The footage shows the actor arriving at Heard’s penthouse on May 22, 2016
The video shows James Franco with Amber Heard the night before she filed for divorce from Johnny Depp
After more than a week off, the actor’s defamation trial resumed on Monday Johnny Depp vs. his ex-wife Amber Heard. During cross-examination, the actress acknowledged that on May 22, 2016, the night before asking her then-husband for a divorce, she was with James Franco in her apartment.
Depp’s lawyers showed video from the building’s elevator security cameras at trial showing Franco arriving at Heard’s penthouse in the Eastern Columbia Building in Los Angeles around 10:50 p.m. on May 22, 2016.
In the images, Franco, who is wearing a hat and carrying a backpack, rests his head on Heard’s shoulder and she appears to place her head on the actor’s. Afterward, they exit the elevator together. Heard confirmed that James Franco was the man on the recording.
The actress filed for divorce from Depp the next day, on May 23, 2016. This rectification is a small victory for Depp, because it confirms that Heard did not tell the truth when he said that he had never spent that night with Franco.< /b>
Amber Heard in the elevator with James Franco
Four days later, on May 27, the “Aquaman” actress filed for a domestic violence restraining order against her then-husband .
In the images from May 22, Heard is seen going down in the elevator of her building.
The actress, barefoot and wrapped in a large coat, leaves the elevator.
About a minute later, she returns with Franco, who is carrying a large backpack, and they get into the elevator and go up to her apartment.
Heard confirmed that the images show her and Franco on their way home.
Heard had previously testified that Depp assaulted her on a flight in 2014 after he accused her of having an affair with Franco.
Depp allegedly “hated” to the actor who starred with Heard in the movies “Pineapple Express” and “The Adderall Diaries.”
Heard testified that her husband accused her of cheating on him with Franco while the couple was on a flight from Boston to Los Angeles in 2014.
“He hated, hated James Franco and accused me of having had a secret thing with him ever since we made Pineapple Express”, he said, referring to the 2008 film in which Heard worked with Franco. “He called me a whore “, assured the actress.
The reason why Johnny Depp does not look at his ex-wife in the trial
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp in defamation trial (Reuters)
Camille Vasquez, one of the actor’s lawyers, asked Heard if She had noticed that Depp hadn’t looked her in the eye even once during the legal process. “Mr. Depp hasn’t looked at you or once during the whole trial, right?”, he asked the actress while questioning her, to which she replied: “Not that I have noticed”.
“You have looked at it a lot of times, right?”, Vasquez continued. Heard told him, “Yes, I have.”
The attorney then said, “You know exactly why Mr. Depp didn’t tell you look, right?”, which Heard confirmed. “He promised you that you would never see his eyes again, is that true? “, the defense continued. “ I don’t remember if he said that” , assured the actress.
Depp’s lawyer then played audio of one of the last times the couple had seen each other, in which Heard begs the actor to give her a hug goodbye.
Despite Having filed for a restraining order against her at the time, Heard called Depp to meet at a hotel in San Francisco in 2016. A meeting Depp said he attended hoping “she would retract her lies” about him.
In the recording you can hear that when Heard tries to hug Depp, he refuses and she tells him:“Please, I just want to hug you and say goodbye”. Depp is then heard saying: “I am nothing to you, and I will always be nothing to you. You will never see my eyes again.”
“He has kept that promise, hasn’t he?”, Vásquez asked, referring to that Depp refused to look at Heard, to which she replied, “As far as I know, he can’t look at me.”
Heard became emotional on the stand as he explained to the court why Johnny Depp: “Because he’s guilty. He knows that he is lying ”, she added. “Otherwise, why can’t he look at me?” he continued. “I survived that man and I’m here, and I can look at him.”
A few weeks ago one of the actress’s spokesmen assured that Depp did not have the courage to look at her before the judge. “It is no wonder that Mr. Depp does not have the fortitude or courage to even look at Ms. Heard throughout the proceedings, as he was unable to do so at the UK trial, and instead doodles and laughs”, he said.
Before the trial, Heard said in a statement: “I hope that when this case is concluded, I can move on and so can Johnny. I have always had a love for Johnny and it causes me great pain to have to live the details of our past life in front of the world.”
Amber Heard was sued by her ex-husband (Reuters)
Heard was also questioned at length about the pledge she made for the $7 million donation from Depp’s divorce settlement , earmarked for charity.
The actress acknowledged that she had not donated the full amount yet but said this was because she needed the money to settle her ex-husband’s defamation case.
“I haven’t been able to honor those commitments yet because I was sued,” she asserted.
Heard said she was offended when Vasquez hinted that she only got the part in “Aquaman” with the help of Depp. “Excuse me?,” Heard said. “No Mrs. Vasquez, I got the part myself by auditioning.”.
She claimed that Warner Bros. cut her scenes in the sequel to the movie “Aquaman” due to a “defamatory campaign” by the legal team of her ex-partner.
“They gave me a script and later they sent me new versions in which, basically, they had limited much of the of my role,” said Heard, in what was his third day of appearance in the legal battle he has with Depp.
According to the interpreter, the actor’s lawyers are carrying out a “defamatory campaign” against him, labeling him a “liar” in front of the press to ruin his career, which would have led to the decrease of his role in the film “Aquaman and The Last Kingdom”, which is scheduled for release in 2023.
Johnny Depp denied being violent towards his ex-wife Amber Heard (Reuters)
Depp is suing Heard for alleged defamation over an op-ed the actress wrote in 2018 for The Washington Post, in which she does not name him, but describes herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” Depp has sought $50 million in damages. Heard, for his part, filed a counterclaim, requesting USD 100 million in damages.
According to financial experts presented by his lawyers, the opinion piece would have caused him to lose some 22 $.5 million forecast revenue for the sixth “Pirates of the Caribbean” film, from which he was removed.
The star, who has sworn several times under oath that he never hit Heard or any woman, has testified that his “goal is the truth” as he seeks to clear his name at the trial, which is televised on I live through various means. When Heard took the stand, she told the jury, “I’m having a hard time finding the words to describe how painful this is. It’s horrible for me to sit here for weeks and relive everything.”
In November 2020, Depp lost his UK libel suit against the tabloid The Sun for calling him a “wife beater”. The court confirmed the outlet’s claims as “substantially true” and Heard testified to support her accusations. In March 2021, her attempt to overturn the ruling was overturned.
The judge in the case, Penney Azcarate, scheduled closing arguments for May 27, after which will remain in the hands of the seven members of the jury.