Amber Heard fires PR team as online backing for Depp grows
ACTRESS Amber Heard has fired her public relations team after coverage of her $50million (£40million) defamation lawsuit has seen public support grow for her ex-husband Johnny Depp.
Heard has parted ways with Precision Strategy, fronted by Stephanie Cutter, a former Barack Obama adviser, in favour of Los Angeles-based Shane Communications days before she is due to testify.
According to reports, she is irritated by media coverage of the trial and support for the Pirates of the Caribbean actor on social media.
“She doesn’t like bad headlines,” one source reportedly told the New York Post, which broke the story. Another said Heard is “frustrated with her story not being told effectively”.
Depp, 58, is suing Heard, 36, for an op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post in 2018 in which she claimed to have been a victim of domestic violence. Depp claims he was the victim in the troubled relationship.
Over the past week, Depp’s testimony, which has seen him describe in gruesome detail the moment Heard allegedly severed his finger with a vodka bottle, has ignited a wave of support for him on social media.
On the video-sharing app Tiktok, more than 1.4 billion people have watched videos with the hashtag #johnnydeppisinnocent. A similar hashtag for Heard has just 600,000.
Almost three million people have signed a petition to have Heard removed from the upcoming film Aquaman 2.
Heard’s credibility took another hit when she was accused of not donating the $3.5million settlement from their divorce to charity, as she had publicly claimed she would do.
It was said she donated just $1.3million, most of which was given by billionaire Elon Musk, her ex-boyfriend. The American Civil Liberties Union said it learnt Heard was suffering financial difficulties when it inquired about the charitable donations.
Shane Communications has previously worked against Depp.
The firm represented his former business managers, the Management Group, which became embroiled in a legal dispute with the actor over an alleged breach of contract. Depp’s former business managers told the actor he needed to reduce his monthly spending habit of $2million. The lawsuit never made it to trial.
Heard reportedly appealed against the trial being publicly broadcast, but Depp’s team won their case for it to be livestreamed.
It has meant that every allegation of abuse has been heard by the public.
The court has heard a slew of lurid allegations including Depp’s claim that Heard once defecated in their bed. The court has also seen photos of his severed finger and video footage of arguments between the couple.
Depp denies Heard’s allegations of abuse, while her legal team claims the denial is not reliable as he was drunk and on drugs at the time.
The actor’s lawyers say Heard defamed him with the Washington Post article, ruining his career and reputation, and he is suing for $50 million.
Heard is countersuing for $100million. She is expected to take the stand in the Virginia courthouse tomorrow.
Previously, Depp lost a similar lawsuit against The Sun over an article that called him a “wife beater”.
Heard and Depp met in 2011 on the set of The Rum Diary. They married in 2016, but divorced the following year.