Heard had ‘no H20’ chemistry
‘Aquaman’ dud
Amber Heard’s role in “Aquaman” came into question over a lack of “chemistry” with her costar — and not because of Johnny Depp’s alleged smear campaign against her, a studio exec testified at the couple’s defamation trial Tuesday.
Heard, 36, has insisted that her role in the upcoming sequel to the blockbuster was drastically cut back after Depp, 58, claimed she fabricated abuse allegations.
But Warner Bros. executive Walter Hamada, who was called as a witness by Depp’s side in the Fairfax, Va., trial, said producers considered recasting Heard in the sequel because they were “concerned” about a lack of chemistry between her and co-star Jason Momoa.
“You know it when you see it, and the chemistry wasn’t there,” Hamada said via prerecorded video deposition.
The high-powered head of DC Films was one of several rebuttal witnesses for Depp who testified Tuesday after Heard’s team rested their case.
‘Jealous & crazy’
Depp is suing his exwife for $50 million, claiming she defamed him in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she called herself a “public figure representing domestic violence,” although the essay did not name Depp.
Heard then countersued Depp for $100 million,
saying he and his lawyer, Adam Waldman, defamed her by allegedly making statements to the press in 2020 that she had manufactured her claims of abuse.
Witnesses called by Depp spent most of Tuesday trying to convince the jury Heard’s countersuit was baseless.
They included entertainment lawyer Richard Marks, who challenged an estimation that Heard lost between $45 million and $50 million in potential earnings due to
Depp’s alleged defamatory statement.
Morgan Night, the manager of a hip trailer park where the couple stayed in 2013, also took the stand and appeared to contradict Heard’s previous testimony that Depp had assaulted her there.
Night testified that the pair’s trailer wasn’t trashed, as the actress has claimed, and told the jury that while he did overhear an argument between the couple, it was Heard who was yelling at Depp.
During cross-examination, Heard’s attorneys noted that Night had called the actress “jealous and crazy” in a tweet April 21, while the trial was ongoing.
Depp’s lawyers are set to continue calling rebuttal witnesses Wednesday, including his supermodel ex-girlfriend Kate Moss and possibly the actor himself.
Closing arguments in the trial, now in its sixth week, are expected on Friday.