Johnny Depp likely to testify again in defamation trial against Amber Heard
Hollywood star has sued ex-wife Amber Heard in a $50m lawsuit for accusing him of abuse
The Johnny Depp-Amber Heard courtroom saga is far from over. In what seems like a sequel to Depp’s testimony in his defamation trial against his ex-wife, news reports now claim the Hollywood star will return to the stand once again.
According to Deadline, a source close to Depp’s legal team has confirmed that the actor will almost certainly take the stand first thing next week.
After last appearing on the stand, in the Virginia-set trial over two weeks ago, the former ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ will be called by the defence as a third witness on Monday. He will follow an anatomy expert and an IPV expert in what is the last week of the trial, reported the outlet.
As per Deadline, Judge Penny Azcarte has said that she wants closing arguments to occur on May 27.
Depp has sued Heard for $50 million in a defamation case after she alluded to their alleged abusive relationship in an op-ed written for The Washington Post.
However, over the past few weeks, the trial has turned into a mud-slinging match, with each side accusing the other of abuse and how the accusations have affected their respective Hollywood careers.
In Friday’s hearing, Heard’s agent claimed that the “lack of chemistry” between her and Jason Mamoa was why her role got reduced in ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’, aside from the negative press from the trial.
According to Fox News, Heard’s agent, Jessica Kovacevic, virtually testified on Friday stating the negative light on Heard, due to the ongoing conflicts with Depp, greatly impacted her role as well.
She testified that the star was contracted to make $2 million in the ‘Aquaman’ sequel, which has already concluded filming and is set to hit theatres in March 2023.
The agent further claimed that Warner Bros axed Heard’s role because there was a “lack of chemistry between her and Jason.” She went on to say that Heard received the news of the reduced role as she was reading the script.
On being inquired regarding Heard’s harmed career, her agent responded: “In my experience ... Your career takes a turn after something like that.”
Kovacevic added that the actor even lost a role with Amazon that was in the works due to the bad press and claimed that, to her knowledge, there were no “performance issues raised” against Heard in the first ‘Aquaman’ movie.
Heard was first cast in 2017’s ‘Justice League’ film and then made her debut in the ‘Aquaman’ franchise as Mera the following year.
Depp, meanwhile, has claimed he lost out on a role in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 6’ because of Heard’s abuse claims.