Billionaire Elon Musk will not testify in Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s bombshell defamation trial – and neither will James Franco.
While the two celebrities were widely expected to take a stand, The Post can now exclusively reveal that they will not appear in the Fairfax, Virginia courtroom after all.
Both men were on Heard’s public witness list when the trial began, but Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, said Wednesday his client would not testify.
A source with knowledge of the trial confirmed that Franco will also not comment.
The ‘127 Hours’ actor was embroiled in the case during the defamation lawsuit Depp, 58, brought against British tabloid The Sun in 2020 over an article that called him a “wife beater” following Heard’s abuse allegations.
Sources revealed that James Franco will not testify. Getty Images/Jason Kempin
Elon Musk dated Heard, but old fling isn’t enough for him to testify.Instagram
Heard, 36, testified in that case that Franco, 44, asked her “what the heck” happened to her face after Depp allegedly threw her a phone.
The Oscar nominee visited Heard at her and Depp’s Los Angeles penthouse on May 22, 2016, a day after the alleged violent altercation with her then-husband, she said.
“We talked. He said to me, ‘Oh my God, what happened to you?'” Heard said of Franco, whom Depp allegedly accused of being her lover. “He saw my face and said, ‘What the Devil?’ ”
Musk, 50, the world’s richest man who recently agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion, dated Heard for a year after her relationship with Depp caught fire in 2016.
Heard is down 2 on the witness list. AP/Jonathan Ernst
The doorman of Depp and Heard’s LA building, Alejandro Romero, previously issued a statement claiming he saw Musk “a couple of times a week” late at night in 2015 – and that the CEO of Tesla “always came to visit when Mr. Depp wasn’t at home.”
Musk and Heard said their romance only began when she filed for divorce from Depp. It has also been alleged that Heard once had a threesome with Musk and supermodel Cara Delevingne.
Depp, who lost his defamation lawsuit against The Sun, is now suing Heard over a 2018 Washington Post opinion piece in which she described herself as a victim of domestic violence.
Heard had frequently ended her romantic interests when Depp wasn’t home. EPA/Jonathan Ernst
The Pirates of the Caribbean star – who denies Heard’s abuse allegations – was not named in the essay, but claims it was clearly referencing him and ruined his career, damaged his reputation and cost him tens of millions of dollars.
Heard’s team, meanwhile, argues that Depp physically and sexually abused his ex-wife and claims his denials are not credible because he was often too drunk or high to remember what happened.
Depp testified over four days in the high-profile Fairfax trial, telling the jury he filed the lawsuit to “clear my name.”
Heard is expected to address the jury at a later date.