When Johnny Depp’s defamation trial against Amber Heard picks up again next week, it will do so with some additional star power.
According to multiple reports, “Animal Kingdom” star Ellen Barkin will testify at some point after Heard’s time on the stand is up. The actress will appear via video for her testimony. In addition to Barkin, Heard’s team will also be calling her sister Whitney Henriquez — and will reportedly call Depp himself back up, even though he already appeared as a witness and was cross-examined by Amber’s attorney.
So … why Barkin? Well, she and Depp briefly dated after working on “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” together in the ’90s. Barkin was deposed in 2019 as part of the defamation case in Virginia and her deposition was cited during Depp’s UK libel trial, where he sued The Sun for referring to him as a “wife beater” and lost. In her testimony, she claimed she witnessed an argument between Depp and his assistants in which he threw a wine bottle in her direction — and said that while he was never physically abusive to her, he did get, as Reuters put it, “jealous and angry.”
At the time, Depp denied the allegations, calling them “untrue” and claiming he does “not have an anger management problem.” He also believed she held a “grudge” against him.
“Ms. Barkin and I had been friends for a number of years. A couple of years later (after her divorce) Ellen and I were hanging, just spending time together a relationship,” he said, per the Daily Mail.
“A sexual element began with M.s Barkin which lasted for months on and off really because she was making the film I was making at the time, ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ and I suppose her desires were … she wanted more than a relationship, she wanted a proper relationship with me and I did not want that,” he continued.
“I didn’t feel the same about her as she did me and I suppose from that moment on she became very, very angry and since then I have not spoken to Ms. Barkin,” he added.
While it’s unclear why Heard’s team will once again call Depp to the stand, her sister will likely testify about the alleged abuse she witnessed. Last week on the stand, Heard claimed that during one March 2015 fight with Depp, she punched him in the face fearing he would push Whitney down the stairs after her sister got between them.
“Johnny swings at her. I don’t hesitate, I don’t wait, I instantly think of Kate Moss and stairs and I swung at him,” she said during her testimony. She brought up a similar allegation regarding Moss during the UK trial, claiming she heard from two different people Depp had once pushed Moss down the stairs.
Moss has never made such claims herself and hasn’t spoken publicly about Heard’s allegations. His legal team, however, seemed to celebrate when she mentioned the model’s name in court last week — watch the moment below:
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