Johnny Depp ‘wanted Amber Heard dropped from Aquaman’ amid abuse allegations
Johnny Depp texted his sister, a powerful film producer, that he wanted his ex-wife Amber Heard ‘replaced’ on Aquaman after accusing him of abuse
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Johnny Depp tried to get Amber Heard dropped from her role in Aquaman, it’s claimed.
The Pirates of the Caribbean actor, 57, texted his sister Christi Dembrowski, a producer who once had a deal with Warner Bros. and still had influence at the company, The Hollywood Reporter reports.
“I want her replaced on the WB film,” he allegedly wrote in the text.
His text was revealed in Justice Andrew Nicol’s 132-page ruling against Depp in his libel lawsuit against The Sun’s publisher for calling him a “wife beater”.
Depp strenuously denies being abusive to Heard and accused her of abuse, which she denies.
He reportedly said during the trial that the film he was referencing in his text was Aquaman.
In the 2018 film, Amber played Mena, the love interest of Jason Mamoa’s Aquaman.
A petition calling for her firing from Aquaman 2 has now received more than 1.5 million signatures.
It was set up by fans who cruelly suggest she “systematically crusaded to ruin Depp in Hollywood” following their 2017 divorce.
Amber has been the subject of online abuse after her ex-husband Johnny, 57, lost his libel case over an article branding him a “wife beater”.
Amber addressed rumours she wouldn’t reprise the role last month, telling: Entertainment Weekly “Paid rumours and paid campaigns on social media don’t dictate [casting decisions] because they have no basis in reality.
“Only the fans actually made Aquaman and Aquaman 2 happen. I’m excited to get started next year.”
After losing his libel ruling, Warner Bros. asked Depp to step down from his role as Gellert Grindlewald in the Fantastic Beasts franchise.
Last month a High Court judge rejected Depp’s claim that The Sun had libelled him when a 2018 article called him a “wife-beater” for his alleged abuse against Heard, which he strenuously denied.
Mr Justice Nicol dismissed Depp’s claim, finding The Sun had proved what was in the article was “substantially true”.
He ruled that the company had proved their allegations to the civil standard on the balance of probabilities, and not the criminal standard which must be beyond reasonable doubt.
In his judgment, published in November, the judge concluded that 12 of the 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence relied on by NGN did occur.
The judge found that Depp assaulted Heard on a dozen occasions and put her in “fear for her life” on three occasions, including one the actress described as a “three-day hostage situation” in Australia in March 2015.
Mr Justice Nicol found Heard was also in fear for her life during incidents on the Eastern and Oriental Express in South East Asia in August 2015 and again in LA in December of the same year.
His solicitor Jenny Afia, from the Schillings law firm, had said the High Court ruling was “as perverse as it is bewildering”, adding: “The judgment is so flawed that it would be ridiculous for Mr Depp not to appeal this decision.”
The same judge then denied Depp permission to appeal against the findings, and ordered him to pay £628,000 in legal costs to The Sun.
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