Amber Heard admits to 'hitting' ex-husband Johnny Depp and pelting him with pots, pans and vases in an explosive audio confession obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com.

The Aquaman actress, 33, opens up about her violent tantrums in a series of taped conversations the estranged couple made in 2015 as they tried to talk through their marriage problems.

'I'm sorry that I didn't, uh, uh, hit you across the face in a proper slap, but I was hitting you, it was not punching you. Babe, you're not punched,' Heard tells Depp, attempting to downplay her outburst the previous evening.

'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.'

Heard - an ambassador for women's rights and outspoken domestic violence advocate - taunts Depp for fleeing the late night dust-up, telling him: 'You are such a baby. Grow the f**k up Johnny.'

She warns the 56-year-old Oscar nominee: 'You poke an animal enough, it is eventually, it doesn't matter how friendly it is, it's not cool.'

The troubling episode is one of numerous clashes the couple argue over during the informal two-hour 'therapy' session recorded consensually on Heard's cell phone and supplied to DailyMail.com by a well-placed source.

Amber Heard admits to 'hitting' Johnny Depp in an explosive audio confession obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com. The estranged couple tried to talk through their marriage problems and Heard opens up about her violent tantrums in a series of taped conversations from 2015. Pictured: The former couple in September 2015

As part of Depp's $50 million defamation case against Heard, he included images of his own bruised and battered face (left and right ) following Heard's alleged attacks

There's a veiled reference to a possible incident in Australia where Depp suffered a severed finger one month into their marriage. Depp claims he severed his finger because Heard was enraged she was asked to sign a post-nuptial agreement, that she threw bottles at him. He claimed one of those bottles hit a marble countertop and exploded, ripping off the tip of his finger in the process (pictured)

It's understood there are several more tapes out there, each promising further bombshells as the former lovers trade blood-curdling allegations of domestic violence in a civil defamation case brought last year by Depp.

'I left last night. Honestly, I swear to you because I just couldn't take the idea of more physicality, more physical abuse on each other,' an exasperated Depp pleads in the recording.

'Because had we continued it, it would have gotten f**king bad. And baby, I told you this once. I'm scared to death we are a f**king crime scene right now.'

But Heard - who filed for divorce in May 2016 accusing Depp of beating her during their toxic 18-month marriage - warns: 'I can't promise you I won't get physical again. God I f**king sometimes get so mad I lose it.'

Depp filed his $50 million defamation suit in Virginia after Heard penned an op-ed for the Washington Post detailing her experiences as an alleged domestic violence victim.

Baby, I told you this once. I'm scared to death we are a f**king crime scene right now. Johnny Depp to Amber Heard

'I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture's wrath for women who speak out,' she wrote in the December 2018 article, which didn't mention the Pirates of the Caribbean actor by name.

Depp claimed, nonetheless, that it implicated him as the abuser, damaging his reputation and causing him to lose his prized role of Captain Jack Sparrow.

His suit says he's the victim of an 'elaborate hoax' instigated by Heard to generate positive publicity and advance her career.

'Ms. Heard is not a victim of domestic abuse; she is a perpetrator,' it claims.

'She hit, punched and kicked me. She also repeatedly and frequently threw objects into my body and head, including heavy bottles, soda cans, burning candles, television remote controls and paint thinner cans, which severely injured me.'

Heard responded with a lurid 300-page filing of her own, cataloging the 'horrific' abuse she claims to have suffered at Depp's hands, describing him as 'the monster' and recalling many of the allegations she made during their divorce.

The filing included photos of bruises and scars, clumps of hair apparently torn from Heard's head and pictures of smashed up furniture to illustrate the violence she was allegedly subjected to after hooking up with Depp, her co-star in The Rum Diary, back in 2011.

