Amber Heard’s rise to fame was harmed by claims by Johnny Depp’s lawyer that she had fake injuries and orchestrated “hoax” domestic abuse claims, her talent agent told an LA court.
Jessica Kovacevic said Heard should have had a similar career trajectory to Aquaman co-star Jason Momoa after the $1 billion success of their 2018 DC superhero film.
Agreeing to a comparison with the success of Bond girl Ana de Armas, the agent said actors usually enjoy a rise in fame after a hit film like Aquaman but said Heard’s career has stalled and she missed out on an Amazon project with actor Gael Garcia Benal.
“No one can say out loud ‘We’re taking this away from her because of this bad press’ because it’s nothing she did”, said Ms Kovacevic, who said Heard has shot one independent film in the last two years.
“It’s all hearsay, and it’s all whatever. But there’s no other reason.”
Heard says allegations by Depp’s former lawyer Adam Waldman that she had faked injuries and damage to the actor’s LA penthouse impacted on her career.
The court was told Heard was set to received $2 million for reprising her role of Mera in Aquaman 2, but her role has since been diminished with Warner Bros studio bosses citing “lack of chemistry” between Heard and Momoa.
The actress gave evidence that she had to “fight” to be included in the movie at all, but does not know how much screen time she will have in the final edit.
Heard, 36, is being sued by Depp, 58, over a Washington Post op-ed where she described being a victim of domestic abuse, while the actress is countersuing for $100 million after being accused of lying.
She cites three statements by Mr Waldman in 2020, when he referred to an “abuse hoax” and suggested Depp had been the victim of an “ambush”.
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Ms Kovacevic told the court the statements “added fuel to the fire” that was engulfing Heard. “No one is going to say to me ‘Oh, we can’t hire her because of these tweets’”, she said.
“They just don’t want to hire someone that has bad press around them from these accusations. No one wants someone who’s being accused of being a liar, and making something up and abusing somebody — no one wants that association with their project.”
Earlier in the day, actress Ellen Barkin gave evidence that Depp was drunk “a lot of the time” during their friendship in the 1990s and claimed he once threw a bottle of wine at her.
They starred together in the film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and had a sexual relationship, the court heard from Barkin’s pre-recorded testimony.
“He’s just a jealous man, controlling - where are you going? who are you going with? What did you do last night?”, she said.
“I had a scratch on my back once that got him very, very angry because he insisted it came from having sex with a person who wasn’t him.”
Barkin said Depp used cocaine, marijuana, and hallucinogenic drugs frequently, and recalled an “out of control” incident.
“Mr Depp threw a wine bottle across the hotel room in one instance, in Las Vegas while shooting Fear and Loathing”, she said.
“A fight was going on, between Johnny Depp and his friends in the room, the assistant.”
The actress said she could not remember if the bottle was full and said it did not hit anyone.
Depp denies domestic abuse towards Heard, while she insists the violence allegations are true. The trial continues.