We can’t say for sure how the trial is going, but this is the second major signal we’ve gotten that the court of public opinion is shifting in the favor Johnny Depp — and the week has just begun!
First Amber Heard fired her PR team, right in the middle of the trial! Clearly at least she doesn’t think she’s coming off looking like an innocent victim of domestic abuse anymore in all the coverage so far.
Now we’re learning that the petition to fire the actress from her role in the Aquaman franchise has really reached a boiling point over the weekend! The change.org movement has been around since way back in 2020, even before the libel trial in the UK, but this trial is apparently bringing in the signatures like never before. Just last week we learned it had crossed the 2 million mark! Huge for something like this, right? Well, that was nothin’! Just four days later it’s already over 3 million signatures now! And still climbing!
Related: Amber Threatened To Claim Domestic Violence If Her Financial Demands Weren’t Met
Is it a sign hearts and minds have been changed by the evidence Johnny’s legal team have presented so far? Kind of feels like it.
The other question is… is it going to do anything?
Thus far Warner Bros execs have seemed to use legal precedent in their decision-making. For instance they only fired Johnny from the Fantastic Beasts films after he lost his libel trial, in which he was suing over a tabloid calling him a “wife-beater.” That civil case, like this one, was treated by many as a verdict on the Oscar nominee’s guilt. So it may take Amber straight up losing the lawsuit before she’s actually kicked out of the DC Universe.
However, film journalist Grace Randolph broke a story she heard from behind the scenes that makes it sound like WB may have taken a half-measure in response to the wave of backlash against Amber. She wrote that she has heard Mera’s presence in the film has been cut down to “less than 10 min of screentime.” Whoa!
I hear #AmberHeard has less than 10 min of screentime in #Aquaman2 pic.twitter.com/oh4ZhQ1CiU
— Grace Randolph (@GraceRandolph) April 28, 2022
Whoa! If that’s true, it’s quite possible this is WB’s answer to the petition — not firing her but reducing her presence.
Amber previously dismissed the petition, suggesting Depp’s team “paid” for it in a statement:
“Paid rumors and paid campaigns on social media don’t dictate [casting decisions] because they have no basis in reality. Only the fans actually made ‘Aquaman’ and ‘Aquaman 2’ happen. I’m excited to get started next year.”
Even if it was true that his team created the petition — they couldn’t have paid 3 million people to sign it. No, this seems to be a very real sea change in the public perception of this undeniably toxic relationship. We don’t know if Johnny will ever find redemption among studio heads trying to play it safe — but if nothing else his trial seems to be successful in tainting Amber with the rep of a spousal abuser alongside him.
How do YOU read this
[Image via Law&Crime Network/Warner Bros/YouTube.]
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