Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard: the 10 key points of the trial (with probable verdict in September)
Amber Heard is a defense witness in the trial of Johnny Depp against the Sun. Terrible and baffling testimonies emerged during the hearings. Regardless of the verdict, what consequences will the debate have on the careers of the two?
The long feud between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard is about to come to a point. Even if in an indirect way. After two weeks of hearings, the lawsuit brought by the plaintiff against the Sun's publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and the newspaper's executive director, Dan Wootton, ended in London. The (former) star of the Pirates of the Caribbean saga cited the newspaper for a 2018 article in which he was called a "wife beater" and the actress was the key defense witness.
The verdict will arrive (apparently) in September and if the judge agrees to Johnny, he will in fact exonerate him from the charge of (repeated) violence against Amber. Instead, if he acquits the Sun, the actor will be in effect found guilty of beating his ex-wife.
But whatever the English court's decision, the former spouses will once again find themselves facing each other in America, Virginia, over a (another) $ 50 million defamation suit filed by Johnny against the actress.
At the moment, it is impossible to predict what will happen. But it is certain that the London trial has lined up the long string of terrible accusations and testimonies thrown by the two exes against each other and has brought out a series of new, frightening details.
What happened between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard during their troubled relationship, which began in 2012, which culminated in marriage in 2013 and ended in a divorce petition from the actress in 2016 (which became effective in 2017)? And how has the legal battle between the two affected and will it affect their careers?
10 key points of the London process
The trial in London that sees Johnny Depp against the Sun and Amber Heard as defense witness was a succession of harsh accusations between the actor and his ex-wife. From the crossfire between the two former spouses, some key points of the trial emerged, in anticipation of the verdict:
Johnny Depp, drugs and education
Johnny said he had been using drugs since the age of 11 and reiterated that he never used violence on Amber, talking about the inflexible upbringing he received:
I come from a Southern family and my mother has instilled the rules within me since birth: 'You will be a Southern gentleman or you will become one by beating strength'.
The slaps, the emails and the messages
The actor claimed he didn't slap his ex-wife after she laughed at her tattoo, "Wino forever".
Instead, the defense produced a series of emails that would demonstrate Johnny's (physical and verbal) violence towards Amber. In one that was never sent, the actress writes:
You hit me repeatedly. Something you never should have done. What a *** man you are.
And then a message from the actor to his friend and colleague Paul Bettany, in which the former Pirates of the Caribbean star lashes out at his ex-wife:
Let's drown it before we burn it! I ****** her body burned to make sure she's dead!
The feces accident
Johnny denied that he threw a cell phone "with all his might" at Amber, injuring her face after finding feces in their bed. According to the actor, the person responsible for the episode would be his wife (perhaps in league with a friend).
Melizza Saenz, the domestic violence police officer responsible for the investigation, said she saw no marks or injuries on Amber's face.
The trip to Australia and the violence
Amber said that during a trip to Australia she found herself living "3 days hostage" of her ex-husband and his blind violence:
In those 3 days there were acts of extreme psychological, physical, emotional and other forms of violence. It's the worst thing I've ever experienced. I found myself with a bruised lip and nose and cuts on my arms. [...] [Johnny Depp abused me, ed.] With punches, slaps, kicks, hitting my head and trying to strangle me. It also made me trip, pulled my hair, pushed me and threw me to the ground. He threw things at me, mostly glass bottles.
The accident of the severed finger
Johnny Depp's former real estate manager Ben King testified that he found the actor with a severed finger after an (alleged) argument with Amber Heard. The former Pirates of the Caribbean star accused his wife of hurting him by throwing him a bottle of vodka. The actress denied and claimed that he hurt himself by smashing a phone against a wall.
Violence before The Late Late Show with James Corden
Amber claimed that the night before appearing on James Corden's The Late Late Show, Johnny savagely beat her, leaving her with a split lip and bruise near her eye and pulling out a lock of her hair. The actress's make-up artist, Melanie Inglessis, confirmed she saw the marks on the star's face and masked the wound on her mouth with "bright red lipstick".
But stylist Samantha McMillen denied the woman's testimony, stating that Amber had no visible wounds "on her face or other parts of her body".
The testimonies of Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder
Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder did not attend the trial in person, but with two written testimonies. Both claimed that while they were with Johnny Depp, the actor was never abusive to them or anyone else and said they had a hard time believing Amber Heard's words. In particular, Vanessa Paradis stated:
These outrageous statements caused anguish [to Johnny Depp, editor's note] and damaged his career, because people believed these falsehoods.
Relations with James Franco and Elon Musk
Johnny accused Amber of having an affair with James Franco and Elon Musk while they were married. The actress denied and added that her ex-husband's paranoia contributed to unleashing the actor's violence against her.
But the doorman of the building where the couple lived in Los Angeles, Alejandro Romero, said that the Tesla founder visited Amber several times at night, "while Mr. Depp was not at home."
The accident of the stairs and the fists
Amber admitted that she punched her ex-husband to stop him from pushing his sister, Whitney Henriquez down the stairs. The actress said she reacted defensively, recalling that Johnny had already pushed his ex ("I think Kate Moss") down the stairs. Whitney confirmed Amber's reconstruction.
The (unconscious) testimony of Amber Heard's sister
Johnny Depp's lawyers showed a video received from an "anonymous source" which would show that Whitney Henriquez was the victim of her sister's violence. In the video, a woman tells the girl:
You argued? [...] I can't believe Amber broke your ass.
The aftermath of the legal battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard
What consequences has the long legal battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard had on the career of the two actors?
In recent years, the former Pirates of the Caribbean star has experienced more slips than successes, and her turbulent private life has contributed (and not a little) to tarnish her image. In particular, the hypothesis that Johnny has lost the role of Jack Sparrow due to the allegations of violence by his ex-wife is being held. In fact, the actor was never officially fired from the franchise. And a source close to the star confirmed that the battle between Johnny and Amber has nothing to do with Disney's decision to restart the saga with a reboot. Additionally, recent rumors speculate about Jack Sparrow's presence in the new film.
Instead, a large chunk of the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them fandom has risen against the actor's presence in films based on J.K. Rowling. But the author herself stepped in to defend Johnny, who retained the role of Grindelwald.
For her part, Amber said the divorce cost her a part she had already gotten and put her at risk of being "blacklisted". Additionally, there are rumors that Johnny tried to get his ex-wife out of Aquaman and other projects. Eventually, the actress retained the role of Princess Mera. But more than a shadow stretches over his participation in Aquaman 2. And beyond the rumors without apparent foundation that they would like to be fired in favor of Emilia Clarke, it is certain that some fans have launched a petition on Change.org (which exceeded 470 thousand signatures) to get her away from the film.
Undoubtedly, the London verdict will have consequences on the careers of both former spouses, especially for those found (de facto) guilty of the allegations of violence and defamation. But for Danielle Rossen, president of the international communications company Rossen Media, which specializes in crisis management, it is not certain that the process itself will have negative consequences:
We are used to celebrities doing crazy and out of the ordinary things. As a society we are now quite immune. Depp has a number of fans who like the way he plays and the characters he plays. And what happens off-screen, this legal battle, they don't care. Embarrassing things have also surfaced about Amber Heard. In her case, the process does not help or harm her.
Instead, Jeetendr Sehdev, famous and authoritative "Celebrity Branding Authority" is of the diametrically opposed opinion:
Will Johnny Depp ever star in another family movie as a hero? I doubt it. For him, the allegations of alcohol and drug abuse are as harmful as those of domestic violence. Loses in all cases.
To know how things will go, we just have to wait for the verdict. And only then will the fate of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard be known (perhaps).
