Johnny Depp v Amber Heard trial news summary, Monday 20 June 2022
Depp vs Heard: latest news
Johnny Depp v Amber Heard aftermath headlines
- 'Remain cautious,' says Depp as he warns fans of fake accounts
- Depp back in court soon with Vasquez
- Jack Sparrow returns to Disneyland Paris
- Depp-Heard marital LA penthouse on the market for $1.7 million
- Depp and Beck begin European tour in Helsinki, Finland
- Amber Heard opens up in interview with NBC's Savannah Guthrie
- Depp releases studio album with English rocker Jeff Beck
Check out some of our related news pieces:
Depp fragrance flying off the shelves
According to reports, Dior's Sauvage fragrance, advertised by Depp, has seen a huge spike in sales after the trial and was doing decent business before and during it as well as the fashion house stood by its star. But, asks The New York Times, what will the long term effects of the defamation case be for the brand?
Depp performs with musician Jeff Beck (not pictured) during the Helsinki Blues Festival in Helsinki, Finland, on Sunday.
(Photo: Lehtikuva/Jussi Nukari via REUTERS)
AS USA's Jeffrey May takes a look at the net worth of actor Amber Heard, who faces a multi-million-dollar damages bill after losing a defamation trial against former husband Johnny Depp earlier this month.
Today in Focus podcast discusses presence of cameras courtroom
In case you missed it, last week the Guardian’s Today in Focus podcast discussed the impact of the decision to allow TV cameras inside the courtroom for the Depp v Heard trial in Fairfax, Virginia.
Today in Focus host Nosheen Iqbal spoke to Guardian columnist Moira Donegan, who feels that the presence of cameras affected the outcome of the case. “The impact of cameras being in the courtroom meant that Amber Heard had to describe what she says were incidents of domestic and sexual violence on television - that’s tortuous," Donegan said.
“And the cameras also allowed clips from the trial to be taken out of context, manipulated, commented upon, all in real time, while […] the jury was also able to see all that misinformation. I think it was a tremendously poor decision.”
Was Amber Heard's TJ Maxx shop a PR stunt?
We shared with you yesterday that Amber Heard had been spotted shopping in budget store TJ Maxx, and while some have suggested it's a PR stunt, others have jumped to the defence of everyday people who shop at the department store.
Accusations of Heard's PR team of being in "full overtime mode," saying: "Got her shopping at TJ Maxx?! Just pay that man his $8.3M and move on," were made in reaction to the TMZ video.
On the other side: "Everything about the case aside, why would we discourage buying at an outlet? It's much better than buying from a designer that would rather burn extras than a poor person wearing it."
Depp and Beck: just what the world needs?
Although there are fans clambering for concert tickets and album downloads, not everyone is pleased to see the Depp-Beck duo getting such hype.
'Just what the world needs: vanity albums from aged, pathetic, abusive, coked out fading stars,' comments UCLA's Dr Sarah Roberts with more than a line of sarcasm.
Depp back being a face of Disneyland Paris
If you've been to Disneyland Paris in the last few years - clearly the pandemic limiting the visits - you'll not have seen the face of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow on the castle.
Now though, he is back!
Disney have returned to using Depp's face again now that he has won his defamation case against Amber Heard, after foreswearing his likeness due to allegations that he was a 'wife beater'.
An image of the vindicated Captain Jack Sparrow actor was projected onto the Disneyland Paris Castle over the weekend for the first time since the House of Mouse cut ties with Depp.
It was projected during an impressive Pirates of the Caribbean display featuring fireworks and pyrotechnics in which a line spoken by Jack Sparrow could also be heard.
Read and see more below.
AS USA's Calum Roche takes a look at when Heard's appeal against her courtroom loss to Depp could go ahead.
Heard: I still love Depp
In her interview with NBC's Savannah Guthrie on Friday, Amber Heard acknowledged that she still loves Johnny Depp and bears "no ill-will" towards him, despite ending up in a bitter defamation court battle with her former husband.
