Johnny Depp’s defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard began in April 2022 — and the actress’ role in DC’s Aquaman film series has repeatedly come up throughout the highly publicized proceedings.
Depp is suing his Rum Diary costar over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she identified herself as a victim of domestic violence but did not mention the Pirates of the Caribbean actor by name. The What’s Eating Gilbert Grape star, who was married to Heard from 2015 to 2017, denies all allegations of physical abuse and claims that the article damaged his career and reputation.
“It’s been six years of trying times,” Depp testified in April 2022. “One day you’re Cinderella and then in zero point six seconds you’re Quasimodo. I didn’t deserve that and neither did my children.” The Kentucky native went on to claim that Disney dropped him from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise less than a week after Heard’s Washington Post op-ed was published.
During the trial, Heard claimed that the media attention surrounding the case has hurt her career prospects as well. In May 2022, she testified that her role as Mera in Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom, due in theaters in March 2023, was significantly reduced after Depp publicly alleged that her domestic violence claims were a fabrication.
“I was given a script and then given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it,” Heard told the court, claiming, “They took [out] a bunch of my role.”
The Drive Angry actress also claimed that Warner Bros. Studio “didn’t want to include me” in the Aquaman sequel due to fan backlash against her. An online petition to remove Heard from Aquaman 2 garnered 2.6 million signatures in April 2022.
Following Heard’s claims that Depp’s allegations affected her role in Aquaman 2, the president of DC films, Walter Hamada, was called as a witness. In a pre-recorded deposition played for the court on May 24, Hamada testified that a lack of chemistry between Heard and her costar Jason Momoa was the reason for the actress’ smaller role in the sequel.
“There was a concern that it took a lot of effort [for Heard and Momoa to have chemistry in the first film] and [Warner Bros. felt it] would be better off recasting [and] finding someone who had a bit more natural chemistry with Jason Momoa,” the Warner Bros. exec said.
Heard’s talent agent, Jessica Kovacevic, also testified that she had been told a “lack of chemistry” between the two Aquaman actors affected the sequel’s script. However, during the agent’s virtual court appearance, she said she still thought the public perception of the Machete Kills actress contributed to Warner Bros.’ decision to reduce her role.
“In my experience … Your career takes a turn after something like that. She was very well received in the movie at the time, everyone was happy with her at the time, there were no issues. Then to have a complete downturn after that, and then have that coincide with constant tweets and negativity put out about her, I don’t have a physical piece of paper of evidence, but it’s the only logical conclusion I draw,” Kovacevic told the court.
Scroll through for all the times Aquaman has been brought up during the defamation trial:
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
