Depp is suing Herd for defamation in Fairfax County Court after writing an article in the Washington Post describing herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” The article did not name Depp, but his lawyers said the article contained “alleged defamation”, arguing that it clearly referred to allegations of domestic abuse made by Herd when she filed for divorce in 2016. Depp said the Post article contributed to an unjustly damaged reputation that made him a Hollywood star and cost him his role in the lucrative “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie series. Herd’s lawyers say that only Depp is to blame for his tarnished career. On Thursday, the court heard testimony from Terence Doherty, CEO and CEO of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), who said Herd had expressed a desire to donate $ 3.5 million to the nonprofit – the half of her divorce settlement from Depp. The ACLU appointed Herd as ambassador and wrote the article for the Washington Post. Dougherty said Heard had not donated $ 3.5 million and had paid $ 350,000 directly, in addition to a $ 100,000 check from Johnny Depp credited to Heard. According to additional information presented on Thursday, Herd pushed for the article to include details of her marriage to fellow actor Johnny Depp, which had a strategic timeline from both ACLU and Herd to coincide with the release of the new of the movie “Aquaman”. Dougherty testified that several ACLU attorneys reviewed the article at various stages and asked Heard’s attorneys to re-examine the piece as well to ensure that it did not conflict with Depp’s non-disclosure agreement regarding the couple’s 2016 divorce. . During these discussions, Herd sent an edited version approved by her lawyers, which “specifically sterilizes much of the copy of her marriage,” according to an email from Jessica Weitz, an ACLU coordinator. with Heard. According to the email, however, Heard was looking for a way to restore a deleted passage in the article. The various draft articles were not presented to the jury, so it is not clear how much personal information was in the first draft and how much Herd’s lawyers had removed. But the final version contains very little about Heard’s personal experiences and does not mention Depp at all. In addition to the quote about “a public figure representing domestic abuse,” another quote reads, “I have rarely had the advantage of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.” Dougherty also testified that “the language completed in the last op-ed track was very different from the original language” in the draft, Dougherty said. “It did not directly address Mrs Herd’s relationship with Johnny Depp.” Actor Johnny Depp listens in the courtroom at Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Va., Wednesday, April 27, 2022. Jonathan Ernst / AP While the defamation lawsuit is supposed to focus on whether Depp was defamed in the article, most of the trial focused on the ugly details of the couple’s short marriage. Depp has denied that he hit Hit. Herd’s lawyers say that Depp abused her physically and sexually and that Depp’s denials are worthless because he was often drunk and tired to the point of being killed. Wednesday marks the 11th day of the trial, which is expected to last a month. Depp himself spent an exhausting four days at the witness stand on Monday. Herd is expected to testify later in the trial.
