Amber Heard's brutal legal battle with Johnny Depp could be blown apart after her lawyers withdraw from case
Former spouses Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s highly controversial relationship has caused enough damage to their respective lives. However, it seems like the odds are not in the ‘Aquaman’ actress’ favor as her legal battle against Depp has met with another hiccup. In March 2019, the ‘Pirate of the Caribbean’ actor filed a $50 million defamation suit against Heard for defaming him in her Op-ed to Washington Post in 2018. In the post, Heard claimed that Depp assaulted her during their marriage.
Heard was backed by the founder of ‘Time’s Up’ initiative Roberta Kaplan and a few other lawyers, including John Quinn, Julie Fink, and Davida Brook. But now it seems like Heard’s fight against Depp has taken a backseat as all of Heard’s legal representatives have withdrawn themselves from the actress’s case. The documents obtained by The Blast consists of a statement by the counsel of lawyers which reads, "Ms. Heard does not object to the withdrawal of withdrawing counsel and has endorsed the proposed order granting leave to withdraw.” It further states that Heard’s case will be led by a Virginia attorney in the state.
The spokesperson for Kaplan Hecker & Fink LL told The Blast, "We believe Amber and we believe in Amber. We have been proud to serve as Amber’s counsel. In the strange and unexpected circumstances of today’s world, as travel and logistics have become more costly in light of the pandemic, we understand the decision to move the case to local, Virginia-based trial counsel.” Reacting to the latest complication in Heard’s representation of the case, Depp’s attorney Adam Waldman told The Blast, “'Ms. Heard's lawyers, one of whom co-founded the #TimesUp Legal Defense Fund, have now apparently unhitched from Ms Heard's long-disproven frauds. We intend to discover why.”
Depp’s lawsuit has accused Heard of issuing false evidence against him and even stated that she’s only trying to tarnish Depp’s career while using the “elaborate hoax” to benefit her career from the good publicity. Deep has already incurred a lot of damage from the ongoing war with Heard as he got dropped from his signature role of Captain Jack Sparrow in the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’. One couldn’t stop wondering how the infamous legal battle is going to impact Heard’s future in the ‘Aquaman’ franchise. She played Mera in the original film and was set to reprise her role in its 2022 sequel.
Meanwhile, Depp’s fans had started an online petition demanding Heard to be removed from ‘Aquaman 2’. The petition has already received over 4,43,700 signatures and counting. A while ago, rumors suggested that Heard was in fact fired from the movie. But neither she nor the creators of the movie have commented on this speculated move. However, some fans are of the opinion that Heard shouldn’t be allowed to cast in the movie owing to her alleged ill-treatment of Depp. A fan wrote on Reddit, “Well if Depp gets his career shitcanned over a bunch of lies she told, I think it would only be fair if she has the same happen.” Another fan added, “The fair thing to do here is for Depp to take on her role. I think that’d be a win all around for everyone.”
It remains to be seen if the recent development in Heard and Depp's case will impact her future in the movies.