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Every A-List Name Dropped in Johnny Depp’s Defamation Trial Against Amber Heard: Zendaya, Chris Pine and More

May 25, 2022

Dropping names. Johnny Depp and Amber Heard‘s high-profile defamation trial has not only focused on their messy marriage — multiple A-listers have also been dragged into the legal drama.

Heard and Depp started dating after meeting on the set of The Rum Diary in 2009. They tied the knot with two wedding ceremonies six years later. The Never Back Down star filed for divorce after 15 months of marriage and obtained a temporary restraining order against Depp after accusing him of domestic violence. The Nightmare on Elm Street star, for his part, has denied the claims.

The pair’s tumultuous relationship became a topic of discussion again after the Oscar nominee sued his ex-wife for an op-ed she wrote in December 2018 which referenced her experience as a survivor of domestic abuse. Heard penned the article two years after she filed for divorce from Depp, but she didn’t mention his name.

When the former couple’s trial began in Virginia in April 2022, their past relationship wasn’t the only one discussed in court. Heard’s dating history was brought up during an early hearing when Depp’s legal team used a pre-recorded deposition from their joint former agent Christian Carino, who claimed that Heard didn’t see her romance with Elon Musk as being very serious.

According to Carino, the Pineapple Express actress allegedly told him that she was “just filling space” by dating Musk following her split from Depp. The talent agent’s text exchanges about the romance were read by Depp’s lawyers during the trial.

“I hate that yet again a man lets me fall on the spikes by myself,” a text from the Aquaman actress allegedly read. “Meaning, they are mad at me for leaving them and put things like this out there.”

After Carino suggested Heard move on with someone who isn’t famous, he recalled his former client attempting to gain contact with her ex-husband again. “I don’t know how or where to start,” she texted Carino. “There’s no way to begin. Finally I am single, clear in my heart and mind. I just want him to know I love him and that I am sorry.”

Amid their messy court battle, Heard and Depp both claimed that their careers in Hollywood took a turn due to their public divorce. The recent trial in Fairfax, Virginia, comes after Depp filed a libel lawsuit against the U.K. newspaper The Sun for referring to him as a “wife beater” in a 2018 article. (In November 2020, the High Court of Justice ruled that The Sun‘s article was not libelous because Heard’s allegations were “substantially true.”)

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.

Scroll on for a breakdown of all the stars mentioned during the defamation trial:

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Every A-List Name Dropped in Johnny Depp's Defamation Trial Against Amber Heard: Zendaya, Chris Pine and More

Dropping names. Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's high-profile defamation trial has not only focused on their messy marriage — multiple A-listers have also been dragged into the legal drama. Heard and Depp started dating after meeting on the set of The Rum Diary in 2009. They tied the knot with two wedding ceremonies six years later. The Never Back Down star filed for divorce after 15 months of marriage and obtained a temporary restraining order against Depp after accusing him of domestic violence. The Nightmare on Elm Street star, for his part, has denied the claims. The pair's tumultuous relationship became a topic of discussion again after the Oscar nominee sued his ex-wife for an op-ed she wrote in December 2018 which referenced her experience as a survivor of domestic abuse. Heard penned the article two years after she filed for divorce from Depp, but she didn't mention his name. When the former couple's trial began in Virginia in April 2022, their past relationship wasn't the only one discussed in court. Heard's dating history was brought up during an early hearing when Depp's legal team used a pre-recorded deposition from their joint former agent Christian Carino, who claimed that Heard didn't see her romance with Elon Musk as being very serious. [jwplayer 4BeS8v4Q-zhNYySv2] According to Carino, the Pineapple Express actress allegedly told him that she was "just filling space" by dating Musk following her split from Depp. The talent agent's text exchanges about the romance were read by Depp's lawyers during the trial. "I hate that yet again a man lets me fall on the spikes by myself," a text from the Aquaman actress allegedly read. "Meaning, they are mad at me for leaving them and put things like this out there." After Carino suggested Heard move on with someone who isn't famous, he recalled his former client attempting to gain contact with her ex-husband again. "I don't know how or where to start,” she texted Carino. “There's no way to begin. Finally I am single, clear in my heart and mind. I just want him to know I love him and that I am sorry." Amid their messy court battle, Heard and Depp both claimed that their careers in Hollywood took a turn due to their public divorce. The recent trial in Fairfax, Virginia, comes after Depp filed a libel lawsuit against the U.K. newspaper The Sun for referring to him as a "wife beater" in a 2018 article. (In November 2020, the High Court of Justice ruled that The Sun's article was not libelous because Heard's allegations were "substantially true.") 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. Scroll on for a breakdown of all the stars mentioned during the defamation trial: [podcast_block]

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Ana de Armas

The Knives Out star's career was used as an example of the success that entertainment industry consultant Kathryn Arnold argued Heard wasn't able to obtain due to her public divorce from Depp.