“I love him,” she said. “I loved him with all my heart, and I tried the best I could to make a deeply broken relationship work. And… I couldn’t.”
She added: “I have no bad feelings or ill-will towards him at all. I know that might be hard to understand - or it might be really easy to understand, if you’ve ever loved anyone. It should be easy.”
AS USA's Will Gittins has the lowdown on some of the stranger episodes witnessed in the Depp v Heard trial.
AS USA's Jennifer Bubel offers a look back over some of the crucial moments in the Depp v Heard trial.
Depp vs Heard meets Roe vs Wade
Susan Faludi, journalist and the author of “Backlash: The Undeclared War Against Women,” has written a piece in the New York Times today linking these two stories.
'One month almost to the day after Americans learned of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion that would eviscerate the constitutional right of women to control their bodies and so their lives, millions sat glued to their screens to witness the verdict in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial.
'The ruination of Roe and the humiliation of Ms. Heard have been cast as cosmic convergence, evidence of a larger forced retreat on women’s progress. “Johnny Depp’s legal victory and the death of Roe v. Wade are part of the same toxic cultural movement,” a Vox article asserted.'
Heard "completely unaware" she lost defamation trial
Sky News Australia's Jack Houghton questioned Amber Heard's "strange decision" to agree to her NBC Today show interview "considering how poorly she comes across to viewers" and added that the actress "continued to blame everyone else except herself” for her defamation case defeat in her first TV interview since the trial.
Houghton said Ms Heard appeared to “criticise the jury itself”, which is offensive to the entire court process and “all those jurors who gave up their time to weigh in on whether Amber Heard lied”.
“They found she did and with malice, and still this wannabe movie star is delusional and seems completely unaware that she has lost,”he said. “And we are all tired of hearing about this case.”
Amber Heard mapped to have "the most beautiful face in the world"
Amber Heard is blessed with "the most beautiful face in the world" according to a scienftific face-mapping technique which measures and analyses eyes, noses, lips and facial shape.
The calculations reveal how close a face is to the Greek Golden Ratio of BeautyPhi, or the Fibonacci number, which is 1.618.
Italian Renaissance painter Leonardo Da Vinci used the Golden Ratio equation and realised that the closer a face or object gets to this number, the higher the level of its perceived beauty.
Heard's facial measurements were a 91.85% match, bringing her very close to perfection but not quite as close as Scarlett Johansson, who scored 95.95%.
Depp-Heard trial touches #MeToo China
When Zhou Xiaoxuan, a former intern at China’s state broadcaster, was groped by Zhu Jun, a prominent news anchor, in 2014, she was told by police to keep quiet about her ordeal and consider his status as a national “positive energy” icon.
Simply put, Zhu’s value as a newscaster was deemed by law enforcement to be more important than justice for Zhou.
Zhou, who also goes by the nickname of Xianzi, later filed a civil suit in 2021 to seek damages, a move that turned out to be unsuccessful. Though her civil suit was dismissed a year prior to the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial, the similarities between the two cases highlight a common undercurrent that connects gender violence - and the risks for victims who speak out - across different societies around the world.
Rui Zhon reports.
Camille Vasquez to defend Johnny Depp again
Johnny Depp will be represented by Camille Vasquez for a second time. The surprise star attorney, who successfully argued Depp’s defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard, will return to the courtroom with Depp for a lawsuit brought by Gregg “Rocky” Brooks, a former colleague of the actor, as reported by the Washington Examiner
Brooks filed a personal injury lawsuit in 2018, alleging that Depp punched him in the ribs while working on the film set of City of Lies in 2017. Brooks also claims that the Pirates of the Caribbean star asked him to return the punches with one to his face for a payment of $100,000, according to court documents.
Depp-Heard penthouse up for sale
In the last post we looked at the net worth of Johnny Depp and news today reveals that one of his properties, the Los Angeles one-bedroom penthouse he shared with Amber Heard during their 15-month marriage, is on the market.
