An entertainment industry expert testified on Monday that Amber Heard lost $45-50 million in endorsements and TV and movie earnings following allegations that she faked domestic abuse allegations against her ex -husband Johnny Depp.
Heard’s team called in the expert, Kathryn Arnold, along with a psychiatrist and an orthopedic surgeon as the libel trial entered its sixth and final week. Heard’s attorneys were also due to call Depp on Monday, but ultimately decided they didn’t need his testimony. Depp previously testified for four days in April.
Heard’s team is seeking to prove she suffered a serious career setback after Depp’s attorney Adam Waldman accused her of carrying out an ‘abuse hoax’ in 2020. Arnold said that Heard could not find work in major studio projects due to the volume of online vitriol. she continues to cope.
“In the industry, they love his work,” Arnold said. “But they can’t work with her right now.”
Arnold compared Heard’s earnings to a series of other “comparable” actors – Jason Momoa, Ana de Armas, Gal Gadot, Zendaya and Chris Pine – to draw conclusions about what his career trajectory might have looked like, without Waldman’s statements.
Heard earned $1 million for her role as Mera in “Aquaman,” which grossed $1 billion in 2018, and $2 million for “Aquaman 2,” which will be released next year. Heard claimed she had to “fight” to stay in the sequel and said her role had been significantly reduced. Arnold testified that Heard should have been able to renegotiate her “Aquaman 2” salary for $4 million or more, but couldn’t because she had no leverage.
Under cross-examination, Depp’s attorney, Wayne Dennison, took issue with several of the compositions, suggesting that the actors are more famous than Heard. When asking her about other actors, Dennison tricked Arnold into revealing that she doesn’t know who Patrick Wilson is. (He was a co-star in “Aquaman.”)
Dennison noted that the damage to Heard’s career may be due to negative press related to the 2020 UK libel trial. Dennison also argued that Depp was not responsible for the negative social media campaign targeting Heard.
Depp’s team is expected to call its own witnesses Tuesday and Wednesday to refute Heard’s claim. They are also expected to play a deposition from Walter Hamada, the president of DC Films, who is expected to state that Heard suffered no setbacks during his casting in the “Aquaman” sequel.
Depp sued Heard for $50 million in 2019, alleging she defamed him when she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic violence” in a Washington Post op-ed. Heard filed a libel counterclaim after Waldman accused her of perpetrating a “hoax”.
Much of the trial focused on often gruesome allegations of violence, as well as Depp’s drug and alcohol use. Depp accused Heard of throwing a bottle of vodka at him at a house in Australia, cutting off the tip of his right finger.
Heard’s team called Richard Moore, an orthopedic surgeon, who testified that the injury was inconsistent with Depp’s account of it. Heard said he probably cut it when he smashed a phone, and Moore testified it would also have been consistent with the pinch in an accordion-style door.
Heard’s attorneys also called a psychiatrist, David Spiegel, who testified that Depp’s behavior was consistent with substance abuse disorder and being a perpetrator of domestic violence. Spiegel also testified that Depp’s memory seemed to have been damaged by drug addiction.
Depp’s team said Depp and model Kate Moss, Depp’s ex-girlfriend, will be called as rebuttal witnesses on Wednesday. However, the schedules remain fluid.