Johnny Depp is set to comment on his $50 million defamation lawsuit later today in a blockbuster climax with his ex-wife Amber Heard, who has already seen more than her fair share of explosive revelations.
As the seventh and final week of the marathon begins, the Pirates of the Caribbean star, who last spoke out two weeks ago, is expected to be subpoenaed again to be cross-examined as a counter-witness by Heard’s legal team.
There are conflicting reports as to when the 58-year-old actor will take a stand, with some claiming it will be as early as today.
Heard himself took the stand last week to be questioned by Depp’s hotheaded attorney Camille Vasquez, who stole the show with her harsh questioning of Heard, 36, and her tender treatment of Depp.
Judge Penney Azcarate, who presided over the dramatic Fairfax County case in Virginia, gave each side a total of 61 hours and 15 minutes to present their cases.
As of Monday morning, Heard’s legal team had 8 hours and 14 minutes and Depp’s attorneys had 18 hours and 30 minutes.
As the seventh and final week of the marathon begins, the Pirates of the Caribbean star (right), who last took the stand two weeks ago, is expected to be called again for cross-examination as a refuting witness by Heard’s team (left) and lawyers
Actor Johnny Depp arrives in the courtroom on Wednesday May 18th. Johnny Depp is set to comment on his $50 million defamation lawsuit with ex-wife Amber Heard in a blockbuster climax today
Depp is expected to be the third witness to speak today, following an anatomy expert and an IPA expert in the final week of the trial, which began on April 11.
After seven weeks of allegations of drug abuse, domestic violence, sexual abuse and death threats, closing arguments for the trial will be heard on Friday.
The move to call Depp back to standing was seen as bold by Heard’s team, as his latest performance in his statement that he never abused Heard during their relationship was seen as sympathetic and believable.
Civil attorney Katherine Lizardo said, “There is a risk that he will have more time to be sympathetic in the state when it is actually time for Amber Heard to present her case.”
She said Depp had a “very unique personality” and appeared sincere and often smiled, potentially making him attractive to the jury.
The lawsuit began when Depp sued for defamation, seeking $50 million in damages from his ex-wife after she penned an op-ed on The Washing Post in which she alleges she described herself as “a public figure.” who represents domestic violence”.
Depp’s lawyers say the article defamed him, though he never mentioned his name, as it was misrepresented as a domestic abuser and cost him his lucrative film career, including the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.
Heard’s team has called a litany of former lovers and friends and witnesses to testify to Depp’s alleged nature as a jealous and drunken abuser who has only himself to blame for his dizzying Hollywood career.
After seven weeks of allegations of drug abuse, domestic violence, sexual abuse and death threats, closing arguments for the trial will be heard on Friday
The move to call Depp back to standing was seen as bold by Heard’s team, as his latest performance in his statement that he never abused Heard during their relationship was seen as sympathetic and believable
Since Heard completed her testimony Tuesday in a Virginia courtroom, her attorneys have presented testimony from people who were once close to Depp but have been pushed out of his orbit.
They included Depp’s former longtime agent, actress Ellen Barkin, and Heard’s sister.
Depp has testified that he never hit Heard and that he was a victim of abuse at the hands of his now ex-wife.
Heard’s attorneys counter that Depp abused her both physically and sexually and that he cannot deny what happened because he was often too drunk to remember.
The jury heard recorded testimony from a mutual friend of the couple, iO Tillett Wright, who said Depp confided in him that he hated sobriety.
“He wanted to get sober for Amber,” Tillett Wright said. “He didn’t enjoy being sober. It wasn’t fun and it was excruciating and exhausting and very difficult to do. He was really, really annoyed that he had to be sober.
Heard himself took the stand last week to be questioned by Depp’s hotheaded attorney Camille Vasquez, who stole the show with her harsh questioning of Heard, 36, and her tender treatment of Depp
Actress Ellen Barkin told Johnny Depp’s libel trial that he once threw a bottle of wine at her and called him a “controlling, jealous man.”
During her testimony, Henriquez said that during Heard and Depp’s relationship, there was “almost always a fight” when the actor was drinking or using drugs.
Tillett Wright said Depp’s personality became mean and paranoid when he used alcohol or drugs.
Actress Ellen Barkin, who dated Depp for a few months in the 1990s, said during her testimony that Depp “was always drinking or smoking a joint” or using other illegal drugs.
Barkin said Depp was controlling, jealous and angry. She said Depp would often ask her, “Where are you going? With whom you go? What did you do last night?’
Amber Heard’s sister, Whitney Heard Henriquez, said she personally saw Depp punch Heard. Depp has testified that he never hit Heard.
Henriquez testified that the argument took place in March 2015 — a month after Depp and Heard got married — when Heard found evidence that Depp was already having an extramarital affair.
Henriquez said a drunken dork accused Heard of forcing him into the extramarital encounter.
However, Henriquez admitted under cross-examination that she had at times sided with Depp in their arguments and said she worked to keep the couple together even after watching her sister be physically assaulted.
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s acidic relationship
February 3, 2015
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are wed in a private civil ceremony at their home in LA, four years after they met as co-stars on the set of The Rum Diary. The couple celebrates with a lavish reception on an idyllic private island in the Bahamas that Depp bought for $3.6 million in 2004.
April 21, 2015
Heard breaks Australia’s biosecurity laws when she and Depp fail to declare their two Yorkshire terriers when they arrive Down Under in a private jet for filming Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Heard admits to forging quarantine documents and receives a month-long $1,000 good behavior commitment.
May 23, 2016
Heard files for divorce after 15 months of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. Four days later, a judge issued a restraining order against Depp over allegations of domestic violence. Pictures of Heard’s alleged injuries made tabloids, but the LAPD finds no evidence of a crime.
August 16, 2016
Depp and Heard reach a $7 million divorce settlement, which the actress promises to donate to charity. Their marriage was “very passionate and sometimes volatile, but always bound by love,” the former lovers said in a statement. “There was never any intent to cause physical or emotional harm.”
December 18, 2018
The Washington Post features an op-ed by Heard, a women’s rights ambassador for the American Civil Liberties Union, urging support for women experiencing domestic violence. “Two years ago I became a public figure representing domestic violence and felt the full brunt of our culture’s anger at women speaking out,” the caption reads.
March 1, 2019
Though he is not named in the article, Depp is filing a $50 million defamation lawsuit in Fairfax Circuit Court, Virginia, saying it implied he was an abuser and got him out of the Getting fired from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Depp dismisses Heard’s abuse allegations as a “joke” and claims he was in fact the victim of her violence.
August 10, 2020
Heard’s $100 million counterclaims, which allege that vengeful Dork and his attorney Adam Waldman targeted her with a vicious smear campaign that used media allies and internet trolls to amplify false stories about her and her acting career to fail.
November 1, 2020
Depp faces an uphill battle to salvage his reputation after losing a libel battle with a British tabloid that branded him a “wife beater”. A judge in London rules The Sun’s 2018 article was “essentially true” and that the father-of-two had assaulted Heard a dozen times, leading to her fearing for her life three times.
April 11, 2022
After long delays due to the Covid pandemic, the former blazes finally hit Fairfax County, Virginia, where the Washington Post servers that published the controversial comment are based. The trial is expected to take six to seven weeks and celebrities expected to testify include James Franco, Paul Bettany and Ellen Barkin.