Alex Bruno
Johnny Depp’s defamation case against Amber Heard has drawn the attention of a number of high-profile celebrities. Text messages between Depp and associates Marilyn Manson and Paul Bettany (both friends of the actor) from 2015 to 2017 provide light on his turbulent marriage to Heard, which commenced on April 11 and began in Fairfax County, Va. Heard’s witness list includes not just James Franco and Elon Musk, but also Disney and Warner Bros. representatives, who will be present when Heard takes the stand for the first time this week.
So, what is the connection between Franco and Musk?
Actor Hazel Heard previously collaborated with Franco on the films Pineapple Express in 2008 and The Adderall Diaries in 2015. In 2020, when Depp filed a libel claim against The Sun for using the phrase “wife-beater” in reporting on Heard’s domestic abuse accusations, his name came up. Depp’s claimed confrontation with Heard allegedly led to Franco’s questioning of Heard’s damaged face, according to Heard’s testimony in London.
“Oh my God, what happened to you?” he asked me. Heard swore under oath. My look made him go, ‘What the f—-?’” (Depp’s claim was eventually dismissed.) Last week, Franco’s name was mentioned again. Depp testified that he had suspicions that Heard was having an affair with Franco as well as other co-stars when he was on the stand. A “heated debate” over a movie scene with Franco was recalled by Heard’s attorney, Ben Rottenborn, in which Depp grilled the actor about his “insecurities” around Heard’s connection with her male co-stars, he said.
Depp can be heard telling Heard the following in an audiotape shown in court: “When you’re working on a movie, I go completely insane. We get into a lot of fights because I’m envious and I’m f—-ing crazy.”
After her breakup with Depp in 2017, Heard briefly dated billionaire Elon Musk. Former Depp talent agent Christian Carino answered questions regarding the Heard-Musk romance last week; Carino and Heard exchanged emails. Heard sent an email in August 2017 that said, “The aftermath of a breakup. It drives me crazy when things are made public. What a bummer!” Responding through email to Carino’s claim that Heard was referring to Musk, Carino wrote: “Your feelings for him were platonic. One thousand times, you said you were merely out of place.” “Why would you be upset if you weren’t in love with him, to begin with?” he said in another email.
Nobody knows whether Musk and Franco are going to testify. If contacted, the focus would be on whether or not Heard’s accusations of domestic violence were true, as well as the nature of their interactions.
Over her 2018 Washington Post piece on her domestic abuse experience, Depp is seeking $50 million from Heard, who is suing him for defamation and invasion of privacy. The op-ed has hurt Depp’s career and image, despite the fact that Heard did not identify him by name in the piece. However, his attorneys contend that the allusions to him and her earlier abuse charges were unmistakable. By filing a $100 million countersuit, Heard claimed Depp’s legal team defamed her by using the phrase “sexual violence hoaxes” to describe her accusations.
During the filming of the 2011 thriller The Rum Diary, Depp and Heard became engaged and married in 2015. During “violent and turbulent” outbursts, Depp is accused of physically and verbally assaulting Heard. Heard obtained a domestic violence restraining order against the actor in 2016. “Heinous and frightening” and “not rooted in any sort of reality” are the words used by Depp to describe the accusations.
Source: Explore Entertainment
