Johnny Depp’s lawyers presented recorded testimony and testimony from distant witnesses on Thursday as he continued his case against his ex-wife Amber Heard. The latest witnesses come after Depp’s lawyers presented recorded testimony from Los Angeles police officers who responded to Depp and Hurd’s home after the fight, as well as the porter and former agent on Wednesday.
Depp is suing Hurd for defamation in Fairfax County Court after she wrote an article in The Washington Post, referring to herself as a “public figure representing domestic violence.”
Depp does not mention Depp by name, but his lawyers say the article contains “implicit slander”, claiming it clearly refers to allegations of domestic violence made by Hurd when she filed for divorce in 2016. Depp said that the Post article contributed to an unjustly ruined reputation that turned him into a Hollywood exile and cost him his role in the lucrative Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise. Hurd’s lawyers say only Depp is to blame for his confused career.
On Thursday, the court heard testimony from Terence Doherty, chief executive officer and chief adviser to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), who said Hurd had expressed a desire to donate $ 3.5 million to the nonprofit, half of the agreement. for his divorce from Dep. The ACLU nominated Hurd as ambassador and wrote an article for The Washington Post.
Doherty said Hurd did not donate $ 3.5 million, but paid $ 350,000 directly, in addition to a $ 100,000 check from Johnny Depp, which was credited to Hurd.
According to additional evidence presented on Thursday, Hurd insisted on including details of his marriage to fellow actor Johnny Depp in the article, which was strategically scheduled by both the ACLU and Hurd to coincide with the release of her new film Aquaman. .
Doherty testified that many ACLU attorneys reviewed the article at various stages and asked Hurd’s attorneys to review the article to make sure it was not inconsistent with a non-disclosure agreement she had with Depp over the divorce. of the couple in 2016
During those discussions, Hurd sent back an edited version approved by her attorneys that “specifically castrated much of the copy of her marriage,” according to an email from Jessica Weitz, an ACLU official who coordinated with Hurd.
However, according to the email, Hurd was looking for a way to recover a deleted passage in the article.
The various drafts of the articles were not shown to the jury, so it is not clear how much personal data was in the first draft and how much Hurd’s lawyers cut. But the final version contains very little about Hurd’s personal experience and makes no mention of Depp. In addition to the passage on “public figure representing domestic violence”, in another passage she writes: “I had the rare view to see in real time how institutions protect men accused of violence.”
Doherty also testified that “the language in the last article is very different from the original language” in the draft, Doherty said. “This is not directly related to Ms. Hurd’s relationship with Johnny Depp.”
Actor Johnny Depp listens in the Fairfax County Courtroom in Fairfax, Virginia, Wednesday, April 27, 2022. Jonathan Ernst / AP
While the defamation lawsuit should focus on whether Depp is defamatory in the article, much of the process focuses on the ugly details of the couple’s brief marriage.
Depp denied hitting Hurd. Hurd’s lawyers say Depp physically and sexually abused her and that Depp’s denials were unfounded, as he was often drunk and strong to the point of eclipse.
Wednesday is the 11th day of the trial, which is expected to last a month. Depp himself ended the grueling four days on the witness stand on Monday; Hurd is expected to testify later in the trial.
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