Everything Said About ‘Aquaman’ During Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Defamation Trial

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Everything Said About 'Aquaman' During Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Defamation Trial

Johnny Depp’s defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard began in April 2022 — and the actress' role in DC's Aquaman film series has repeatedly come up throughout the highly publicized proceedings. Depp is suing his Rum Diary costar over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she identified herself as a victim of domestic violence but did not mention the Pirates of the Caribbean actor by name. The What's Eating Gilbert Grape star, who was married to Heard from 2015 to 2017, denies all allegations of physical abuse and claims that the article damaged his career and reputation. "It's been six years of trying times," Depp testified in April 2022. “One day you’re Cinderella and then in zero point six seconds you’re Quasimodo. I didn’t deserve that and neither did my children.” The Kentucky native went on to claim that Disney dropped him from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise less than a week after Heard's Washington Post op-ed was published. During the trial, Heard claimed that the media attention surrounding the case has hurt her career prospects as well. In May 2022, she testified that her role as Mera in Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom, due in theaters in March 2023, was significantly reduced after Depp publicly alleged that her domestic violence claims were a fabrication. [jwplayer dLiccHRd-zhNYySv2] “I was given a script and then given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it," Heard told the court, claiming, "They took [out] a bunch of my role." The Drive Angry actress also claimed that Warner Bros. Studio “didn’t want to include me” in the Aquaman sequel due to fan backlash against her. An online petition to remove Heard from Aquaman 2 garnered 2.6 million signatures in April 2022. Following Heard’s claims that Depp’s allegations affected her role in Aquaman 2, the president of DC films, Walter Hamada, was called as a witness. In a pre-recorded deposition played for the court on May 24, Hamada testified that a lack of chemistry between Heard and her costar Jason Momoa was the reason for the actress’ smaller role in the sequel. "There was a concern that it took a lot of effort [for Heard and Momoa to have chemistry in the first film] and [Warner Bros. felt it] would be better off recasting [and] finding someone who had a bit more natural chemistry with Jason Momoa,” the Warner Bros. exec said. Heard’s talent agent, Jessica Kovacevic, also testified that she had been told a “lack of chemistry” between the two Aquaman actors affected the sequel’s script. However, during the agent's virtual court appearance, she said she still thought the public perception of the Machete Kills actress contributed to Warner Bros.' decision to reduce her role. “In my experience ... Your career takes a turn after something like that. She was very well received in the movie at the time, everyone was happy with her at the time, there were no issues. Then to have a complete downturn after that, and then have that coincide with constant tweets and negativity put out about her, I don't have a physical piece of paper of evidence, but it's the only logical conclusion I draw,” Kovacevic told the court. Scroll through for all the times Aquaman has been brought up during the defamation trial: If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support. [podcast_block]

Credit: Shutterstock(3)

Everything Said About 'Aquaman' During Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Defamation Trial

Johnny Depp’s defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard began in April 2022 — and the actress' role in DC's Aquaman film series has repeatedly come up throughout the highly publicized proceedings. Depp is suing his Rum Diary costar over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she identified herself as a victim of domestic violence but did not mention the Pirates of the Caribbean actor by name. The What's Eating Gilbert Grape star, who was married to Heard from 2015 to 2017, denies all allegations of physical abuse and claims that the article damaged his career and reputation. "It's been six years of trying times," Depp testified in April 2022. “One day you’re Cinderella and then in zero point six seconds you’re Quasimodo. I didn’t deserve that and neither did my children.” The Kentucky native went on to claim that Disney dropped him from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise less than a week after Heard's Washington Post op-ed was published. During the trial, Heard claimed that the media attention surrounding the case has hurt her career prospects as well. In May 2022, she testified that her role as Mera in Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom, due in theaters in March 2023, was significantly reduced after Depp publicly alleged that her domestic violence claims were a fabrication. [jwplayer dLiccHRd-zhNYySv2] “I was given a script and then given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it," Heard told the court, claiming, "They took [out] a bunch of my role." The Drive Angry actress also claimed that Warner Bros. Studio “didn’t want to include me” in the Aquaman sequel due to fan backlash against her. An online petition to remove Heard from Aquaman 2 garnered 2.6 million signatures in April 2022. Following Heard’s claims that Depp’s allegations affected her role in Aquaman 2, the president of DC films, Walter Hamada, was called as a witness. In a pre-recorded deposition played for the court on May 24, Hamada testified that a lack of chemistry between Heard and her costar Jason Momoa was the reason for the actress’ smaller role in the sequel. "There was a concern that it took a lot of effort [for Heard and Momoa to have chemistry in the first film] and [Warner Bros. felt it] would be better off recasting [and] finding someone who had a bit more natural chemistry with Jason Momoa,” the Warner Bros. exec said. Heard’s talent agent, Jessica Kovacevic, also testified that she had been told a “lack of chemistry” between the two Aquaman actors affected the sequel’s script. However, during the agent's virtual court appearance, she said she still thought the public perception of the Machete Kills actress contributed to Warner Bros.' decision to reduce her role. “In my experience ... Your career takes a turn after something like that. She was very well received in the movie at the time, everyone was happy with her at the time, there were no issues. Then to have a complete downturn after that, and then have that coincide with constant tweets and negativity put out about her, I don't have a physical piece of paper of evidence, but it's the only logical conclusion I draw,” Kovacevic told the court. Scroll through for all the times Aquaman has been brought up during the defamation trial: If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support. [podcast_block]

