Johnny Depp was shown footage of himself breaking smoking rules during a trial against his ex-wife, in which he is attempting to sue her for defamation.
The Hollywood actor, well known for his roles in Pirates of the Caribbean and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, is currently in the midst of suing his ex-wife Amber Heard for $50 million, which works out to £38.2 million, for defamation after abuse claims.
Depp, 58, decided to take action against Heard, 35, after she wrote an opinion piece in 2018, detailing her experiences with domestic abuse.
The article in question, initially published by the Washington Post does not name Mr Depp but legal representatives for Heard say it is protected by freedom of speech.
During the lawsuit, the 58-year-old was shown footage of himself in the Eastern Columbia Building on 21 May 2016, in which he can be seen smoking a cigarette in an elevator.
Johnny kept a poker face while he watched the clip as his manager answered questions and mentioned that smoking “is not” permitted in the elevator of that particular building.
Dr. Tracy A. Pearson gave her reasoning as to why Depp’s team used the clip: “Well, they don’t seem to show anything of significance about Johnny Depp on certain days and I think what they’re trying to do, is they’re trying to establish that he isn’t the person that Amber Heard is going to describe him or has described him to be to the Jury.”
She continued: “This is ultimately a family law case. This is a divorce case within a defamation case, so what we have is two Hollywood celebrities that are going to start slinging dirt at each other. He is trying to establish himself as not being the menace that Amber Heard claims he is.”
Gina Deuters was called to stand but Judge Penny Azcarate had to “strike her testimony” after she admitted she had seen parts of the trial from recent proceedings.
On 14 April, Azacarte asked her if she had seen any of the trial “this past week” and asked her to clarify whether she had seen “parts of this trial” and “witness testimonies”.
“Yeah, I’ve seen clips,” replied Gina, which left the Judge to “strike” her from “the record in its entirety”.
The trial continues.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk