Johnny Depp-Amber Heard $100 Million Lawsuit: Elon Musk, James Franco To Testify in Televised Court Battle

The trial for Johnny Depp's defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, which was filed in 2019, will start on April 11. Amber Heard is enlisting the help of a few well-known acquaintances in her upcoming defamation case against ex-husband Johnny Depp.

Depp, 58, is suing the Aquaman actress, 35, over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed she published on surviving domestic violence. Heard didn't mention Depp by name in the op-ed, but she did accuse him of domestic abuse during their 2016 breakup, which he denied.

Johnny Depp, Amber Heard Defamation Battle

According to People, the trial is expected to begin Monday, April 11, in Virginia, after multiple postponements since Johnny Depp first filed the $50 million case in March 2019. Depp's UK citizenship was revoked in November 2020. His libel lawsuit against British newspaper The Sun for labeling him a "wife-beater" was sustained by the court as "basically accurate," and his effort to appeal the judgment was overruled in March 2021.

Heard argued that Depp's Virginia case should be dismissed because both cases allege that the actor is an abuser. The verdict should have an impact on the proceedings in the United States. However, in August, a Virginia court allowed Johnny Depp to continue his lawsuit, rejecting Amber Heard's additional appeal to dismiss the case.

Amber Heard will have her Pineapple Express co-star and pal James Franco, actress Ellen Barkin, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk to testify virtually as witnesses for her at the trial. After the star's communications with Johnny Depp were made public in the previous trial, WandaVision actor Paul Bettany will testify virtually for Depp.

Heard earlier testified in a foreign court that she told Franco, 43, about injuries she had from an apparent altercation with Depp. Heard had an affair with Musk, 50, "no later than one month after" she and Depp married in 2015, according to Depp's complaint.

Amber Heard's Team Expected To Present Several Evidence

Messages Heard shared with Aquaman co-star Jason Momoa and director James Wan, director Zack Snyder and CAA executive Bryan Lourd, and emails between Depp and Fantastic Beasts author J.K. Rowling were also filed as evidence in the lawsuit. According to the publication, Rowling and singer Jack White are also involved.

Depp and Heard are accusing each other of defamation in the lawsuit, and Judge Penney S. Azcarate is anticipated to hear all of the accusations at the same time, resulting in a long list of witnesses and evidence.

In September of 2020, Heard filed a $100 million countersuit against Depp. According to Deadline, both are expected to testify in person. Heard's legal team has a variety of press stories, movie contracts, tax returns, security video, and images on the exhibit list.

Depp and Heard began dating after meeting on the set of The Rum Diary in 2011. In February 2015, they married in Los Angeles. Heard got a restraining order against Depp in May 2016 after accusing him of domestic violence, which he rejected.

In 2017, the pair reached an out-of-court settlement, with Heard giving her $7 million payment to charity. The actor requested the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal the verdict in the hopes of having the ruling reversed and a new trial ordered, but his request was refused in March of last year.