As her blockbuster defamation trial with her ex-husband Johnny Depp continues next week, a petition urging DC Warner Bros. to withdraw Amber Heard from the character of Queen Mera in Aquaman 2 has topped 4 million signatures.
Jeanne Larson started the Change.org petition in late 2020, after Depp, 58, was asked by Warner Bros. to leave his role as Gellert Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts franchise.
The petition garnered 4,004,160 signatures as of Friday morning, with a goal of 4,500,000 to become the most signed promise on the internet petition supporters’ network.
During their ongoing multimillion-dollar legal battle, the petition claims that Heard, 36, has been “exposed as a domestic abuser by Johnny Depp.”
According to PEOPLE, the trial will resume next week with actress Ellen Barkin being called as a witness for Heard via video. Whitney Henriquez, Heard’s sister, will also testify on her sister’s behalf. Henriquez and Barkin both testified for Heart in the libel case against The Sun in the United Kingdom. Depp is suing Heard for $50 million, claiming that her claims of domestic abuse cost him “everything. Depp was replaced in the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ film trilogy, a ‘Harry Potter’ spinoff, and a new ‘Pirates’ feature was put on hold.
Heard has filed a countersuit for $100 million, stating that Depp defamed her by branding her a liar.
During four days of sworn testimony, Depp claimed that ‘Aquaman’ star Heard was the abuser in the relationship and that he once tossed a vodka bottle at the top of his right middle finger, causing it to be severed.
‘I was broken at the end,’ Depp confessed.
Heard has stated that she did not injure Depp’s finger and that she simply flung stuff to get away from him when he was abusing her.
Dr. Dawn Hughes, a clinical and forensic psychologist in New York who specializes in domestic abuse, was Heard’s first witness.
Dr. Hughes detailed the horrendous torture and sexual assault that Depp had perpetrated against Heard, including forcing himself on her and executing drug cavity searches.
Heard’s counsel produced text messages and audio recordings of Depp using explicit language and disparaging Heard during cross-examination.
In one text conversation to actor Paul Bettany, he stated, ‘Let’s drown her before we burn her,’ adding, ‘I’ll f**k her burning body later to make sure she’s dead.’
Depp lost a libel case against The Sun, a British tabloid that called him a “wife beater,” less than two years ago. Heard was repeatedly assaulted, according to a London High Court judge.
According to Depp’s lawyers, the U.S. case was filed in Fairfax County, just outside the nation’s capital, because the Washington Post is printed there. The newspaper is not one of the defendants.
