Johnny Depp allegedly tried to get ex-wife Amber Heard fired from 'Aquaman', blacklisted in Hollywood
Johnny Depp allegedly tried to have ex-wife Amber Heard fired from 'Aquaman.' The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star is in an on-going legal battle with Jake Bloom, his former lawyer, and the depositions are leading to more witnesses, including Heard and Kevin Tsujihara, former Warner Bros. CEO, appearing to testify.
According to THR, a number of executives and attorneys were served deposition notices in connection with a lawsuit filed by Depp. As per the site's source, Tsujihara has been asked to testify if Depp had tried to get him to blacklist Heard. Depp, who most recently starred in the sequel of 'Fantastic Beasts,' allegedly importuned Tsujihara to remove her from the cast of 'Aquaman.'
Heard, however, starred in the film that released in December 2018 and received positive reviews and is also slated to reprise her role in the sequel. As per THR, the deposition requests did not provide any proof that Tsujihara actively tried to deny Heard the role in the blockbuster.
On her part, Heard has claimed that the actor was physically abusive and had sought a restraining order. According to Movieweb, Heard has filed documents where Deep allegedly beat her under the influence of alcohol and drugs. This is a separate lawsuit from the $50 million defamation lawsuit Depp filed against her in March. Depp refuted the claims saying that this was a bunch of made up stories to purposely hurt his career.
The actress had also written about her troubles surrounding her association in 'Justice League' and 'Aquaman' in a Washington Post Op-ed, where she wrote that she may be blacklisted by Hollywood.
As per reports from Page Six, the studio that produced 'Fantastic Beasts' has stood by the actor despite the last film being low grossing. The scheduling of the sequel though has delayed the film to next year fall.
The actor has also found support from JK Rowling, who according to Vanity Fair in a supportive statement, has said that the filmmakers and her were not just comfortable sticking with the original squad, but also genuinely happy to have Johnny playing a major character in the movies.