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A Reduced Role?

On May 16, Heard testified that her role in Aquaman 2 was significantly pared down after Depp began publicly denying her allegations of domestic violence.

“I was given a script and then given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it … they basically took a bunch out of my role,” the actress told the court, specifying one scene in which her character and another were involved in a fight.

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Did Depp Get Heard the 'Aquaman' Part in the First Place?

While Heard was under cross-examination on May 17, Depp’s defense attorney Camille Vasquez asked the actress, “Mr. Depp got you that role in Aquaman, didn’t he?”

The actress replied, “No, Ms. Vasquez. I got myself that role by auditioning. That’s how that works.”

Heard first played Mera in 2017's Justice League and returned with more screentime in 2018's Aquaman.

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What Did Her Agent Have to Say About the Scaled-Back Part?

Heard’s talent agent Jessica Kovacevic testified via video that she had been told a lack of chemistry between the actress and Momoa was the reason for the reduced role in Aquaman 2.

Kovacevic went on to state her opinion that negative press about her client amid the lawsuit had also been a contributing factor. “In my experience ... Your career takes a turn after something like that. She was very well received in the movie at the time, everyone was happy with her at the time, there were no issues. Then to have a complete downturn after that, and then have that coincide with constant tweets and negativity put out about her, I don't have a physical piece of paper of evidence, but it's the only logical conclusion I draw,” she told the court.

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Did Momoa Come to Heard's Defense?

Entertainment industry expert Kathryn Arnold claimed that the Game of Thrones actor pushed for Heard to be in Aquaman 2. On May 23, Arnold testified that both Momoa and director James Wan were “adamant that she [Heard] was in the film.”

The expert added that Heard’s role was “radically reduced from what it was in the script and what she even trained for while she was preparing for the movie.”

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What Did the DC Films President Say About Heard and Momoa's Chemistry?

A pre-recorded deposition by Walter Hamada, president of DC Films, was played in court on May 24. Hamada testified that it had required a lot of editing to make Heard and Momoa’s chemistry in Aquaman believable.

"It's not uncommon on movies for two leads to not have chemistry. And that is sort of movie magic ... the ability to sort of put performances together and with the magic of a great score and how you put the pieces together. You can fabricate that chemistry. I think if you watch the movie, they looked like they had great chemistry, but I just know that during the use of the post-production that it took a lot of effort to get there,” he said.

The Warner Bros. exec denied the claim that comments made by Depp’s attorney, Adam Waldman, affected Heard’s role in the sequel.

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How Did Depp React to Heard Denying That He Got Her the 'Aquaman' Role?

On May 25, Depp was asked to respond to Heard’s testimony that he hadn’t gotten her the role in Aquaman. “That’s not exactly true,” the Edward Scissorhands actor said of his ex-wife’s claim.

"I made a phone call and I spoke to three upper-echelon Warner Bros. executives,” Depp testified. “I can only say that she ultimately did get the job in the film. I suppose I curbed their worries to some degree."