Witness Testifies On Amber Heard Paparazzi Tip & Johnny Depp Video

Actor Johnny Depp and ex-wife Amber Heard continue to make headlines as the trial approaches closing arguments on Friday.

The couple has been facing each other at the Fairfax County Circuit Court for most of the past month. The “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor is suing his ex-wife for $50 million over a December 2018 op-ed Heard wrote for the Washington Post where she claims that she is a domestic violence survivor. Although she did not mention Depp by name, he claims that he has lost movie roles due to the “clear implication” that he was her abuser. Heard claims that she has also been losing out on movie roles, including several scenes from the upcoming “Aquaman” sequel, and is countersuing for $100 million dollars.

On Monday, Depp was supposed to be called to the stand by Heard's legal team. However, they later changed their minds and Depp will not testify. However, Depp's team called Kate Moss to the witness stand first thing on Wednesday morning. Her testimony was followed by Dr. Curry, who testified that she did not believe Heard to have PTSD.

After a morning break, Johnny Depp was back on the stand to deny allegations made by Amber Heard regarding abuse and his drug use. Depp faced off with Heard's attorney, Ben Rottenborn, after lunch.

Morgan Cliff Tremaine worked as the field assignment manager at TMZ, which he described as an entertainment news website and television show.

He said that tips could be received through a tip line or directly through news producers in the office.

On May 27, 2016, he testified that Heard was filing a restraining order in downtown Los Angeles, so he dispatched paparazzi to that location. He said that they only send people to that location if he had been informed that something was occurring there.

He testified that they were trying to capture her leaving and “an alleged bruise on the right side of her face.” He said that when she was leaving, she was supposed to stop and turn toward the camera. He confirmed that they did get the shot of her under questioning.

He said that the tip that had come in that was deemed “credible.”

After that event, he said that he dispatched people to a parking lot adjacent to a law office that she was arriving at when Heard was supposed to give her deposition on August 6, 2016. On August 12, 2016, he said they received a video “depicting Johnny Depp slamming some cabinets that were captured by Ms. Heard.” He said that the email was sent in through the email tip line.

He testified that they put the bumpers on the beginning and end of the video and then posted a translucent watermark on the video before sharing it on TMZ.com.

He said that he received a tip that Amber Heard would arrive at LAX, so he sent a team to capture her arrival. He said that he was “instructed to” send a team there to photograph her.

After the media was received, he said that it could take “any length of time” to post a story, depending on who owns the copyright. To obtain copyright over media, he explained, would be if they shot it himself or if it was sent to the tip line from the original copyright owner, either purchased or directly given by the original source. To copyright something, he said it can take “a while” because they have to “extensively verify” who owns the copyright.

Under cross-examination, he testified that he was not in contact with Depp’s legal team until six days ago. Elaine Bredehoft testified that he was looking for his “fifteen minutes of fame” because he knew that the trial was being televised.

Mr. Depp’s defense attorneys were reportedly aware that Heard was filing for a TRO, so Bredehoft argued that it was possible that Depp’s attorneys had contacted him.

Tremaine admitted that he did not know who provided the video clip to TMZ.

Tremaine said that he had no interest in testifying and had only reached out to Depp’s legal team to try to provide a timeline of when the video was published. “I had no idea I’d be on the stand,” he said.