As the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard defamation trial resumed today, Heard’s return to the stand saw her claiming Warner Bros. reduced her appearance in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom due to her legal wrangling with Depp, and almost cut her from the movie entirely. While it was previously reported that Heard had almost not been brought back for the Aquaman sequel due to “chemistry issues” with co-star Jason Momoa, Heard has testified that she had to fight to hang on to her role because of her ongoing legal fight.
The $50 million defamation trial has been underway for the last few weeks, with Depp having spent time on the stand before Heard’s recent testimonies. Although the trial has been on a break for a week, Heard returned to the stand today to continue to provide evidence. Despite the large sums of money at stake in the trial, the event has become the stuff of internet memes, with many moments being repeated and annotated on social media apps such as TikTok.
As Heard continued to defend herself against Depp’s lawsuit, the actress discussed her upcoming role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, specifically mentioning how Depp’s alleged actions towards her and the subsequent legal cases linked to that had a huge impact on her role in the movie and on her career. Testifying today, Heard had the following interaction with her lawyer concerning her “pared down” role in the Warner Bros. movie.
Lawyer: Have you participated in Aquaman 2?
Heard: I have.
Lawyer: And tell us about that.
Heard: I had to fight to--I fought really hard to stay in the movie. They didn’t want to include me in the film.
Lawyer: Were you ultimately able to film in Aquaman 2?
Heard: A very pared down version of that role, yes.
Lawyer: What if anything changed in the script?
Heard: I was given a script. And then given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it, that depicted my character and another character, without giving spoilers away, two characters fighting with one another. They basically took a bunch out of my role. They just removed a bunch.
The Petition to Remove Amber Heard From Aquaman 2 Continues to Grow
Since the beginning of the latest trial, a Change.org petition to have Amber Heard removed entirely from her role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has gained almost 4.2 million signatures at the time of writing. The petition details many of the claims made by Johnny Depp that suggest he was physically and mentally abused by Heard, as well as other information that has come to light during the last few weeks, and urges Warner Bros. to “do the right thing” and eradicate Heard from the movie.
Of course, this is not the first time a petition has been raised against the actress’s inclusion in the superhero sequel, but this time it has gained much more attention and support from fans of Depp. It seems highly unlikely that Warner Bros. will give in to the pressure of the petition at this late stage with filming already complete on the movie. However, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was recently delayed from its original release date of December 2022 to March 2023, which now means there could be time for Warner Bros. to make changes if keeping Heard in the cast seems likely to cause the film issues on its release. For the moment, though, Heard will still be playing the role of Mera, as reduced as it may be, and the outcome of the trial will probably be the deciding factor in whether she keeps the part or not.