Judge Has Stern Message for Johnny Depp Fans Laughing During Trial

Johnny Depp’s lawsuit against Amber Heard has drawn a lot of fans’ attention, but those physically present in the courtroom are still expected to maintain some decorum. Depp cracked a joke during his testimony on Monday and several fans laughed out loud, according to a report by PEOPLE. Judge Penney Azcarate gave them one warning to stay quiet or be ejected from the courtroom.

Depp and Heard’s trial is open to the public, and fans have been turning out in droves to watch the case for themselves. On Monday, Depp’s lawyers questioned him following Heard’s team’s cross-examination. Depp’s lawyers asked him to list his major movie franchises for the record, and Depp came up short. He remembered Pirates of the Caribbean and Alice in Wonderland, but then the 58-year-old actor began to draw a blank.

“I’m so pathetic when it comes to knowing what movies I’ve done,” the actor said confessionally. “I’m sorry. I just, I don’t watch them. I feel better not watching them. What was the question again?”

This line and its accompanying sheepish grin got quite a bit of laughter from the courtroom, but Judge Azcarate was not amused. She reportedly said: “Order in the court or I will have you removed. Understood? Thank you.”

The trial is not only drawing in die-hard fans of Depp and Heard – it is polarizing viewers with firm opinions on the case. Much of the commentary on social media is skewed in Depp’s favor, though it’s not clear where the fans in the courtroom stand. Depp is suing Heard for defamation over a 2018 op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post which alluded to domestic violence she says she suffered at his hands, but to many fans this is simply a relitigation of Depp and Heard’s divorce and the allegations of abuse against both of them.

Depp filed this lawsuit in March of 2019 seeking $50 million in damages. He alleges that Heard’s portrayal of him as an abuser has ruined his career as an actor and cost him high-paying jobs. To make that case, Depp’s team must also prove to the court’s satisfaction that Heard’s characterization was false – in other words, that Depp is not an abuser.

Depp has already lost one related lawsuit against the British tabloid The Sun, which referred to him as a “wife-beater.” The court there ruled that this phrasing was not libelous because it was “substantially true” as far as they were concerned. This case in Fairfax, Virginia, could still go differently, but it has a long way to go.