Amber Heard’s agent testified on Thursday that she had lost business opportunities amid the online backlash over allegations of abuse against ex-husband Johnny Depp.
Jesica Kovacevich, Heard’s agent at WME, was the latest in a string of witnesses called by Heard’s lawyers on Thursday. After spending several days defending her against Depp’s defamation suit, Heard’s team is now on attack, seeking to prove their $100 million counter-claim that Heard’s career was damaged by Depp’s lawyer, who called her allegations a “hoax.”
Heard was the female lead in Aquaman, which grossed over $1 billion worldwide when it was released in December 2018. Kovacevic said he should have had more roles in television and film, along with endorsement deals. But apart from “Aquaman 2”, Heard has shot one standalone movie “In the Fire” in the past two years.
Kovacevic said she was supposed to star in an Amazon movie with Gael Garcia Bernal, but was left out of the project.
“No one can say out loud, ‘We’re taking this away from her because of this bad press,’ because she has done nothing,” Kovacevic said. “It’s all rumours, and it’s all anyway. But there is no other reason.”
Heard is responding to three statements made by Adam Waldman, Depp’s attorney, to the media in 2020. In those statements, Waldman called Heard’s allegations an “abuse hoax,” and claimed that Depp was the victim of an “ambush.”
Earlier Thursday, Heard’s team contacted technical expert, Ron Schnell, who conducted a study of several million negative tweets about Heard. Schnell testified that about a quarter of the tweets in his sample referred to Waldman.
Kovashevich testified that Waldman’s comments “added fuel to the fire.”
“No one is going to tell me, ‘Oh, we can’t hire her because of these tweets,'” Kovashevic said. Nobody wants someone accused of being a liar, of making up something and offending someone – nobody wants that association with their project.”
Heard has secured a $2 million deal for her appearance in “Aquaman 2,” which is set to be released next year. Kovashevich said that she should have renegotiated for a higher fee, given the success of the first film. Heard has testified that her role in the sequel has been reduced and she’s not sure if she’ll ever appear in it. She also testified that she had to fight to not be dropped from this movie.
Kovacevic noted that Jason Momoa—who starred as Aquaman—has gotten a lot of work since then, but “even a small percentage of it didn’t happen to her.” She said Heard tested well with the “Aquaman” audience and got good reviews, and that the only logical explanation for her career difficulties was the online outrage.
Heard’s attorney, Eileen Bredehoft, suggested that Heard earn about $5 million to $10 million annually over five years, and that her career path be more like that of Ana de Armas.
“That would be good company,” Kovacevic said.
The trial will resume on Monday.
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