit you across the face in a proper slap, but I was hitting you, it was not punching you,” she says. “Babe, you’re not punched.”

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Depp, audibly upset, says, “Don’t tell me what it feels like to be punched!”

Heard replies sarcastically, “I know, you’ve been in a lot of fights, been around a long time. I know, I know. Yeah.”

Depp says, “No! When you have a f***ing closed fist.”

Heard says, “You didn’t get punched. You got hit. I’m sorry I hit you like this. But I did not punch you. I did not f***ing deck you. I f***ing was hitting you. I don’t know what the motion of my actual hand was, but you’re fine, I did not hurt you, I did not punch you, I was hitting you.”

Depp says he texted their building manager, Travis, to come to their home out of fear the fight would escalate. Heard taunts Depp as a “baby” and tells him to “grow the f**k up”.

“I know, come and save me,” she says. “Travis to the rescue … You go f***ing j**k, go j**k him off. I don’t care. I really could care less.”

Towards the end of the tape, Depp talks about the need for the couple to move to separate rooms if an argument “escalates to the point of where it’s just insulting for both of us … or if it gets to that physical f***ing sh*t, the violence”.

“I can’t promise that it will all be perfect,” Heard says. “I can’t promise you I won’t get physical again. God I f***ing sometimes I get so mad I lose it.”

Depp launched a $US50 million defamation suit against Heard last year after she penned an opinion piece in The Washington Post describing her experience as a victim of domestic violence.

Johnny Depp was abused by Amber Heard and then to add insult to injury, he was cancelled and demonized on social media for the crime of being a man where any accusation from a woman means your life must be destroyed without evidence. That’s beyond inhumane. #JusticeForJohnnyDepp — Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) February 1, 2020

I just listened to the two audio files, I’m gobsmacked that a woman would make false claims about ANY kind of abuse. This set us back years and it makes it that much harder to report real assaults and have people believe victims when things like this happen. #JusticeForJohnnyDepp — Jacklyn Krol (@JacklynKrol) February 1, 2020

Johnny Depp wasn’t canceled in my book. We all heard the rumors and saw his finger and the pictures from last year and didn’t want to jump to conclusions when all the evidence was to the contrary. But now we have audio to prove what was happening. #JusticeForJohnnyDepp pic.twitter.com/nMC9QzDozZ — DASH KENNEDY WILLIAMS (@Dash) February 1, 2020

Just remembered that Amber Heard allies who feel/felt women never lie tried to cancel JK Rowling back then when she refused to allow them bully her into removing Johnny Depp from the cast of "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald". #JusticeForJohnnyDepp — Edward Israel-Ayide (@wildeyeq) February 2, 2020

While he was not named in the piece, Depp argued it strongly implied he was the perpetrator and claims it directly led to him being dumped from his long-running role as Captain Jack Sparrow.

Heard responded with a 300-page filing outlining the allegedly “horrific” abuse she suffered at Depp’s hands, describing him as “the monster” who often became “delusional and violent” when abusing drugs and alcohol.

“These tapes containing Amber Heard’s chilling confessions of violence further expose and destroy her abuse hoax,” Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman told The Daily Mail.

A spokeswoman for Heard accused Depp of “vindictively” leaking the tape. “Anyone familiar with the dynamics of domestic abuse would immediately recognise what is really going on here,” she said.

“Throughout the extended tape recording that Johnny Depp vindictively turned over to the press, Ms Heard repeatedly attempts to placate Mr Depp, ignore his accusations and force him to acknowledge what was really happening in their relationship.”

Several entertainment industry figures have spoken up in Depp’s defence.

“I have been in recovery circles of many kinds and stories of men receiving abuse are far too common,” TV producer Jesse Zook Mann said on Twitter. “Johnny Depp is sadly not an isolated case. No matter your gender you deserve to be safe from abuse be it emotional or physical.”

Actor Dash Kennedy Williams said, “Johnny Depp wasn’t cancelled in my book. We all heard the rumours and saw his finger and the pictures from last year and didn’t want to jump to conclusions when all the evidence was to the contrary. But now we have audio to prove what was happening.”

frank.chung@news.com.au