Fancy purchasing it? It'll set you back a cool $1.7 million
As we know, much of the material point of the trial was recouping lost earnings, which begs the question, just how much is Johnny Depp worth?
Well, according to Celebrity Net Worth, the 58-year-old is estimated to have a total net worth of around $150 million, and that figure does not include the compensation payments.
Deep unshaven and uncut
As we've been telling you in recent days, the music scene is where you'll be most likely to catch up with Johnny Depp.
As the Express reports today, however, he's sporting a clean shaven chin for his latest gigs in Europe.
Johnny Depp to make July screen return in Boston George
Johnny Depp appears set will make a return to the screen in the form of a new docuseries about drug smuggler George Jacob Jung.
According to Deadline, Boston George is set to premiere on July 22 on Fandor, a streaming service with the actor set to appear in several interviews throughout the docuseries.
At the turn of the century Depp played Jung in the movie Blow, which was based on the story of how George Jung and the Medellín Cartel headed by Pablo Escobar, established a stronghold in the American cocaine market in the 1970s in the US.
Depp warns fans to beware of fake social media accounts
Johnny Depp issued a brief statement on Sunday, urging fans to be cautious about the rising number of fake profiles pretending to be him on social media. Depp, who is in Finland, on tour with guitarist Jeff Beck posted on his official Instgram account, listing his four verified social media sites. Depp is not on Twitter.
His post read:
"I’ve been made aware that there are fake accounts pretending to be me or people working with me.
"I do not have any private or side accounts on any platforms. These are the only pages run by me and my team where we share updates and communicate:
Instagram @JohnnyDepp
TikTok @JohnnyDepp
Facebook @JohnnyDepp
Discord @JohnnyDepp0854.’
"I ask that you remain cautious as it seems these fake accounts can be relentless. My team is working to combat the problem. Thank you for your continued support and for making me aware of this issue!
Love & respect, JD xx."
Johnny Depp & Jeff Beck team up for album of covers
Johnny Depp and English guitarist Jeff Beck have released an album of mainly covers, after taking to the stage together recently in the UK.
Called "18", the 13-track album was released on July 15.
"It's almost like you've been through a record store and gone jumping from one genre to another," Beck told the media, saying they first began working on the album at Depp's home in France.
"There's a couple of Motown, there's a couple of Beach Boy covers on ... It sounds pretty good for a home recording." Depp and Beck have recorded music since 2019 for the album, which also features two original songs by Depp, who has his own band the Hollywood Vampires. One song is about actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr.
Juror of the Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard trial speaks
The Depp-Heard jury believed “they were both abusive to each other.”
“They had their husband-wife arguments. They were both yelling at each other. I don’t think that makes either of them right or wrong. That’s what you do when you get into an argument, I guess. But to rise to the level of what she was claiming, there wasn’t enough or any evidence that really supported what she was saying,” he said.
Beck and Depp launch track dedicated to Hedy Lamarr
“This Is A Song For Miss Hedy Lamarr” a Johnny Depp original, is one of the few non cover versions on the new '18' album which was released by veteran English rocker Jeff Beck and the Hollywood star this week.
Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-born American film actress and inventor and was considered by many as one of the great movie actresses of all time.
NBC on Friday aired the full Dateline interview given by Amber Heard to journalist Savannah Guthrie, portions of which had been released throughout the week. The interview was Heard’s first since losing her defamation suit and counter-suit to ex-husband Johnny Depp earlier this month.
There was plenty to get the seemingly insatiable public chatting.
Depp v Heard, the aftermath live: welcome
Good morning and welcome to our daily live blog on the aftermath of the Johnny Depp & Amber Heard defamation trial, in which Heard was deemed to have defamed her ex-husband in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed.
Heard has been ordered to pay Depp $10.35m in damages. She was also awarded $2m by the jury in Fairfax, Virginia, after winning on one count of her defamation counter-suit against Depp.