Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's legal battle continues as the divorced movie stars face off in a $50 million (or more) libel trial.
The trial began April 11 in Fairfax County, Virginia, outside Washington, D.C., and is broadcasting live.
Depp, 58, is suing Heard, 36, for $50 million, alleging she defamed him in an opinion column she published in The Washington Post (which is printed in Fairfax County) in December 2018. In the column, she claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse.
Last week, defense attorneys cross examined Depp following two days of testimony from the actor that included his reiteration that he never physically abused Heard during their constant quarrels in their relationship. “Violence isn't necessary,” Depp said from the stand on April 20. “Why would you hit someone to make them agree with you?”
On Monday, Depp wrapped up his testimony with details about his missing fingertip. In the days following, the jury heard from a forensic psychologist hired by Depp's team to speak on Heard's mental state. They also listened to testimony from police officers who responded to the scene of the couple’s penthouse after a 2016 fight in which Heard claims Depp hit her, but Depp denies.
Heard will eventually take the stand as well.
Here's everything that's happened in the trial (so far).
Much of the trial so far has been a look into the fraught relationship between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, and not the actual article at the center of Depp's $50 million lawsuit against his former girlfriend. But on Thursday, the article took center stage.
Terence Dougherty, general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, told jurors that there was a push and pull between Heard and her lawyers, and the ACLU, which drafted the 2018 Washington Post op-ed piece under Heard's name, reflecting her role as an ACLU ambassador on gender violence issues.
The ACLU was concerned about potential violations of a non-disclosure agreement stemming from Depp and Heard's 2016 divorce, and urged Heard's lawyers to review the original piece.
During those discussions, Heard sent back an edited version approved by her lawyers that “specifically neutered much of the copy regarding her marriage," according to an email from Jessica Weitz, an ACLU employee who coordinated with Heard.
According to the email, though, Heard was looking for a way to have a deleted passage restored to the article.
The final article never mentioned Depp by name. Instead, Heard was identified as “a public figure representing domestic abuse,” and in another passage she wrote, “I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.”
Christian Carino, a one-time agent for both Depp and Heard, testified Wednesday that Heard's spousal abuse lawsuit resulted in Hollywood agents and producers wiping Depp from a "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequel, although he provided no evidence for the claim.