Amber Heard’s team accuses Johnny Depp of trying to get her fired from Aquaman as texts shown in court
Text message was sent to actor’s sister in June 2016
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Johnny Depp has been accused of trying to get Amber Heard fired from the Aquaman franchise.
The actor returned to the witness stand on Wednesday (25 May) to give more testimony in his multi-million dollar defamation trial against ex-wife Heard. He was called back for his own team’s rebuttal.
During his testimony, Depp was challenged as to whether he attempted to get Heard fired from Aquaman.
Heard’s lawyer Ben Rottenborn asked Depp: “You also tried to get her fired from Aquaman after the temporary restraining order, didn’t you?”
In May 2016, a Los Angeles judge granted a restraining order against Depp from Heard. The documents filed by lawyers representing Heard at the time claimed that Depp “violently attacked” her in their penthouse apartment.
Rottenborn pressed the actor to give a “yes or no” answer to the question, to which Depp said: “I can’t please you with a yes or no every single time.”
Depp responded: “The answer is no,” following which Rottenborn showed the court a text message that Depp had sent his sister Christi Dimbrowski on 4 June 2016.
The text reads: “I want her replaced on that WB [Warner Bros] film!!!”. Depp confirmed that “her” was in reference to Heard.
After seeing the text, the Pirates of the Caribbean star questioned: “Is that me trying to get her fired?”
Depp continued: “[Dimbrowski] doesn’t work at Warner Bros. She can’t fire Amber.”
Rottenborn went on to claim that Depp reached out to Warner Bros executives to help get Heard fired from her role.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
Depp began to say that he “reached out because I vetted [Heard]” before he was interrupted by Rottenborn and pressed for a “yes or no” answer. The actor responded: “No.”
Rottenburn proceeded to share an especially graphic text message that Depp sent to talent agent Christian Carino about Heard.
In it, Depp says: “She’s begging for total global humiliation… She’s going to get it.”
Depp is suing Heard for $50m (£38.2m). He alleges that Heard implied that he abused her in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed about domestic violence.
Heard is countersuing for $100m (£80.9m), accusing Depp of orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her and describing his lawsuit as a continuation of “abuse and harassment”.
Earlier in his testimony, Depp disputed Heard’s previous claims that he did not assist in helping her secure her role in Aquaman, stating: “That is not exactly true.”
The actor alleged that he called executives at Warner Bros and helped to “curb their worries”.
Viewers also spotted Depp “smiling” at his screen as he watched former partner Kate Moss testify that he “never pushed me, kicked me, or threw me down any stairs”.
With the court proceedings still ongoing in Fairfax County, Virginia, a number of high-profile to have voiced their support for Heard, with Julia Fox, Rachel Riley and Kathy Griffin among those to speak out.
Others, meanwhile, have publicly thrown their support behind Depp, with celebrities including Winona Ryder, Javier Bardem and Eva Green among those appearing to take his side in the dispute.
Follow along with live updates from the trial here.