Elon Musk And James Franco Have Both Been Listed To Testify At Johnny Depp And Amber Heard’s Defamation Trial
Well, this probably wasn’t the large-scale public appearance James Franco was hoping for when his agent assured him enough time had passed for James to safely launch a comeback. It’s probably not what James Franco could have predicted his friendship with Amber Heard would lead to all those years ago, but here we are. And he isn’t alone. James and Elon Musk can both bond over the awkward situation they find themselves currently involved in. Because hearings are set to begin in Johnny Depp’s $50 million defamation lawsuit trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard, and the starting lineup for testimony-tellers is shaping up to be a real who’s-who of potential courtroom messiness.
As we all know, Johnny Depp was given the go-ahead to move forward with his multi-million dollar lawsuit against Amber Heard. Johnny’s suing Amber for $50 million for defamation, over a 2018 op-ed she wrote for The Wall Street Journal, in which she spoke about being a victim of sexual and domestic violence. Johnny has accused Amber of cooking up an elaborate hoax to slander and defame him as a domestic abuser (a year and a half ago, Johnny lost his libel suit against The Sun, who he was suing for referring to him as a “wife beater“). Amber responded by counter-suing Johnny for $100 million, accusing him of his own dastardly plot to launch an online smear campaign against her, which allegedly paints her out to be a fake domestic violence victim. It’s a mess of the highest order, but it’s going to trial. Amber has released her testifying witness list, and it feels like the world’s worst reboot of This Is Your Life. via Deadline:
If the three-year old and counting case survives the latest summary judgement motion set for a March 24 hearing, James Franco, WandaVision star Paul Bettany, Elon Musk and representatives of the Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros, and the LAPD will be joining friends, family, lawyers and other associates of the formerly-married Rum Diary co-stars in the Virginia courtroom. Additionally, the private correspondence of Depp and Heard with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars and power players will be laid out for the public to see.
James Franco was dragged into all of this the year after Amber’s op-ed was published. Security camera footage was released showing Amber taking an elevator down to the parking garage of her and Johnny’s apartment building at around 11 pm in what appears to be a sweater and a nightgown. She meets James Franco, who joins her in the elevator and rides back up to Amber and Johnny’s apartment. This security camera footage was allegedly shot one day after Amber claims Johnny got violent with her, which resulted in Amber telling a friend to call 911 (Johnny has since alleged Amber and her friend iO Tillet Wright, who placed the call, planned the 911 call prior to that evening). James would likely be brought in to testify about what Amber said in the elevator and would be asked if Amber showed any evidence of bruising on the night he came to hang out.
Elon was subpoenaed last year regarding this lawsuit, because Elon dated Amber off and on in 2016 and 2017, right after Amber filed for divorce from Johnny. Text messages sent between Amber and Elon were read during Johnny’s libel suit against The Sun, so clearly, Johnny’s side will want to cross-examine Elon regarding what Amber might have told him about being with Johnny. During those text messages, Amber can be seen telling Elon that she was planning to file for divorce, change the locks at her home, and that she was planning to get a restraining order. Elon responds by offering 24-hour security to Amber. Johnny has previously questioned whether Amber was communicating with Elon while she and Johnny were still married, so expect that testimony to get messier than if you were to ask Elon about his current relationship status.
Paul Bettany is involved in this because he and Johnny are good friends. And like Elon, some text activity might be brought up during this trial. During Johnny’s libel trial, text messages between himself and Paul were made public, in which the two are engaged in a jokey conversation about killing Amber Heard. Warner Bros. was mentioned, probably because this situation between Amber and Johnny has affected both their careers. Johnny walked away from his role in Fantastic Beasts 3, due to the outcome of his libel suit with The Sun, whereas Amber fought against persistent rumors and online petitions demanding to have her kicked out of Aquaman 2. Speaking of Aquaman, the actual Aquaman, Jason Momoa, has been placed on Amber’s list of potential testimony givers, as well as several Warner Bros. executives. Ellen Barkin is also there, which doesn’t come as too much of a surprise, considering she provided a statement during Johnny’s libel suit, that accused Johnny of throwing a bottle across a room at her back in the day.
There are so many people that might get called into this thing because those names are just from Amber’s lawyers. We haven’t even gotten Johnny’s list of potential witnesses yet, but who even is left at this point? Oh no, is Johnny going to call the poo that was found in his bed? Honestly, with the way this is going, he’s going to call the poo, the poo’s lawyer, the poo’s current partner, and demand to see the poo’s text messages to its good friend, the toilet.
Pic: INSTAR