Talent manager Johnny Depp testified Monday in a defamation lawsuit against the actor that Mr. Depp lost a $ 22.5 million deal to star in the sixth film Pirates of the Caribbean after his ex-wife, Amber Heard, published a post. in which she called herself a “public figure representing domestic violence.”
The exact moment Mr. Depp was excluded from the Pirates franchise became a relevant issue in the lawsuit, as Mr. Depp’s lawsuit against Ms. Hurd claimed that her publication, published by The Washington Post in December 2018, “destroyed” his reputation and career.
Although the article does not mention Mr. Depp’s name, he says he clearly refers to their relationship. Ms. Hurd accused Mr Depp of assaulting her repeatedly during their relationship, which Mr Depp denied.
Talent manager Jack Wigham testified in Fairfax County Court in Virginia that the actor had an oral agreement with Disney to reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in a proposed sixth film, but in early 2019 it became clear that Disney was going to another direction.
“After the publication, it was impossible to provide him with a studio film,” said Mr Wigham, who has represented Mr Depp since 2016.
Ms Hurd’s lawyers claim that it was not the actress’ report that undermined Mr Depp’s career, but rather his own actions that led to poor publicity, trying to prove it during Mr Wigham’s cross-examination. that Mr. Depp had, in fact, lost his Pirates job before the article was published.
Elaine Charleson Bredehoft, Ms Hurd’s lawyer, cited Mr Wigham’s previous testimony in which he said it was the autumn of 2018 – before the article was published – when he learned it was unlikely n Depp to appear in the next movie “Pirates”.
Mr Wigham testified that at the time, Disney had not yet decided whether Mr Depp would appear in the film and it was a “bad trend”, but he and film producer Jerry Bruckheimer were still trying to persuade the company to keep Mr. Depp in the franchise.
“We had hope,” said Mr. Wigham, “and in early 2019, it became clear to me that it was over.”
In the article, Ms. Hurd claims that her own career has been affected by her becoming a “public figure representing domestic violence,” saying she was rejected because she was the face of a fashion brand and reworked the film. her role.
The idea for the article came from the American Civil Liberties Union, and an employee of the nonprofit’s communications department prepared the article, according to earlier testimony from Terence Doherty, chief adviser to the ACLU. Initially, the draft referred to Ms. Hurd’s relationship with Mr. Depp directly. But those references were later edited after talks between ACLU staff and Ms. Hurd’s lawyers about a non-disclosure agreement related to the couple’s divorce, Mr. Doherty testified.
In addition to the discussions on the letter on which Mr Depp’s case is based, much of the process has focused on various accounts of physical violence in the relationship between Mrs Hurd and Mr Depp. Mr Depp testified that he never hit Ms Hurd and that she was the aggressor, accusing her of punching him in the face and kicking the bathroom door in his head. Ms. Hurd, who has not yet testified in the trial, said in court documents that she never hit Mr Depp except in self-defense or in defense of her sister, and that Mr Depp was prone to violence. against her when he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
On Monday, Ms. Hurd’s lawyers tried to undermine Mr. Wigham’s claim that Mr. Depp had an official deal for the sixth Pirates movie.
“Do you have any explanation for why there is nothing – not even a piece of paper – nothing to suggest that Mr. Depp ever had a deal with Disney for Pirates 6?” Mrs. Bredehoft asked.
Mr Wigham said it was not uncommon for the actor to have an oral agreement for a film, which was later presented in writing.
Ms Bredehoft cited other possible precursors to Mr Depp’s reputation decline, other than the publication, citing a headline in the British newspaper The Sun, which he called Mr Depp “beating women”. This article was published in April 2018, she said, and Mr. Depp sued the newspaper for it in June 2018 – both months before Mr. Wigam recalled Disney’s declining interest in Mr. Depp for Pirates.
(Ms. Hurd’s list of potential witnesses includes Tina Newman, CEO of Disney.)
Ms. Hurd’s legal team has repeatedly referred to the defamation lawsuit in the UK resulting from this case. But the team appears to have been limited to mentioning the outcome of the case in which a London judge ruled against Mr Depp and found that there was “necessary evidence” that he had attacked Mrs Hurd repeatedly during their marriage. .
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