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Zendaya

"It would have been very reasonable to believe her career would have been on an upward trajectory of those other actors if not for the hoax allegations," the entertainment industry consultant argued in May 2022.

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Paul Bettany

During his testimony, Depp claimed Heard “despised” Bettany because of his friendship with her ex-husband. “Ms. Heard despised Mr. Bettany, mainly because we had become such close friends and for her, he was a threat and would take me away from her, with regard to if Paul Bettany were getting the attention from me, that was a show-stopper. It would cause all kinds of unpleasantries,” the Kentucky native alleged.

At the time, Depp also stated that he was embarrassed by several expletive-filled texts that he sent to the Marvel actor about Heard. "I'll just say that I'm not proud of any of the language that I used in these [messages]," he stated.

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Jason Momoa

While taking the stand in May 2022, Heard claimed that her future as Mera in the Aquaman franchise was unclear amid the messy court battle. “They released me from my contract. And I fought to stay in it, and they kept me in it. I just don’t know how much I’m in, actually, of the final cut," she argued before referring to Momoa's individual career success. “I don’t know if I will even be in the final cut or how much I will be. It was difficult to stay in the movie.”

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Chris Pine

Pine was referred to as an example of an actor who found the fame that Heard was allegedly headed for before her world became "silent in terms of opportunities."

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Gal Gadot

During cross-examination in May 2022, Depp's legal team questioned whether Heard's career could be compared to Gadot's. They argued that the Israel native already was an A-list actress because of her involvement in the Fast & Furious franchise before joining the DC universe as Wonder Woman.

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Elon Musk

Heard reflected on how she reconnected with Musk before her split from Depp.

"I didn't recognize [Elon] until we started talking and he reminded me we had met once before," she said about seeing the Tesla CEO at the 2016 Met Gala after Depp didn't escort her. "He seemed like a real gentleman. He was really nice. He sat at a nearby table and we got to speaking that night and eventually became friends."

Musk and Heard later dated on and off from 2016 to 2018.

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James Franco

In May 2022, the Texas native recalled inviting Franco to her home the night before she filed for divorce from Depp. “He was my friend. And he lived next door, quite literally next door,” she said during the trial. “And I, frankly, had exhausted my support network with my usual friends and was happy to welcome as much friendship at that time as I could possibly get.”

The Drive Angry actress also claimed that Depp was jealous of her filming a sex scene with Franco.

“He was mad at me for taking the job with James Franco,” she added. “He hated, hated James Franco and was already accusing me of secretly having a thing with him in my past, since we had done Pineapple Express together.”

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Ellen Barkin

In a recorded deposition from November 2019, Barkin testified that Depp's jealousy led to him throwing a wine bottle during a fight ahead of their 1994 split. Depp previously denied Barkin's claims, which resurfaced during the 2022 trial.

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Kate Moss

During the legal hearing, Heard claimed that there were rumors Depp pushed Moss down the stairs when they dated in the '90s.

The model, for her part, testified in a virtual appearance that she was never abused by Depp during their relationship. "He never pushed me, kicked me or threw me down any stairs," she explained in May 2022, noting that she fell due to a rainstorm and that her then-boyfriend helped her at the time.

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Winona Ryder

Amid his testimony, Heard’s friend iO Tillett Wright alleged that Depp revealed to him that he experienced "great bouts of jealousy” in past relationships — including during his high-profile romance with the Stranger Things actress.

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Vanessa Paradis

“He told me that that happened with Winona. He told me that that happened with Kate. Sorry, with Winona Ryder and Kate Moss. He told me that that happened with Vanessa Paradis,” Wright claimed.

Ryder and Paradis both denied in the 2020 U.K. trial that they experienced domestic abuse in their respective relationships with Depp.

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Eddie Redmayne

“I got the sense that he thought I was sleeping with the director [Tom Hooper], and then it was with the actor [Eddie Redmayne] I was filming with,” Heard alleged about Depp's concerns that she was unfaithful with cast and crew from the 2015 film The Danish Girl.

The activist denied being involved in affairs with Hooper or Redmayne.

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Marilyn Manson

While being questioned by Heard's attorney, Depp detailed his past of drinking and taking drugs with the musician.

“We drank together, we've had cocaine together, maybe a couple of times,” he stated in April 2022, before joking, “I once gave Marilyn Manson a pill so he would stop talking so much."