According to a recent story, Amber Heard sacked her public relations team and hired a new one after becoming unhappy with a week of ‘poor news’ during a stunning defamation lawsuit brought by ex-husband Johnny Depp.
Precision Strategies was representing Heard at the time, but she abruptly dropped them in favor of LA-based consulting business Shane Communications. She made the decision in the apparent intention of receiving more favorable publicity this week, when she is slated to take the stand and testify.
“She dislikes terrible headlines,” an unidentified insider stated which broke the story first. Another source remarked that Heard, 36, is dissatisfied with the way her tale is being portrayed.
The A-list trial in Virginia, which began on April 11 and is expected to last three weeks, has already seen Depp, 58, assert he was the victim of domestic abuse during his four days of testimony – with his bodyguard even depicting in detail the injuries on the actor’s face purportedly supported during a confrontation with Heard on Thursday.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star is suing Heard for $50 million, saying she defamed him and destroyed his profession following a 2018 Washington Post story in which she defines herself as a “public figure symbolizing domestic abuse” without naming her ex-husband.
Heard is countersuing for $100 million, and after three weeks of sitting calmly in the courtroom throughout Depp’s evidence, she is gearing up to launch her defense, maybe as soon as Wednesday.
The PR company change occurred after many days of court evidence from Depp witnesses, which caused the social-media mob to turn on Heard.
Heard’s reputation as a philanthropist was also harmed when it was revealed that she had not contributed her $3.5 million divorce settlement to charity, something she had guaranteed openly to do. She had supposedly given barely $1.3 million, with much of it coming from her ex-boyfriend, tycoon Elon Musk.
According to Terence Dougherty, chief operating officer of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the beneficiary of Amber’s ‘generosity,’ the $500,000 came from a Vanguard fund linked to Musk. By 2019, her contributions had dried up, and Dougherty said in court that the ACLU had ‘discovered that she was having financial issues.’
Heard’s attorney claims Depp mistreated her both physically and sexually, and she plans to make her case when she takes the stand early this week.
Shane Communications is run by CEO David Shane, who has previously advised against Depp.
In 2017, the firm emphasized allegations made by Depp’s previous business managers, The Management Group, that the Pirates of the Caribbean actor needed to employ a psychiatrist due to his ‘impulsive way of managing money’ of expenditure $2 million every month.
Last month, Depp filed a $25 million lawsuit against his business managers, The Mandel Company, alleging ‘gross mismanagement’ of his businesses. One crisis communications specialist stated that the new public relations firm will have its job cut out for it in order to shift the story.
‘It’s insane to change groups in a preliminary like this since you could do without the titles,’ said Lis Smith, a senior interchanges chief for Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 official mission.
Lis Smith, a senior communications director for Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign, said, ‘it’s ridiculous to switch teams in the middle of a trial like this since you don’t like the headlines. You can’t change the public’s attitude in three weeks when somebody is suing you in a lawsuit after years of story developing.’
Heard had never wanted cameras in the trial, however Depp’s lawyers fought for it and succeeded. It implies that instead of the media cherry-picking what makes it outside, the public will be able to hear the full trial. So far, the trial has covered a wide range of odd conduct, with alarming charges leveled by both sides. Depp has even blamed his ex for aggressively defecating on their bed.
So far, testimony has included photographs of cut fingers, excrement, films of heated disputes and temper tantrums, and even a conversation about the Hollywood star’s penis.
Depp disputes the claims of abuse, stating that he filed the action to prove his innocence. According to Heard’s lawyers, such refusals are untrustworthy since the actor was too inebriated and high to recall what happened.
The trial is scheduled to finish on May 19 at the Fairfax County Courthouse, which is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Judge Penny Azcarate has set a conference from May 9 to 12, when the trial will be suspended for a week.
Fans of Johnny Depp are clamoring for the cancellation of Amber Heard: In the midst of the actor’s continuing defamation action, a petition demanding for her removal from “Aquaman 2” has surpassed 2.9 million signatures.
