It looks like there will be a follow-up to Johnny Depp‘s testimony in the $50 million defamation trial between the former Pirates of the Caribbean star and Amber Heard.
We’ve learned that Depp will be called as a witness by the defence on Monday, more than two weeks after he last testified in the Virginia trial. On May 23, the fired star of “Fantastic Beasts” will be the third witness. In the last week of the trial, which started on April 11, Depp will watch an anatomy expert and an IPV expert.
When asked about the witness schedule by Deadline, neither Amber Heard nor her legal team had anything to say. But a person close to Depp’s legal team said that the actor will almost certainly testify first thing Monday morning.
The risky move by Heard’s defence is both a plus and a risk. Even though Depp has been called glib and untruthful at times, he did give a pretty convincing explanation of why he says he was never abusive to his Rum Diary co-star during their relationship and marriage. Heard, who played Mera in Aquaman, was the second defence witness. She testified for two days before the trial took a one-week break and for two days after it came back earlier this week.
Early next week, the defence is likely to end their case.
Judge Penny Azcarte has said that she wants the closing arguments to happen on May 27.
This trial is getting a lot of attention and airing dirty laundry. It all started when Depp sued Heard in March 2019 over an opinion piece she wrote for the Washington Post in late 2018. In that article for the newspaper owned by Jeff Bezos, Heard said that she had been abused at home. Even though he didn’t say anything to this effect during the couple’s restraining order-filled divorce in 2016, Depp has insisted for the last three years that he never abused Heard and is, in fact, the victim of abuse himself.
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Heard tried to get the lawsuit thrown out, but failed. In the summer of 2020, she sued for $100 million. This countersuit happened just a few months before Depp’s UK libel suit against The Sun tabloid for calling him a “wife beater” was thrown out. Depp has also failed in all of his efforts to change that verdict.
Almost certainly, there will be an appeal in the defamation case in Virginia, no matter who is on the stand as a witness or who wins in the end.
