The dirty laundry we’ve seen so far in Johnny Depp‘s defamation trial against Amber Heard isn’t stopping any time soon.
Over the past couple years we’ve only learned more and more about how messy and problematic their marriage got. But the drama didn’t stop with the divorce.
As you surely know by now, Johnny was fired from the Fantastic Beasts franchise, replaced by Mads Mikkelson as big bad magical villain Grindelwald. But his firing led to a petition to get Warner Bros to fire Amber Heard too, from her role as Mera in the Aquaman sequel. After all, over a million petitioners argued, there were allegations that she abused him as well. There was arguably more evidence, considering she admitted it in leaked audio recordings.
Related: Amber Taunted Johnny: ‘See How Many People Believe You’
There were whispers at the time that the studio was seriously considering replacing her, something the actress dismissed as “paid rumors,” implying Johnny’s legal team was planting it all. But it turns out that was all true!
According to insiders, DC Films president Walter Hamada already recorded his testimony for the trial (many of the witnesses did — their tapes are then being shown in court). According to Hollywood industry rag Puck News, Hamada actually confirmed the rumor — and Amber was closer to being fired than anyone realized!
He reportedly told the court that between the domestic violence accusations and “concerns about her chemistry” with star Jason Momoa, he had actually full-on attempted to fire her, declining the option to renew her contract for the sequel! There was apparently even an offer put out to another actress to replace her. (Word on the street was it was Emilia Clarke — for a Game Of Thrones reunion — but Hamada did NOT confirm any of that!)
Ultimately Hamada was overruled by his higher-ups, and Amber reprised her role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom after all. But apparently she did NOT get a raise as is standard in these situations (obviously Momoa got one). Hmm. Who was it going to bat for Amber? Friends in high places, huh?
Related: Amber’s Text Messages With Elon Musk During Johnny Depp Marriage Raise Questions
It’s also possible Warner Bros execs were just trying to keep the mess to a minimum, when it comes to public perception anyway. They already have to deal with Johnny, the antics of Ezra Miller (who is in both the DC and Harry Potter universes), and most recently one of the actors from Black Adam was arrested on some really disturbing charges. Not that any studio can altogether avoid the possibility of their actors being problematic, but WB definitely seems to be dealing with it a lot lately.
According to a new report just this week in Variety, Warner Bros Discovery are considering throwing the whole damn DCEU away and trying to start over!
Do YOU think they should have fired Amber Heard??
[Image via Warner Bros/Law & Crime/YouTube.]
