Amber Heard Addresses James Franco Visit During Johnny Depp Trial

By Daniel S. Levine

Johnny Depp's lawyer pressed Amber Heard about James Franco's visit to her home the night before she filed for divorce from the Pirates of the Caribbean star during cross-examination Tuesday. Attorney Camille Vasquez asked Heard why she felt comfortable having her Pineapple Express co-star over at her penthouse and showed the jury surveillance footage of the two stars in an elevator. Depp filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against Heard over her 2018 Washington Post op-ed, in which she wrote about being the victim of domestic violence but did not name Depp as her alleged abuser.

During testimony on Monday, Heard said she was "falling apart" and had panic attacks because she was afraid Depp would enter her home at any time, reports PEOPLE. She told the court that building staff could let Depp inside even if she told them not to allow him to come in. On Tuesday, Depp's lawyer Vazquez asked Heard why she "felt comfortable" inviting Franco over on May 22, 2016, before Heard filed for divorce from Depp.

"I do not know when James came over," Heard told Vazquez. The attorney then said, "OK, let's remind you," and played elevator surveillance footage from that night. Heard and Franco are shown together, resting their heads on each other's shoulders. Heard confirmed it was the two of them in the video and that they were headed to her penthouse. Vazquez asked her if she knew Depp would be out of town at the time, but Heard said she did not know what his schedule was.

"He was my friend. And he lived next door, quite literally next door," Heard said of her friendship with Franco. "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."

Last week, Heard testified that Depp "hated, hated" Franco and thought the two were having an affair, reports PEOPLE. "He was accusing me of secretly having a thing with him in the past since we had done Pineapple Express together," she claimed. Heard also claimed Depp was not happy about her working with Franco on the 2015 movie The Adderall Diaries. She testified that Depp disapproved of any romantic scene she had in her films.

"He had already been upset with me and accused me in many arguments about not telling him about scenes that I had if I had a kissing scene," she testified. "Any sort of romantic scene, and I wasn't explicit about what I was going to do; then I was accused of having withheld information and hiding it from him. So I didn't want the fight, of course, I didn't want the argument, but I had to kind of egg-shell tip-toe around how to tell him when I had any sort of scene like that."

Heard testified that when she described her Adderall Diaries scenes with Franco to Depp, he "screamed" at her. She said Depp responded as if she "had told him I had an affair. He was that angry at me." Heard said she was "nervous" about flying on a private plane to Boston for his daughter Lily-Rose Depp's birthday. On the plane, Depp allegedly peppered her with questions about filming a romantic scene with Franco and called her a "slut" in front of security and assistants on the plane, Heard testified. Heard claimed she tried to ignore Depp's questions, but he began throwing things at her and slapping her. She testified that Depp also kicked her and no one else on the plane did anything.

Depp has testified during the trial that he never struck Heard or any woman. In his version of events, Heard said they "argued the night before" the flight to Boston and claimed Heard was "actively searching" for a fight. Depp said he was taking opiates but denied he was drunk. Depp claimed Heard would "verbally heckle, hassle, accuse, poke, prod physically, psychologically and emotionally" until he hid in the plane bathroom. During cross-examination, Depp confirmed there were arguments about Franco, and he thought Heard and Franco were having an affair.

Heard and Depp married in 2015. Heard filed for divorce in May 2016 and sought a restraining order, accusing Depp of domestic abuse. They settled their divorce out of court in August 2016. In March 2019, Depp sued Heard for defamation over her Washington Post op-ed, claiming that it has led to him losing job opportunities. 

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