Johnny Depp found a peculiar way to pass the time during his time in the courtroom this week. Following the actor personally taking the stand to give his side of the story on what happened between himself and ex-wife Amber Heard, Depp has been seated with his lawyers as other witnesses testify. Jurors will ultimately be deciding if Heard had fabricated the story that Depp had abused her to deliberately defame him, tarnishing his career.
Depp is suing for $50 million while Heard is counter-suing for $100 million, making this a very serious case. Even so, it seems like Depp might be running into some issues staying focused on the witness testimony. On Tuesday, Depp was spotted scribbling something on a post-it note, and footage of the sight went viral on TikTok. In the clip, Depp can be seen showing a drawn picture on the note, which seems to be of a person's face, as the actor says something and smiles.
Perhaps channeling his artistic side helped move things along for Depp, as he was again doing the same on Wednesday with more colored doodles. This time, he was using pink and purple markers to add more color to his drawings. It's hard to say why exactly Depp is drawing in court, but as a known artist with a very unique personality, it's not exactly surprising to see, either.
Johnny Depp Has Much of the Public on His Side
It could be speculated that Johnny Depp is taking the time to doodle in court because he's feeling confident with how the proceedings are going. Depp has not gone through unscathed, as the trial has touched on his drug use as well as unflattering texts he'd exchanged with friend Paul Bettany, but it appears that most spectators are on Team Depp. Thanks largely to audio recordings of Amber Heard allegedly admitting to getting violent with Depp, many people watching seem to feel that Depp is proving his case.
At the heart of the defamation trial is a Washington Post op-ed written by Heard in 2018 that describes herself as a survivor of domestic abuse. She did not name Depp specifically in that article, but he says the connection was clear after she had previously accused him of abusing her in 2016. Depp is suing as he says these false claims had cost him greatly with his career, which includes losing his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Depp had also resigned from his role as Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts 3 over the controversy. As his fans feel that the evidence exonerates him, Depp's Fantastic Beasts 3 dismissal has many crying foul as the same studio, Warner Bros., did not remove Amber Heard from the upcoming sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. As of now, more than two million signatures have been added to an online petition at Change.org calling for Heard to be fired from Aquaman 2.
Heard is expected to take the stand during the trial, so she will have her chance to explain her side of the story.