Supporters of Johnny Depp are pushing for Amber Heard to be fired from the sequel to ‘Aquaman’. Heard has portrayed the water-dwelling superhero in the first ‘Aquaman’ and in ‘Justice League’, but last year, she penned an op-ed in The Washington Post, in which she detailed intense domestic abuse she had suffered, although she did not refer to Depp by name. Nevertheless, he then filed a $50 million antidefamation suit against her, alleging that it was she that was actually abusive toward him, and even offered videotape evidence.
Now fans are backing him up, with a Change.org petition to remove Heard from the ‘Aquaman’ sequel, which has obtained over 35,000 signatures as of this writing. (The goal is 50,000 signatures.)
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The petition reads in part:
Amber Heard has been exposed as a domestic abuser by Johnny Depp. In his $50 million lawsuit, Johnny Depp describes many incidents of domestic abuse that he suffered at the hands of his (then) wife Amber Heard, including one incident where she punched him twice in the face and another where she shattered his finger with a vodka bottle, and his finger had to be surgically reattached. He will bear the scar from that for the rest of his life.
Also, Amber Heard was arrested in 2009 for abusing a former domestic partner, Tasya Van Ree, demonstrating a repeated pattern of abuse by Amber Heard.
To be clear, neither Depp nor Heard has been proven to be an abuser. A separate lawsuit filed by Depp was recently settled against his former attorney, and Heard and her future as Mera was apparently brought up in that, but that suit was settled and details have not been disclosed.
Heard has submitted court papers asking that Depp submit for an Independent Mental Evaluation or IME. Those documents have been obtained by The Blast:
“Johnny’s relationship with reality oscillates, depending upon his interaction with alcohol and drugs. As Johnny’s paranoia, delusions and aggression increased throughout our relationship, so has my awareness of his continued substance abuse.”
Fans have similarly created a petition to remove Depp from his role as Grindelwald in the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ franchise. (Both ‘Aquaman’ and ‘Fantastic Beasts’ are from Warner Brothers.) The allegations of abuse intensified this push, but Depp was never a popular choice for this role among J.K. Rowling fans, even before that.
RELATED: Warner Brothers Is Reportedly Reconsidering Johnny Depp’s Casting In ‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ As Abuse Allegations Intensify
According to Depp, Heard’s allegations caused Disney to drop him as Captain Jack Sparrow in the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise, but fans rallied and… yep, created a petition to get him reinstated. Disney replied that Depp had never been fired, but it recent references to this franchise indicate that the studio wants to move in a new direction. (Is there a petition for Disney to stop making ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movies?)
Depp’s current lawyer has responded to Heard’s request for an IME, saying:
“It is a preposterous notion that an IME now would shed light on Mr. Depp’s mental state at the time of Ms. Heard’s abuse hoax back in 2016. Ms. Heard’s effort treads a well-worn path of victim blaming using the pretext of mental health. By Ms. Heard’s tortured credibility logic, current IME’s would also be warranted for all the dozens of eyewitnesses who have attested to the various facets of the hoaxes they witnessed years ago.”
Heard is now filming the CBS All Access miniseries ‘The Stand’. ‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ is in pre-production, with Depp expected to return.
Source: Cinema Blend
