Amber Heard defamation trial begins with explosive allegations

Johnny Depp's lawyers accused his ex-wife, Amber Heard, of fabricating domestic violence allegations against him to boost her own career as a defamation trial got underway in Virginia on Tuesday.

Depp sued Heard for $50 million, claiming she devastated his career when she revived her allegations against him in a 2018 op-ed in the Washington Post.

Heard’s lawyers, meanwhile, argued in their opening statement that her allegations are entirely true and that she had a First Amendment right to express her views. Her attorney, Ben Rottenborn, argued that Depp is trying to ruin Heard’s life by pursuing the lawsuit.For years, all Depp wanted to do was humiliate Amber, haunt her, ruin her career.”, Rottenborn argued, calling Depp “an ex-husband obsessed with revenge”.

The trial is expected to last about six weeks, as 11 jurors will be asked to sort through a mountain of documentary evidence and conflicting testimonies to decide who is telling the truth.

_{Images of Amber Heard after alleged assault (Photo: Reproduction/Indian Times)}

The actress has accused Depp of multiple instances of assault, including instances where she claims Depp grabbed her by the neck, threw her against a wall, kicked her, choked her, and punched her. Her attorney, Elaine Bredehoft, went through many of the allegations in detail in her opening statement, including one instance where Depp allegedly sexually assaulted her with a liquor bottle.

That allegation had not been made public before. In a statement, a spokesperson for Depp denied the sexual assault allegation. The spokesperson said it was not part of the original allegations surrounding the couple’s 2016 divorce, and only emerged after Depp filed his defamation lawsuit in 2019.This follows a pattern of her elaborate and erroneous claims that have continued to change and evolve over time for Hollywood shock value purposes, which Amber has harnessed and used to exploit a serious social movement.”the spokesman said.

_{Jonny Depp at the trial. (Photo: Reproduction/Instagram)}

The trial will go into painstaking detail about drug abuse, violence and destroyed apartments. In his opening argument, Rottenborn said jurors should try to stay focused on his editorial, which does not identify Depp by name.The article is not about Johnny Depp”, he argued. “The article is about the social change she is advocating for..”

Depp’s lawyers, Ben Chew and Camille Vasquez, noted that the Washington Post article was published shortly before the release of “Aquaman,” in which Heard starred, and helped paint her as a sympathetic advocate. Heard has portrayed herself as the face of the #metoo movement, the virtuous representative of innocent women across the country and the world who have actually suffered abuse. “The evidence will show that this was a lie”said Vasquez.

_{Jonny Depp and Amber Heard at an awards ceremony before the scandal. (Photo: Reproduction/Instagram)}

Rottenborn argued that at the time of publication, Depp’s career was in freefall while Heard’s career was taking off. The editorial, he argued, was his attempt to move on from the abusive relationship. But by suing her, Depp is refusing to let her move on.

Heard filed a $100 million counterclaim against Depp, claiming his lawyer defamed her by accusing her of fabricating a hoax.“The evidence will show that Heard's false allegations have had a significant impact on Depp's family and his ability to work in the profession he loved,” said Chew. “Ultimately, this trial is about clearing Depp’s name of a horrific and false allegation.”

Depp claimed he was written out of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise after Heard’s op-ed was published. But Rottenborn argued that Disney had been discussing firing him months earlier due to his erratic behavior. “Any damage he suffered in his career was not because of this editorial”Rottenborn told the jury. “It's time to make Johnny take responsibility… It's up to you, ladies and gentlemen, to make him do it..”

Depp lost a similar case in 2020 against The Sun newspaper in the UK. The judge in that case found that Heard's allegations were “substantially true” and that the newspaper therefore did not defame him when it described him as a “wife beater”.

Featured Photo: Amber Heard. Reproduction/Instagram.