Johnny Depp fans have been rallying behind the Pirates of the Caribbean star for some time now against his ex-wife Amber Heard.
Outside of social media posts using the hashtags #JusticeForJohnnyDepp and AmberHeardIsAPsycopath, fans have set up a petition on Change.org requesting that Amber Heard be removed from the second instalment of Aquaman. The petition has received 4,138,598 signatures at the time of writing. If it reaches 4,500,000 signatures, it will be the most signed petition on Change.org.
Funniest thing I've seen😂😂 #AmberHeardIsAPsycopath
— Stephenksk🐾 (@kaninko_s) May 14, 2022
WE LOVE YOU JOHNNY DEPP pic.twitter.com/7TAQN7oduH
How did it get here?
The couple married in 2015, and in 2016 Heard filed for a divorce accusing Depp of physical abuse. According to her, Depp had physically abused her during their relationship, and he usually did so while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Hearing testified under oath during a deposition, but a settlement was reached after she withdrew her domestic violence restraining order request. Her $50,000 monthly spousal support request was also revoked.
Johnny Depp sued Amber Heard for $50 million for defamation in 2019, claiming she was not the victim of domestic abuse but the perpetrator. The suit said Heard’s allegations were part of an elaborate hoax to garner positive publicity for the actress. Fans were eager to latch on to this as Depp being labelled a domestic abuser didn’t sit well with them.
Phone recordings of Heard admitting to hitting Depp were released in 2020, angering fans further and cementing their belief that Johnny had been wronged.
Depp sued News Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Sun, in court over a 2018 article that referred to him as a “wife beater.” The publisher and The Sun’s executive editor Dan Wootton were sued for libel. The trial lasted three weeks, and Depp lost.
After the trial, Depp was asked to resign from his role as Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts 3. Depp was denied the right to appeal against the News Groups Newspapers decision.
It’s been a long and messy road to where we are now.
Depp has filed a $100 million libel suit against Heard in Fairfax County Circuit Court, claiming that the op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post stating she was a victim of domestic abuse greatly defamed him. While the actress never mentions Depp by name, her allegations in the past made it pretty clear who she was speaking of.
Both parties have made allegations against each other during the month-long trial. Friends and family members, psychologists and Hollywood agents have testified for both parties, and celebrities have openly taken sides but will fan power win the day?
Amber Heard isn’t the first actor to have fans shouting for them to be removed from a property. Marvel’s Black Panther 2 has faced the same request to remove Letitia Wright and recast the role of Shuri. I don’t see that happening with Black Panther 2 due to be released at the end of the year.
However, Aquaman is set for a March 2023 release, so, with that many signatures on the Heard petition, will DC and Warner Bros. make the call and remove Amber Heard from Aquaman?
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