Here's why Zendaya, Chris Pine and Ana de Armas were dragged into Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard trial
Day 20 of the Amber Heard v Johnny Depp defamation trial kicked off on Monday, May 23, in Fairfax, Virginia and there were quite a few interesting moments to take away from it. Heard is calling her witnesses to take the stand. Kathryn Arnold, a producer and entertainment industry consultant was one among those who Heard's team had called upon to testify. Others who also testified on May 23 include Dr Richard Moore, an orthopedic surgeon and Dr David R Spiegel, a psychiatrist.
At the trial, Arnold evaluated Depp's claims for damages as a result of Heard's op-ed, which prompted the case in the first place. She also evaluated Heard's claim for damages on the basis of comments from Depp's lawyer that her allegations were a 'hoax'.
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For the uninitiated, Depp and Heard are squaring off over a 2018 op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post, where she called herself a domestic violence survivor. Depp has claimed that he was booted from the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise because Heard's op-ed clearly implicated that he was the abuser. The article, however, did not mention Depp by name. The actor sued for $50 million and Heard countersued for $100 million, claiming Depp ran a smear campaign for years in an attempt to silence her and destroy her acting career.
Arnold testified that Heard's career was on the rise before Depp's former lawyer, Adam Waldman, made 'defamatory' statements in 2020. At the time, Waldman told media that Heard's abuse allegations against Depp were false and that she staged the 'abuse hoax'. Heard's career went for a toss after she received negativity on social media, Arnold claimed.
Why were Zendaya, Chris Pine, Ana de Armas mentioned at the trial?
Arnold trying to elucidate her point about the actress' career being on the 'rise' compared Heard's career to that of actors such as 'Aquaman' co-star Jason Momoa , Zendaya, Chris Pine, Gal Gadot and Ana de Armas. Claiming that Heard's career should have followed the same time frame, Arnold said that all of these actors had a 'meteoric' rise after their 'star is born' moment. She said that they got huge paychecks, as well as profitable endorsement deals. "It would have been very reasonable to believe her career would have been on an upward trajectory," she said of Heard since she considered 'Aquaman' as Heard's 'star is born' moment.
According to Arnold, Heard was set to be on the cover of LA Style following her role on 'The Stand'. However, it was allegedly taken away after "Depp-Waldman statements." She also claimed that Heard made $200,000 per episode on 'The Stand', but the amount could have increased with her agents using the leverage of the success of 'Aquaman'.
During cross-examination after the afternoon break on May 23, Depp's legal team asked Arnold why she compared Heard's career to the big stars. Depp's lawyer Wayne Dennison said, "She's never been the title character in a movie. She wasn't on TV for years." "For the jury to accept your damage analysis, they would have to agree with you that Heard was on the precipice of a meteoric rise," he added. He asked why Arnold named Zendaya in her list considering that the 'Spiderman' actress was famous since childhood and has a host of movies on her list not to mention she is 10 years younger than Heard. Arnold claimed she used their names - actors in superhero movies - to point out the success that doing such a movie got them and that should have been the case for Heard too but that was stolen from her.
Depp's legal team includes Samuel Moniz, Ben Chew, Stephanie Calnan, Andrew Crawford, Rebecca MacDowell Lecaroz, Yarelyn Mena, Jessica Meyers, and Camille Vasquez. Meanwhile, Kate Moss will testify in court on Wednesday, May 25, at the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial. Sources reportedly said that the 48-year-old British supermodel, who had dated Depp, will testify how Depp once lifted her up and carried her after she slipped down the stairs. Moss will be the first of Depp's exes to testify for him.