After three years, the defamation lawsuit between former Fantastic Beasts star, Johnny Depp and his ex-wife, Aquaman star, Amber Heard, over claims that Heard made about abuse she suffered at the hands of the Pirates of the Caribbean actor, might finally be getting ready for trial. If the case makes it to trial, there will be practically a red carpet event’s worth of celebrity witnesses in the courtroom for the case.
On March 24th, there will be a summary judgment hearing to determine whether this case, long delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, will actually go to trial. If it survives summary judgment, a number of big names will be called by both Depp, who is suing Heard for $50 million over his claims that she lied about being abused by him, and Heard, who is counter-suing Depp for $100 million for defamation, as well.
The origin of the suit goes back to a December 2018 piece that Heard wrote in the Washington Post that alleged that Depp was physically abusive of Heard during the couple’s brief, tumultuous marriage. In 2020, Depp lost a similar defamation lawsuit in England against the newspaper, The Sun, for referring to him as a “wife-beater” based on Heard’s claims. A British judge agreed with Heard’s characterizations of their altercations and agreed that “wife-beater” was a “substantially true” description of Depp. Depp is now hoping that his luck will fare better in an American court.
Since these are two major Hollywood actors, it only makes sense that a number of other major Hollywood actors will be testifying in the lawsuit. Actor James Franco, along with SpaceX head, Elon Musk, were originally brought into this case when Johnny Depp accused Heard of having affairs with both of them during their marriage, but it will be Heard who actually has both men on her witness list (Musk had previously offered to pay for security to protect Heard from Depp).
WandaVision star Paul Bettany, a close friend of Depp’s, was brought into the previous lawsuit via texts the two men had about Heard, where they joked about drowning her and burning her to test whether she was a witch. Bettany’s texts are part of Heard’s evidence of Depp’s abuse, but Bettany will be testifying on Depp’s behalf in the actual trial, presumably to explain away the texts.
Both sides will also be introducing copious private communication between the actors and their various co-stars and directors, all part of both sides trying to paint the other in the worst possible light, with Depp claiming that Heard fabricated all of her claims of abuse after marrying him only for his money and Heard, of course, claiming that the private communication will show Depp to be an unstable person who became a “monster” when he drank and did drugs.
After a three-year wait, there might finally be an end in sight to this legal entanglement that has now lasted longer than Depp and Heard’s actual marriage.
Source: Deadline
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