Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. Image Source: Sky News 

Johnny Depp sued ex-wife Amber Heard for $50 million after she wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post in 2018 in which she described herself as a survivor of domestic violence. Amber Heard countersued Johnny Depp for $100 million, and now the trial is ongoing in Fairfax County Court in Virginia and is expected to last upto six weeks.

On Wednesday, Johnny Depp’s former agent, Christian Carino, who was also a close friend of Amber Heard, testified in a pre-recorded video in court and spoke about the emails sent to him by Amber Heard about her split with Tesla owner Elon Musk. Christian shared that Amber Heard started dating Elon Musk immediately after she broke up with Johnny Depp (May 2016), and in August 2017, she sent him a message that stated that she was dealing with a breakup and she hates it when things go public and added that she is sad.

Carino mentioned that he thought that the breakup Amber Heard mentioned in her email was about Elon Musk, and he replied that she was not in love with him and had mentioned to him 1000 times that she was just filling the space. When asked who he was referring to, Christian replied, "Elon."Amber Heard’s next message was that she wanted time to grieve and recover in her own time, but yet again a man let her fall on the spikes by herself.

Carino responded with a 'how' and Amber Heard mentioned in her mail that they’re mad at her for leaving them and putting things like this out in the open, to which Carino responded that she could avoid all of this if she stops dating uber-famous people, which he explained in court that he meant that if she wants to stay away from the spotlight, she should not date famous people. Christian mentioned in his testimony that Amber Heard’s feelings for Johnny Depp were still there even after they had filed for divorce and she wanted to work things through and reconcile with the actor, even though she was spending time with Elon Musk.

According to one of the emails read in court, Amber Heard asked Christian Carino to tell Johnny Depp that she loves him. It was later known that Carino had set up a meeting with Johnny Depp and Amber Heard while Johnny Depp was on tour with his band and a restraining order. (The one where he asked Amber to cut him and take his blood in San Francisco). Carino testified that the former couple were talking nice at a friend's place but after they decided to rent a hotel room to talk things through they started to argue and added that he left around 5 AM.

In August 2017, Amber Heard wrote to Carino stating that he should tell Johnny Depp that she loved him, and in August 2018, six months before she wrote the op-ed, she mailed Carino stating that she missed him (Johnny Depp).

In his opening testimony, Christian Carino, who served as Johnny Depp’s former agent, was asked how the op-ed written by Amber Heard had harmed Johnny Depp’s career, as he states. Christian Carino mentioned that after he had a conversation with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and CAA c-chair Bryan Lourd, he got to know that Disney had decided to drop Johnny Depp from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise and he clarified that although the abuse claims were not openly discussed, they were simply understood within the industry. He no longer represents Johnny Depp but stated that he is one of the finest actors of his generation and that has not changed despite the turmoil he has been facing in his life in recent years.

Christian Carino mentioned in his testimony that Johnny Depp’s lawsuit against Amber Heard, former business manager, and former attorney, has damaged his off-screen image to an extent. He said that the lawsuits brought him into the limelight, from which he had been away for a long time. Christian Carino was cross-examined and asked if Johnny Depp was routinely late on the sets of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie in 2015, to which Christian replied that he was aware of him being tardy, but he had always been tardy on everything his entire life and the production had figured out how to work around the issue.

The court also heard the testimony of an LAPD officer, Tyler Hadden, who mentioned that Amber Heard was naive when they arrived at the penthouse after receiving a call to report domestic violence. The cop testified that he saw no signs of injury on Amber Heard’s face and her face appeared to be red because she was crying and he mentioned that he categorized the incident as a verbal dispute.

LAPD Officer William Gatlin also testified and said that he and his colleague went to see Amber Heard at her penthouse and it appeared that her friend had made the call to the New York police department and they wanted to return to check on her themselves. The bodycam footage was also showcased in court, which showed that Amber Heard’s friend Josh Drew answered the door and tried to make the officers leave, but they wanted to check.

The bodycam footage shows that Amber Heard confirmed that she was okay and Gatlin said that when they entered the house, it seemed like no one wanted to talk to them and he could not see Amber Heard’s face clearly because of the dim lighting, but according to their investigation, the actress was not the victim of domestic violence.

Alejandro Romero, who worked at the front desk of the building, also testified that he did not see any bruises or injuries on her face. He also mentioned at one point that he was so stressed out because he did not want to deal with this anymore. His bizarre testimony did leave the courtroom in some chuckles as he was seen vaping, and driving his car while testifying for the trial. 

Source: Daily Mail