Amber Heard: Petition to fire actor from Aquaman 2 receives more than 1.5 million signatures

Petition gains traction following Johnny Depp’s departure from the Fantastic Beasts franchise

A petition to remove Amber Heard from the Aquaman sequel has received over 1.5 million signatures.

The actor’s role in the DC franchise as Aquaman’s love interest Mera has been under scrutiny since Heard’s ex-husband Johnny Depp lost his libel case earlier this month.

The petition – which states a goal of reaching 3 million signatures – has been set up by fans who claim that Heard “has systematically crusaded to ruin Depp in Hollywood” since the couple divorced in 2017.

The petition’s online page goes on to accuse Heard of lying and “creating false accounts of [Depp] being the abuser”.

Heard has long accused the Pirates of the Caribbean star of domestic violence, something he has denied. After suing The Sun publisher News Group Newspapers and its executive editor Dan Wootton for referring to him as a “wife beater” in a column, Depp lost the case earlier this month. A British judge declared that the claim was “substantially true”.

Heard’s role in Aquaman 2 has since come under fire from Depp’s supporters, in the wake of his recent requested resignation from JK Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts franchise.

The actor has since spoken out against those calling for her removal from the DC film. She told Entertainment Weekly: “Paid rumours and paid campaigns on social media don’t dictate [casting decisions] because they have no basis in reality.”

The 34-year-old continued: “Only the fans actually made Aquaman and Aquaman 2 happen. I’m excited to get started next year.”

In a statement last week, Depp called the UK court’s decision over his case “surreal” and said that he planned to appeal the verdict. “My life and career will not be defined by this moment in time,” he added.

This week, Depp was denied permission to appeal the decision, with a high court judge also ordering the actor to make a payment to the Sun’s publishers of around £630,000 in legal fees.

Despite being dropped from Fantastic Beasts 3, after filming just one scene, Depp will still receive his entire $10m (£7.6m) salary. Earlier this week, it was officially announced that Casino Royale star Mads Mikkelsen will replace Depp in the role of Gellert Grindelwald.