Amber Heard Speaks On Love For Johnny Depp Ahead Of Defamation Trial

A few days before actor Johnny Depp’s $50 million defamation trial against his wife and actress Amber Heardwas due to start, Heard took to Instagram to address her followers and fans and inform them she would be offline for the duration of the trial.

The defamation trial  will have a jury determine whether Heard’s 2018 article in the Washington Post was defamatory against Depp. It is only the latest in the couple’s public domestic violence feud. Read on to find out more about what Heard posted on her Instagram and details about the trial. 

In the controversial Washington Postop-ed, Heard addressed several issues, including domestic violence and how women have been silenced to not speak up against their abusers. She also encouraged women and all people to fight sexual assault and support women who speak up when they have been abused. 

However, many people saw the post not just as an opinion piece about sexual assault but also as Heard’s way of calling out Depp, whom she had already accused of domestic assault severally. Many found the piece’s title, “I spoke up against sexual violence - and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.” problematic.

Depp also claimed that the post implied that he was a domestic abuser and is now claiming to the court that his ex-wife’s accusations hurt his reputation and career severely and cost him a lot of work. 

On Saturday, Heard took to her Instagram account to address the op-ed and the trial. In her post, she wrote, “I never named him, rather I wrote about the price women pay for speaking against men in power. I continue to pay that price, but hopefully when this case concludes, I can move on, and so can Johnny.”

She also emphasized that she has “always maintained a love for Johnny,” and that it is extremely painful for her that she has “to live out the details of our past life together in front of the world.”

She informed her fans and followers that she would be offline for several weeks and said, “At this time, I recognize the ongoing support I’ve been fortunate to receive throughout these years, and in these coming weeks I will be leaning on it more than ever.”

Many anticipate the defamation trial as it has a star-studded witness list that includes billionaire Elon musk, representatives from the LAPD, Warner Bros and Disney, actor James Franco, Paul Bettany, and Ellen Barkin. Depp and Heard themselves will also take the stand. 

There is also explosive new evidence, such as previously unseen bodycam footage from the police officers that responded to a 911 call at Depp and Heard’s home and allegedly violent text messages between Depp and Bettany.

Depp is bringing 38 witnesses while Heard has 81, but both have approximately the same number scheduled actually to testify in person. Depp failed to subpoena Musk due to his intense security protocol, but he will testify for Heard via video link. 

In 2020, Depp faced Heard and The Sun Newspaper over a 2018 article the newspaper posted, which referred to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor as a “wife beater.” London High Court Judge Andrew Nicol judged in favor of Heard and the newspaper. 

Judge Nicol concluded that Depp indeed regularly assaulted Heard after three months of deliberating and hearing allegations such as adultery, excretion in the bed, and writings in blood on the bathroom wall. 

According to Page Six, Judge Nicol said, “The claimant (Depp) has not succeeded in his action for libel,” and stated that the newspaper had proven that the 2018 article with the headline stating Depp was a “wife-beater” had a reasonable substance of truth.