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Credit: ABC Since last month, the entertainment industry has been captivated by the ongoing defamation lawsuit between Hollywood stars, and divorced couple, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.
In a surprising turn of events, Marvel star and Emmy-Award winner, Zendaya, has been brought into the courtroom.
Related: Johnny Depp Lied About Finger Injury In Amber Heard Trial, Surgeon Testifies
The case between actor Johnny Depp and his actress ex-wife, Amber Heard, is rooted in allegations of historic domestic abuse during their relationship and subsequent marriage, following their meeting on the set of The Rum Diary (2011).
This current defamation case comes just under two years since Depp lost his libel trial against the British tabloid, The Sun, and executive editor Dan Wootton after the newspaper called him a “wife-beater”. At the London High Court, Justice Andrew Nicol found the claims during the libel case legal battle against Depp to be “substantially true” and threw out his appeal a few months later.
The $50 million defamation suit currently in court in Fairfax County, Virginia, is three years in the making. In 2018, Heard published an OpEd in The Washington Post detailing her experience as a victim of domestic violence. While Depp was never named, the Pirates of the Caribbean actor sued his ex-wife, leading to a countersuit from Heard, and after months of pre-trial wins and losses on both sides, the case is now before Judge Penney Azcarate and a jury.
Related: ‘WandaVision’ Star Finally Addresses Graphic, Obscene Amber Heard Text Exchange With Johnny Depp
In a surprise turn of events, and despite the celebrity testimonies from people like Kate Moss, Marvel and Euphoria star, Zendaya, has been brought into the case, joining names like Elon Musk and James Franco, that have also been referenced in the case. In an attempt to show how the case has impacted Heard’s career, Entertainment Industry Consultant Kathryn Arnold compared Heard to Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) actress Zendaya (MJ) which Depp’s team vehemently rejected. Via The Direct:
“You indicated that another person that you compared Ms. Heard with is Zendaya, a person so famous she goes by one name. She’s been on the Disney channel since 13 years old, she’s won an Emmy, she was singing and dancing and swinging from trapezes in The Greatest Showman. She’s now been in multiple Spider-Man movies, she’s 10 years younger than your clients, but this is a person you deem comparable.”
Arnold went on to establish that she intended to draw comparisons between actresses in superhero movies. She replied to Depp’s lawyer:
“…and then you look at where her career should have gone even though she may not have been at the stature of a Zendaya at that time. You can still look at it as a comparable trajectory at what happens when you’re in a blockbuster movie. It’s just a reference point; it’s not meant to be identical, they are not meant to be the same people, they do not even have the exact same career. It’s meant to be a reference point, simple as that.”
Depp’s team then showed the Q Score of both actresses, along with other popular actors, of a time before the lawsuits began with Amber Heard ranked at the bottom of the selection which included Zendaya, Jason Momoa, and Gal Gadot, among others.
Depp’s claims are built on the foundation that he himself is a victim of Heard’s domestic abuse, with the Captain Jack Sparrow actor’s lawyers utilizing recordings and testimonies to prove Depp’s innocence.
Depp’s lawyers also claim that the article negatively affected the actor’s career, leaving him out of both The Walt Disney Company’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise — which is moving forward with a Margot Robbie-driven sixth movie — and the Warner Bros. Fantastic Beasts franchise from Harry Potter creator JK Rowling. Mads Mikkelsen replaced Depp as Gellert Grindelwald.
Related: Woman Yells To Johnny Depp In Courtroom, Claims He Is the Father of Her Baby
Meanwhile, Heard has now revealed that her role as Mera in the DC Extended Universe’s Aquaman (2018) sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) from director James Wan, has been significantly reduced. This comes in the wake of the consistent #JusticeForJohnnyDepp and #FireAmberHeard trends online. It was recently suggested that fellow DC star, Jason Momoa (Arthur Curry/Aquaman), was behind the effort, in part, to keep Heard on board for the movie.
Closing arguments for the case in Fairfax County are expected on Friday 27 May.
What do you think of Amber Heard being compared to Zendaya?