Attorneys for Johnny Depp are releasing recorded testimonies and statements from distant witnesses on Thursday as they continue his case against ex-wife Amber Heard. The latest witnesses come after Depp’s attorneys produced recorded testimony from Los Angeles Police Department officers who responded after an argument at Depp and Heard’s home, as well as a bouncer and a former agent on Wednesday.
Depp is suing Heard in Fairfax County Circuit Court for defamation after she wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post in which she described herself as “a public figure who advocates domestic violence.”
The article doesn’t mention Depp by name, but his attorneys say the article contained “implicit defamation,” arguing that it clearly referred to allegations of domestic violence Heard made when she filed for divorce in 2016. Depp said the Post article contributed to an unfairly ruined reputation that made him a Hollywood outcast and cost him his role in the lucrative Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise. Heard’s lawyers say Depp is solely to blame for his tarnished career.
On Thursday, the court heard testimony from American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) CEO and general counsel Terence Dougherty, who said Heard expressed her desire to donate $3.5 million to the nonprofit — half of her divorce settlement Douchebag . The ACLU appointed Heard as ambassador and wrote the op-ed for the Washington Post.
Dougherty said Heard did not donate $3.5 million and paid $350,000 directly, in addition to a $100,000 check from Johnny Depp credited to Heard’s amount.
According to additional evidence presented Thursday, Heard urged that details of her marriage to fellow actor Johnny Depp be included in the article, which was strategically timed by both the ACLU and Heard to coincide with the release of her new film “Aquaman” collapsed.
Dougherty testified that numerous ACLU attorneys reviewed the article at various stages, and asked Heard’s attorneys to also review the article to ensure it did not violate a non-disclosure agreement she had with Depp in connection with the couple’s 2016 divorce had.
During those discussions, Heard sent back an edited version approved by her attorneys, which “specifically neutered much of the copy regarding their marriage,” according to an email from Jessica Weitz, an ACLU staffer who coordinated with Heard.
However, according to the email, Heard was looking for a way to recover a deleted passage in the article.
The various drafts of the articles were not shown to the jury, so it is not clear how much personal detail was included in the first draft and how many Heard’s attorneys edited out. But the final version contains very little about Heard’s personal experiences and doesn’t mention Depp at all. In addition to the passage about “a public figure representing domestic violence,” she writes in another passage, “I’ve had the rare vantage point of seeing in real time how institutions are protecting men accused of abuse.”
Dougherty also testified that “the language that ended in the last comment was very different from the original language in the draft,” Dougherty said. “It was not directly related to Ms Heard’s relationship with Johnny Depp.”
Actor Johnny Depp listens in the courtroom at Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Virginia on Wednesday, April 27, 2022. Jonathan Ernest/AP
While the defamation lawsuit is said to focus on whether Depp was defamed in the article, most of the lawsuit has focused on ugly details of the couple’s brief marriage.
Depp has denied ever hitting Heard. Heard’s attorneys say Depp physically and sexually abused her and that Depp’s denials have no merit because he was often drunk and high to the point of passing out.
Wednesday marks the 11th day of the trial, which is expected to last a month. Depp himself ended four grueling days on the witness stand on Monday; Heard is expected to testify later in the trial.