TMZ filed an emergency court action on Tuesday to stop Johnny Depp, 58, from calling a former employee of the gossip site to testify in the defamation trial against Amber Heard, 36.
According to the motion, TMZ is trying to stop Morgan Tremaine, who worked as a field assignment manager, from testifying, Variety reported. “TMZ promised this source that it would maintain their confidentiality and not release their name or other information about them,” the statement from the outlet’s lawyers read.
“TMZ makes such promises of confidentiality from time to time so that it can publish information of public interest, and relies on the journalist’s privilege to protect the identity of confidential sources to do so.”
Depp’s legal team indicated they wanted to call Tremaine — who provided TMZ with a video of Depp yelling at Heard and slamming closet doors — to testify. But the actor’s defense declined to state which line of questioning he would follow.
TMZ’s lawyers argued that Tremaine had nothing to do with the video and that any testimony given would be based on “rumor and conjecture”.
The site also argued that under Virginia law, the source’s identity must be protected under the journalist’s privilege. The outlet says Tremaine’s testimony is irrelevant in the trial.
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