Will Johnny Depp quit 'Fantastic Beasts 3'? Here's how Amber Heard's opposition to delay trial could affect him
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's legal battle seems to be growing intense each day. Accusations, counter-accusations and lawsuits are the crux of the trouble between the former couple. Recently, as reported by Deadline, Depp had requested that his defamation lawsuit trial against ex-wife Heard be delayed to accommodate his filming schedule for ‘Fantastic Beasts 3’. The actor requested on August 21 that the trial be postponed until sometime between March and June 2021. As per the report, the film production which was halted due to Covid-19 is supposed to resume in October and possibly will go on till February – which will clash with the Depp-Heard trial set to run from January 11 to 28, 2021. However, according to the latest reports, Heard is against this request.
According to The Sun, as per the papers filed on September 5, Heard has accused Depp of making “no effort whatsoever” to honor court dates and treating the judge as “subservient”. As quoted by Deadline, the court paper requesting the delay by Depp reads: "When the Court set the current trial date in this case, Mr Depp understood that Warner Bros planned to shoot ‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ in London long before January 11, 2021. Covid-19 disrupted the studio’s plans, causing repeated postponements. With conditions in London having improved somewhat, Warner Bros has now set a shooting schedule that conflicts with the trial date in this case."
While Heard’s attorneys wrote, as per The Sun, "Although Mr Depp had been contacted in late June or July with the proposed filming dates, he did not alert them to the trial dates. Mr Depp decided that, rather than speak with his employer to work his film commitments around his trial, he asks this court to subserviently reschedule around his employment and the entire film schedule and production."
According to The Sun report, Heard also stated that she was due to film 'Aquaman 2' next February, and it would clash with the case if the judge agrees to Depp’s request.
This lawsuit is against the op-ed Heard had written for The Washington Post. In 2018, Heard had written an opinion piece for The Washington Post, where she spoke about how women in domestic abuse cases are treated. As reported by Insider, she had written, "I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture's wrath for women who speak out." Depp was not mentioned in the op-ed. In 2019, Depp filed a $50M defamation case against Heard for the opinion piece. As quoted by Insider, Depp's lawyers said: "The op-ed depended on the central premise that Ms Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her."
Also, in February this year, Depp sued The Sun newspaper over claims that the media outlet branded him a "wife-beater" through a column published in April 2018. According to Daily Mail, the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' actor brought a lawsuit against The Sun and its executive editor Dan Wootton for libel, two years after the latter wrote a piece where he claimed that the star hit his ex-wife Heard during their tumultuous 18-month marriage. The article questioned author JK Rowling for casting Depp in her film 'Fantastic Beasts' even after Heard alleged in 2016 that he was a "monster" who had physically abused her multiple times during their marriage, including instances where he choked her and ripped out clumps of her hair.
There were rumors that Heard may be replaced in ‘Aquaman 2’, but now it seems that she is very much a part of the movie. As reported, Adam Wolanski QC, representing News Group Newspapers, The Sun's owners, claimed that Depp has "used his physical, financial, and professional power to embarrass and harass" Heard in an attempt to destroy her career. Reportedly, in a text sent to Depp's sister Christi Dembrowski in June 2016, the actor wrote: "I want her replaced on that WB (Warner Brothers) film."
While the legal battle between the two gets complicated, only time will say if their personal battle impacts their professional projects.
MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) cannot independently verify these claims and does not support the claims made on the internet.