Amber Heard is set to take the stand in her bombshell defamation trial against ex-husband Johnny Depp as soon as Monday, with insiders saying the actress will be a ‘highly effective weapon’ in her $100million countersuit.
The A-list trial in Virginia, which started on April 11 and is set to last another three weeks, has so far seen Depp claim he was the victim of domestic abuse in his four days of testimony, with his bodyguard yesterday describing wounds on the actor’s face.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star is suing Heard for $50million, claiming she defamed him and ruined his career after a 2018 Washington Post article in which she described herself as a ‘public figure representing domestic abuse’, without naming her ex-husband.
Heard is countersuing for $100million, and after three weeks of sitting silently in the courtroom during Depp’s testimony, she is preparing to start her fight back when court resumes next week after a day off today.
Insiders told Deadline she could take to the stand as soon as Monday, unless a major revelation comes out during the closing statements in Depp’s case.
A source said: ‘It’s hard to see how Amber won’t prove to be a highly effective weapon against Depp in her own advocacy.
‘Regardless of how they have tried to characterize her, she has been nothing but well composed and pretty conservative in court without having said a word.’
Heard was not a party and did not take the stand in Depp’s 2020 libel claim against The Sun in the UK, which he lost.
The trial in the Fairfax County Courthouse runs Monday to Thursday from 10am to 5pm, and is set to conclude on May 19. Judge Penny Azcarate has a prescheduled conference from May 9 to 12 when the trial will pause for a week.
Yesterday, Depp’s bodyguard said he noticed injuries and marks on the actor’s face as his relationship with Heard became increasingly volatile.