Amber Heard is pictured during her 2016 deposition where she described punching Depp in the face in attempt to stop him from hurting her sister, she said

Heard cataloged the 'horrific' abuse she claims to have suffered at Depp's hands, describing him as 'the monster' and recalling many of the allegations she made during their divorce. The filing included photos of bruises and scars (left and right)

This is one of the clumps of hair left on the ground after Depp tore it from Heard during a December 2015 fight, she claims in legal filings

Timeline of Amber Heard and Johnny Depp's relationship February 3, 2015 Johnny Depp and Amber Heard marry in a private civil ceremony at their LA home, four years after they met as co-stars on the set of The Rum Diaries. The couple celebrate with a lavish reception on an idyllic private island in the Bahamas that Depp bought in 2004 for $3.6 million. April 21, 2015 Heard breaches Australia's biosecurity laws after she and Depp fail to declare their two Yorkshire terriers when they arrive Down Under on a private jet for the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Charges of illegally importing animals are dropped but Heard admits falsifying quarantine documents and is placed on a $1,000 one month good behavior bond. May 23, 2016 Heard files for divorce after 15 months of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. Four days later a judge issues a temporary restraining order against Depp over domestic violence allegations. Pictures of Heard's alleged injuries hit the tabloids but the LAPD finds no evidence of a crime. August 16, 2016 Heard retracts her allegations as she and Depp reach a $7 million divorce settlement. Their marriage was 'intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love,' the former actors say in a statement. 'There was never any intent of physical or emotional harm'. December 18, 2018 The Washington Post publishes an op-ed by Heard, an ambassador for women's rights at for the American Civil Liberties Union, urging support for women who suffer domestic violence. 'Two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture's wrath for women who speak out,' Heard writes. March 1, 2019 Despite not being named in the article, Depp files a $50 million defamation suit in Fairfax Circuit Court, Virginia saying it insinuated he was an abuser and got him fired from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Depp dismisses Heard's allegations as a 'hoax' and claims he was actually the victim of her violence. April 10, 2019 Heard files a motion to dismiss the complaint, cataloging more than a dozen instances of abuse between 2012, when she moved in with Depp, and the May 2016 bust up that preceded their divorce. She refers to him as 'the monster' in the 300-plus page filing. May 20, 2019 Depp hits back against the motion to dismiss claiming Heard painted bruises on her face, scrubbed metadata and fabricated evidence against him. He denies ever abusing any woman and says of her allegations: 'I will continue to deny them for the rest of my life.' Advertisement

The pair married in February 2015 but split less than two years later when Heard had a restraining order slapped on Depp over claims he threw a cellphone in her face at their downtown Los Angeles loft.

Heard claimed police had evidence of the May 27, 2016 attack but two LAPD officers later said in a deposition that they found nothing to suggest a crime took place.

The estranged couple eventually agreed to a $7 million divorce settlement in August 2016 - which Heard says she donated to charity - but their back-and-forth feud was only getting started.

DailyMail.com's exclusive tape recording was made around a year earlier when the caustic marriage was rapidly crumbling.

Their heart-to-heart quickly descends into bickering as Heard accuses Depp of taking her for granted, behaving like a 'vacation husband' and 'splitting' every time they have an argument.

Depp complains he's forced to leave when she becomes 'manic and angry', telling Heard: 'I'm not going be in a physical f**king altercation with you... you f**king hit me last night.'

He goes on to add: 'I'm not the one who throws pots and whatever the f**k else at me.'

Heard responds: 'That's different. That's different. One does not negate the other. That's irrelevant, that's a complete non sequitur.

'Just because I've thrown pots and pans does not mean you cannot come and knock on my door. '

When Depp cuts in to suggest he's also had vases hurled at him, she replies: 'Just because there are vases does not mean that you come and knock on the door.'

'Really, I should just let you throw?' Depp replies, tailing off as they carry on sniping.

'The only time I ever threw anything at you was when you f**king threw the cans at me in Australia,' he admits.

Heard asks: 'Why are you trying to justify who throws things based on whether or not you come knocking on the door? I don't get why one informs the other.'

Depp says, raising his voice: 'Because that is a f**king irrational and violent f**king maneuver. So a man would want to get out of that area so that he doesn't get so f**king angry that he actually does pop the f**king wife.'

