Amber Heard’s legal team no longer plans to call onJohnny Deppto testify again in the ongoing defamation trial between the two exes.
However, a source close to Heard revealed to PEOPLE Monday that Heard’s team no longer plans to bring back Depp for their defense.
“Calling Depp back to the stand would be as relevant to us as a bicycle to a fish,” says the source. “Everything Depp has testified up to this point has been irrelevant to the heart of this case, and there’s no reason to believe it would be any different now.”
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Heard, 36, is countersuing Depp for defamation, seeking $100 million in damages and arguing that he spearheaded a campaign to discredit her and her abuse allegations as a “hoax,“tarnishing her reputationand career.
Depp previously testified that his “goal is the truth” as he seeks to clear his name in the trial, adding that because of Heard’s allegations, he lost “nothing short of everything.” Depp has said under oath that he has never struck Heard or any woman in his life.
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“We fear it will be equal parts shameful and desperate,” the statement continued. “And, the overwhelming evidence — the truth — is not on Depp’s side. The one thing we suspect Depp’s attorneys will avoid is the central issue of this trial: Does Amber or any woman have the First Amendment Right of Freedom of Speech.”
During Heard’s cross-examination, Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez at one point asked Heard — who testified that she “survived” Depp’s alleged abuse and worried he’d eventually kill her — whether she was, in fact, Depp’s abuser in their former relationship.
JIM LO SCALZO / POOL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Prior to that, a spokesperson for Deppissued a statementafter Heard’s second day testifying, casting doubt on her credibility and vowing to “highlight the many fallacies” during cross-examination.
“As Mr. Depp’s counsel correctly predicted in their opening statements last month, Ms. Heard did indeed deliver ‘the performance of her life’ in her direct examination,” the statement read at the time. “While Ms. Heard’s stories have continued to grow new and convenient details, Mr. Depp’s recollections have remained exactly the same throughout the six painful years since her first allegations were made. His truth — the truth — is the same no matter the environment in which it is has been presented. The upcoming cross examination from Mr. Depp’s team will be most telling, and will certainly highlight the many fallacies Ms. Heard has now attempted to pass off as fact throughout her convoluted testimony.”
In response to that, Heard’s spokesperson criticized Depp’s “panicked” legal team and their approach so far.
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“If Mr. Depp was truly innocent, why has he repeatedly apologized to Ms. Heard and promised to put the ‘monster away for good’? One of Ms. Heard’s disappointments is Mr. Depp’s inability to distinguish fact from fiction — a malady which appears to have spread to his legal team,” the statement continued. “That same team is so panicked they are fighting tooth and nail to prevent compelling evidence and photos from being introduced. Small wonder Mr. Depp does not have the fortitude orcourage to even look at Ms. Heardat all throughout the proceedings — as he could not in the U.K. trial — andinstead he doodles and snickers.”
Back in November 2020, Depplost his highly publicized U.K. libel lawsuit caseagainst British tabloidThe Sunfor calling him a “wife-beater.” The court upheld the outlet’s claims as being “substantially true” and Heard testified to back up the claims. In March 2021, his attempt tooverturn the decision was overruled.
source: people.com
