The defamation trial between Johnny Depp and his ex-wife, Amber Heard was a huge public spectacle in 2022. The months-long trial showed accusations of abuse from both sides, along with other allegations. In the end, the jury ruled in favor of the Pirates of the Caribbean actor but the damages to their reputations were already done.
Of the many accusations Heard levied against her former husband, one included his alleged abuse over another actor. The Aquaman actress claimed that her then-husband hated a Marvel actor. James Franco, who starred as Harry Osborn in Spider-Man, worked with the actress twice and this was the reason behind Depp’s alleged hatred.
The alleged third party: Another reason for the alleged abuse
The dramatic defamation trial began on 11 April and continued till 1 June 2022, in Fairfax County, Virginia. The ex-spouses Johnny Depp and Amber Heard put several allegations against each other, one major one was of abuse.
On the second day of her testimony, The Danish Girl actress mentioned a shocking instance that involved another famous actor. Heard claimed that her husband didn’t like James Franco, because he suspected they were having an affair.
He hated James Franco and was already accusing me of having a relationship with him in the past because we already did ‘Pineapple Express’ together.
The actress stated in her testimony (via Yahoo! News), that the Edwards Scissorhands lead allegedly beat her due to this matter. She said they fought constantly because at that time Franco was her co-star again for The Adderall Diaries.
He just kicked me in the back. I fell on the floor. No one said anything. No one did anything. It’s like you could hear a pin drop on that plane.
Referencing an incident from when they were flying for Lily-Rose Depp’s birthday party, she claimed the actor raised his hands on her. The actress further went on to describe her shock and hurt at allegedly being hit in front of his staff, who did nothing.
The story behind the ‘plane incident’: Amber Heard’s POV
The 3 Days to Kill actress first met Franco when they filmed the 2008 comedy movie, Pineapple Express together. After that, she got engaged to Depp and then reunited with her old co-star to film another movie in 2015.
He had already been upset with me and accused me in many arguments about not telling him about scenes that I had, if I had a kissing scene.
According to the actress’s claim (as per PEOPLE), her ex-husband did not want them to work together, suspecting foul play. This began what according to her was constant arguments which allegedly escalated to physical fights.
He was saying really disgusting things about my body, bout how I liked it, how I responded. Then he started straight up taunting me. ‘I know you liked it.’ He called me a ‘go-getter.’
According to her long-winded testimony, Franco unwittingly became the reason behind most of their arguments. The actress felt like she was walking on eggshells around her husband and thus felt unsafe.
She even claimed that he allegedly threw ice cubes and utensils at her during the verbal fight on the plane. On the other hand, Depp repeatedly assured the jury that he did not raise his hands on her. The Sleepy Hollow actor claimed that his former wife was the one who instigated their fights.