The exchange doesn't point to any specific event but it has a possible reference to the contentious and bloody incident in which Depp suffered a severed finger one month into their marriage in Australia.

He claimed his then-wife 'went berserk' when he asked her to sign a prenup and hurled a Vodka bottle at him which shattered on a marble counter-top, ripping off the tip of his finger.

Heard maintained, however, that Depp cut the digit off himself during an argument while he was 'drunk and high on ecstasy.'

Their taped conversation moves on to dissect the previous evening's bust up, with Depp accusing Heard of getting 'f**king violent' and punching him in the jaw.

'You hit back. So don't act like you don't f**king participate,' she tells Depp, who replies: 'I pushed you'.

He says he texted his building manager Travis to come to their home because he was afraid the fight would escalate.

'I said to you, ''hey tell Travis what just happened'... And that you that you punched me in the f**king thing... In the face''. And you said, ''no I f**king didn't. What the f**k are you talking about?''' And I watched you lie,' he says.

Heard replies: 'I didn't punch you. I didn't punch you, by the way. . . I'm sorry that I didn't, uh, uh, hit you across the face in a proper slap, but I was hitting you, it was not punching you. Babe, you're not punched. '

Depp cuts in to protest: 'Don't tell me what it feels like to be punched.'

Heard sarcastically replies: 'I know, you've been in a lot of fights, been around a long time. I know, I know. Yeah.'

Getting audibly upset, Depp fires back: 'No! When you have a f**king closed fist.'

Heard responds: '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**king deck you.

'I f**king 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.'

As the argument rumbles on, Heard questions whether Depp's 'edgy' mood is prompted by his use of Adderall.

She also attacks his 'chronic' moods swings from 'Up, down, like really aggressive, then really cool and calm.'

Dad-of-two Depp lists at least three 'physical fights' they have had in the previous month and a half to two months.

'If things get physical, we have to separate. We have to be apart from one another,' he pleads.

'Whether it's for f**king an hour or 10 hours or f**king a day. We must, there can be no physical violence towards each other.

'All I'm saying is we need to take whatever time we need. You need, I need, to kind of let things settle for a minute.

'So that we don't f**king kill each other or f**king worse, you know, f**king really kill each other or f**king break up or whatever.'

Both Heard and Depp concede their wild marriage fails to offer security or a 'safe environment' for either star despite rare moments that are 'wonderful' and 'beautiful'.

Using language similar to her later court submissions, Heard also questions whether the 'monster' with Depp is gone.

'What are we going to do different in the moment when you're mad, and you go f**k it and you decide all bets are off?' she asks Depp.

He replies: 'Look what I did in Australia, look what I accomplished. I put the f**ker away. I told myself every f**king day, no, he's gone. No he's f**king, put him away.'

The vodka bottle Heard allegedly threw, exploded and tore off Depp's finger (above after surgery). He said he had to undergo multiple surgeries and almost died after contracting MRSA three times

The tape eventually leads to a moment of reconciliation, with Depp urging Heard: 'Let's do our best to fix what's broken within the machine. The machine that is us.

'I love you and I want you to be my wife. And I want to be your husband. And I want to be a good husband.'

Heard responds, tenderly: 'I love you. I know so we can be so good.'

She filed for divorce months later.

Heard has thus far failed to have Depp's defamation case thrown out or moved from Virginia, where the Post is based, to California.

However she did succeed in having it pushed back from last December to August of this year.

'Amber Heard recorded multiple conversations between her and Johnny Depp,' Depp's attorney Adam Waldman told DailyMail.com in a statement.

'These tapes containing Amber Heard's chilling confessions of violence further expose and destroy her abuse hoax.'

A spokeswoman for Heard accused Depp of 'vindictively' leaking the tape and trying to victim-blame their client.

'Anyone familiar with the dynamics of domestic abuse would immediately recognize what is really going on here. 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,' the spokeswoman said.

'For Mr Depp, who lived and lives in an echo chamber of his own making, to try to twist this private conversation to suggest either that he didn't abuse Ms Heard or that she somehow 'deserved it' is nothing more than the latest misogynistic effort at victim-blaming.'