Johnny Depp and Amber Heard: Understand the legal battle marked by accusations

The former couple of actors Johnny Depp, 58, and Amber Heard, 36, made headlines in newspapers around the world due to the details of the troubled relationship revealed in the trial in a court in Virginia, in the United States, which takes place since the 11th. Of april. Depp sues Heard for defamation.

The two met in 2009 during the filming of the feature “Diary of a Drunk Journalist”, in which they acted together. They fell in love, started dating, and got married in 2015. A year later, Amber filed for divorce and a restraining order against Depp, alleging that he assaulted her due to overuse of alcohol and drugs.

In December 2018, the actress wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Post about being a domestic violence survivor of a public figure. While he won’t name Depp, he says he was defamed and is suing Heard Heard for $50 million for defamation. She counterattacks and asks for US$ 100 million (about R$ 502 thousand).

The big problem is that the public feud has tarnished the actors’ reputations over the years and has only gotten worse with revelations made over the past three weeks by Depp and witnesses at a televised trial. Heard opposed the idea of ​​having cameras in the courtroom, but Depp won the motion.

In the statements, text messages from the actor to friends were exposed, recordings of the couple’s fights, alleged betrayals of Amber with James Franco and Elon Musk, photo of the actor’s severed finger during a fight and even accusation that the actress defecated in the bed she shared. with Depp.

The witnesses also said that the former couple lived in a relationship of “mutual abuse”, but that they had never seen the actor assault Heard. Clinical forensic psychologist Shannon Curry has personally analyzed the actress’ mental health and stated that she suffers from borderline personality disorder and histrionic disorder.

Heard, who is due to start testifying on Tuesday (3), last week changed the public relations team, demonstrating that he is not enjoying the coverage he is receiving in the media about the legal battle with her ex-husband. The new PR team, led by CEO David Shane, has worked against Depp before.

The negative result of the legal fight is also reflected in the former couple’s career. According to the Daily Mail, the actress, who plays Mera in “Aquaman”, will have less than ten minutes of screen time in the next sequel. Fans of Depp are petitioning through a petition to have her removed from the film. The document has already received 3 million signatures.

Depp claims that Amber’s accusations had an impact on her image and career. He said that he had two projects canceled by two major studios and was suspended from future productions in franchises in which he was a protagonist: “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Fantastic Beasts”.

With the defamation lawsuit, the actor said he hopes to “clean the record” of the allegations made against him by his ex-wife, after six years of trying. He admitted that he “killed” him to having his reputation tarnished and having people in his life think he was a fraud and that he lied.