Spherical two of the explosive, protracted struggle between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp will kick off Monday in Virginia courtroom — the place the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star is suing his ex-wife for $50 million claiming she defamed him in a 2018 op-ed.
The star-studded witness checklist for the Fairfax County trial contains everybody from Elon Musk to James Franco and the warring ex-couple themselves.
On the middle of the case is the piece that Heard, 35, wrote for the Washington Submit, through which she spoke out about being a sufferer of “sexual violence.”
Whereas Depp is just not named within the op-ed, the actor who as soon as made upwards of $20 million per movie, says it ruined his fame and profession after it was broadly assumed Heard was writing about their five-year relationship.
Defamation circumstances as high-profile as this one are normally litigated behind closed doorways, however a jury of 12 Virginians will finally determine whether or not they discover Heard’s allegations credible.
Simply days after Heard’s op-ed revealed, Disney dropped Depp from its “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, which collectively grossed greater than $4.5 billion within the field workplace. And after dropping his 2020 courtroom case in UK in opposition to The Solar — over its description of Depp as a “spouse beater” — the actor withdrew from his function within the Harry Potter spin-off “Incredible Beasts,” apparently on the behest of Warner Bros.
In contrast to the case within the UK, which had fewer witnesses however the place the decide dominated that Depp had bodily abused Heard, the case in Virginia has a prolonged witness checklist and is anticipated to final six weeks.
Jury choice within the case begins Monday.
Heard has claimed that Depp was all the time the aggressor and any bodily response from her was to defend herself, whereas the actor has accused his “sociopathic” ex-wife of being the perpetrator of the violence that marred their marriage.
On Saturday, Heard introduced on Instagram that she might be off social media whereas in Virginia for the trial, including: “I've all the time maintained a love for Johnny and it brings me nice ache to should stay out the small print of our previous life collectively in entrance of the world.”
Each Heard and Depp are anticipated to take the stand — though it was not instantly clear if Depp will attend the trial.
Heard’s former lover Elon Musk, actor James Franco, “WandaVision” star Paul Bettany, actress Ellen Barkin, representatives from Disney and Warner Bros. in addition to the American Civil Liberties Union and the Los Angeles Police Division are amongst these anticipated to testify. Some will probably testify remotely.
Two LAPD officer who responded to the ex-couple’s home in Might 2016 for a home disturbance are presupposed to take the stand and can play body-camera footage from the scene that day, in response to insiders.
An individual accustomed to Heard’s case mentioned to there'll probably be “extra medical doctors and psychiatrists, extra footage, extra audio, extra video and extra paperwork displaying there was abuse” than on the UK trial.
Heard’s 1,530-item exhibit checklist features a textual content change between Depp and Paul Bettany, through which Depp writes: “Let’s burn Amber!!! … Let’s drown her earlier than we burn her!!! I'll f—okay her burnt corpse afterwards to verify she’s lifeless.” The disturbing message was revealed on the UK trial.
“These are two individuals who had troubled, abusive childhoods,” a supply accustomed to each Depp and Heard informed The Submit. “Amber had a troublesome father that she as soon as in comparison with Johnny, and Johnny’s mom was very powerful on him. It might be why each of them maintain preventing it out and never letting it go.”
A spokeswoman for Heard informed The Submit that “the UK Excessive Courtroom of Justice has already discovered that Mr. Depp engaged in at the very least 12 acts of home abuse in opposition to Amber in his libel go well with in opposition to the London Solar. Now he’s looking for a special lead to his libel go well with in opposition to Amber.”
Heard filed a $100 million countersuit in opposition to Depp when he filed his $50 million defamation go well with.
Superstar lawyer Claire Gill informed The Hollywood Reporter that this courtroom battle, which might be televised and obtainable for public viewing, could be very distinctive.
“It’s simply actually uncommon for somebody to tackle this stage of threat. You would possibly say that implies that probably he’s telling the reality. The notion is ‘Why would anybody do that except what’s being mentioned about him is unfaithful,’” she mentioned. “Others would say he’s determined and has no option to observe by means of. Both method it’s actually uncommon.”
Extra reporting by Dana Kennedy
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