The world has been watching the trial, everyone has been wondering who will win after all of this.
Will it be Johnny Depp? Or will it be Amber Heard? Now that Amber is on the stand for her
cross-examination, Camille Vasquez has taken the chance to open multiple topics and one of them
is Amber’s relationship with her co-star James Franco. So what did Amber say of this one?
The night before she filed for divorce from Johnny Depp, Amber Heard invited James Franco
to her house. On Tuesday, Depp's lawyer Camille Vasquez questioned Heard about her evidence
in which she discussed requesting temporary domestic violence restraining order on May 27,
2016, so she could replace the locks. Heard had previously stated that she was
"falling apart" and had trouble sleeping as a result of panic episodes caused by Depp's entry
into the apartment where she was living. Even if she requested that he not be permitted, she
claimed that the building staff would let him in. Vasquez then asked why Heard "felt comfortable
having James Franco over the evening of May 22, 2016, Ms. Heard?" Heard responded,
"I do not know when James came over," to which the attorney said, "Okay, let's remind you."
She then showed elevator surveillance footage of Heard and Franco on their way up to her
penthouse on May 22, 2016, at 11 p.m. Franco is seen wearing a cap and a
backpack in the footage. He puts his head on Heard's shoulder at one moment,
while she looks to rest her head on his. After that, they both exit the elevator together.
Franco was in the video, and they were going to her penthouse, Heard revealed. When questioned
if she was aware her husband would be out of town, she answered, "That's where I lived,
absolutely," adding that she is unsure what she knew about Depp's schedule at the time.
The following day, May 23, 2016, the actress filed for divorce from Depp.
(She and Depp met while filming The Rum Diary in 2011 and married in 2015.)
"He was my friend. And he lived next door, quite literally next door. And I, frankly,
had exhausted my support network with my usual friends and was happy to welcome as much
friendship at that time as I could possibly get." Heard testified that she was "close" friends
with Franco, with whom she co-wrote two films. She also said that Depp was envious of her and
accused her of having affairs with her co-stars and that he didn't want her to keep acting.
She stated that she had literally exhausted her support network with hr normal pals and that she
was pleased to welcome as much companionship as she could possibly receive at that time.
Heard was then questioned about a video from that night in which Franco is seen
laying his head on her shoulder and what interaction would have caused this.
"After seeing my face, he put his head on my shoulder," she said.
"He touched the side of my face and responded to what he saw."
Heard described the “nightmare” as she stated of arguments she and Depp would have over Franco in
court. Depp, she added that he was enraged that she took the job with James Franco.
She even stated that Depp despised James Franco and was already accusing her of having a secret
relationship with him in the past because they had worked together on Pineapple Express."
Depp allegedly kicked Heard to the floor of a private plane after accusing her of cheating
on him with Franco while filming "The Adderall Diaries" earlier that year, according to Heard.
Heard claimed that soon before boarding a private jet with Depp, she told him about an
intimate sequence she'd taped with Franco. He was furious and "didn't sound coherent," she added,
and she sensed "something was wrong." "Eventually it went from, 'Do you have
something to tell me?' to 'Do you wanna tell me how much you liked it? Tell me
did he slip a tongue," Heard testified. She then got up and headed to the front
of the plane, she testified. Depp then began throwing objects at her before
approaching her and slapping her across the face, according to Heard. She went on to
say that she moved again before he kicked her. "I felt this boot in my back. He just kicked me
in the back. I fell to the floor," Heard testified. "I caught myself on the floor
and felt like I was looking at the floor of the plane for what felt like a long time."
On the second and final day of Amber Heard's cross-examination,
one of Johnny Depp's lawyers presented her with passages from a journal of "love notes"
she had kept over months of claimed abuse by Depp, including one stating a desire to "devour" him.
The journal was introduced by Depp's attorney Camille Vasquez in an attempt to disprove
Heard's accusations that Depp had harmed her and to portray her as a woman who alternated between
great fondness and violent outbursts. Vasquez is hoping to prove that Heard's behavior was
inconsistent with that of a person suffering abuse — and reframe testimony to support
Depp's thesis that he was harmed by his ex. Vasquez showed jurors pages from Heard and Depp's
shared journal, in which they wrote intricate comments to each other. The first note in this
journal from Heard to Depp was dated May 22, 2015, just two months after he allegedly sexually abused
her in Australia. Slim and Steve were the pet names of Heard and Depp, respectively.
“This first message to Mr. Depp in your journal, you wrote, ‘True love
isn’t just about the madness of passion or instead picking the safety of peace.
No, it’s about having both, falling madly in love with your friend,’” Vasquez read.
“That is what has surprised me, perhaps the most. That I have seen in you the true bones of
friendship and respect, but of course I still, perhaps more than ever, want to rip you apart,
devour you and savor the taste.’” The note was signed, “Fret not, XX, Slim.”
“Yes, it’s a love note,” Heard said. “Did I read that correctly?” Vasquez pressed. “Yes,
you did,” Heard said. Vasquez then questioned Heard about a note she wrote to Depp on April 8,
2016. Heard would later claim Depp abused her on April 21 of that year, her 30th birthday.
“On the second page of this note, you wrote the following: ‘I’m sorry I can get crazy.
I’m sorry I hurt you. Like you, I can get wicked when I’m hurt.
When I get provoked, shattered, and last night I was,’” Vasquez read. “‘I’m so sorry for my
part. None of this is meant to be an excuse for hurting you. Because the truth is, nothing is,
there is never a reason good enough to hurt you. You are the last thing in the whole world who
deserves it, the last person I ever meant to hurt. I love you, Steve. I am forever yours, Slim.’”
What about Franco? Does he have anything to say about his relationship with Amber Heard?
Franco spoke with SiriusXM's The Jess Cagle Podcast in December about the numerous claims
of sexually inappropriate behavior leveled against him. He talked about his struggles
with sex addiction, saying, "I had female companions. I could never be loyal to someone."
He went on to say that he "cheated on everyone before" Isabel Pakzad.
He admitted at the time, "I wasn't really a one-night-stand guy." "People who I've dated
or been together with, for example, I've known for years. It's simply that I won't be able to
attend any of them. And the behavior escalated to the point that I appeared to be harming everyone."
And that was all we heard from Franco, he never mentioned anything about Amber Heard.
Depp is suing Heard for defamation over an op-ed she published for The Washington Post in 2018
on surviving domestic violence, despite the fact that she never mentioned Depp by name.
The $50 million lawsuits was first filed in March 2019 by the Pirates of the Caribbean actor.
She's suing for $100 million, alleging that Depp waged a smear campaign against
her and painted her charges as "false." Depp lost his widely publicized U.K. libel
action against British newspaper The Sun for branding him a "wife-beater" in November 2020.
The outlet's accusations were found to be "basically truthful" by the court, and Heard
testified to back up the claims. His effort to overturn the decision was rejected in March 2021.
If you think that was controversial, check out our next video.