Following a one-week hiatus, the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial got back underway this morning.
As you're no doubt aware, the wildly messy legal battle has been dominating tabloid headlines for the past month, and another week of testimony will surely result in new shocking allegations.
Amber took the stand again this morning, and once again, one of the most commonly joked-about incidents of her brief marriage to Depp came up for discussion.
But Heard and her attorney impressed upon the jury that this was no laughing matter.
If you've followed the trial even casually, then you've likely heard about the allegation that Heard once defecated in Depp's bed as some sort of misguided prank or attempt at revenge.
In this morning's testimony, Heard explained that the bed incident occurred the day after she turned 30.
She told the court that Depp had violently attacked her on her birthday the night before, but she insisted that there's no truth to the claim that she defiled his bed in response to the assault.
"Did you commit any kind of prank?" Heard's lawyer asked of her actions.
"Absolutely not. First of all, I don't think that's funny. I don't know what grown woman does. I wasn't in a pranking mood," Heard replied.
"I had just been attacked on my 30th birthday by my violent husband, with whom I was desperately in love and knew I needed to leave. It was not really a jovial time, and I don't think that's funny. Period. That's disgusting."
Heard explained that one of the couple's two Yorkshire terriers had difficulty controlling his bowels, but was permitted to sleep in bed with his owners.
According to Heard, the dog had an accident during the night, and the mess that was later found in the bed is no more mysterious than that.
The incident has become so well known that it was the subject of this week's cold-open sketch on Saturday Night Live.
While it certainly pales in comparison to other claims Heard has made on the stand -- including the allegation that Depp sexually assaulted her with a glass bottle -- the bed portion of today's testimony is sure to make headlines if only for how long the incident has been a running joke in certain Hollywood circles.
Ahead for Heard is a cross-examination by Depp's attorneys that's sure to be combative.
“During the cross examination next week, Camille Vasquez plans to call out Ms. Heard on the many lies and inconsistencies in her timeline that have changed considerably over the last six years,” said one rep for the actor.
“We expect Depp’s attorneys will instead pound away on the victim,” a Heard spokesperson said of the next stage of the trial.
“We fear it will be equal parts shameful and desperate. And, the overwhelming evidence — the truth — is not on Depp’s side,” the rep added.
“The one thing we suspect Depp’s attorneys will avoid is the central issue of this trial: does Amber or any woman have the First Amendment Right of Freedom of Speech.”
Heard's team has already suffered a defeat this week, as the judge ruled that a photo in which the actress appears to have a bloody lip is not admissible as the defense did not submit the picture in the discovery phase of the high-profile case.
On the stand, Heard explained that she had suffered the injury during a fight with Depp at her apartment.
"I was in one of these fights, I believe it's this one, in his downtown ECB, we call it, loft, and we're in the kitchen living room area and he backhands me," she said.
"And, you know, it was, you know, he wears a lot of rings. I remember kind of just feeling like my lip went into my teeth, and it got a little blood on the wall. Just that simple, a little bit of blood on the wall."
We'll have further updates on this developing story as more information becomes available.