Another Big Star Dragged Into Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's Legal Battle

By Stephen Andrew

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's legal battle seems far from over, and now a big actor has found themselves dragged into the trouble. Depp has alleged that Heard once had an affair with 43-year-old film star James Franco. According to Page Six, Franco is set to be deposed on the accusations and will be asked about the alleged physical relationship between him and Heard while she was still married to Depp.  Notability, Heard and Franco both appeared in the 2008 action-comedy Pineapple Express. Franco's deposition will take place sometime in early 2022.

Page Six reports that Franco will be asked about alleged bruising on Heard's face and if he recalls seeing it. Per reports, a security camera recorded Franco and Heard stepping into an elevator together, roughly 24 hours after an alleged incident with Depp, wherein she claims Depp assaulted her and left her with a black eye. In the footage, Franco and the Aquaman star are later seen leaving the elevator on the penthouse floor, which Heard shared with Depp. In response to the summons, Heard's lawyers stated that at the time she and Depp lived there, Franco lived in the same building. They added that the 127 Hours star was simply riding the elevator with the Aquaman actress. Depp's lawyers refute this.

"I have denied Ms. Heard's allegations vehemently since she first made them in May 2016," Depp wrote in the $50 million defamation lawsuit, adding, "When she walked into court to obtain a temporary restraining order with painted-on bruises that witnesses and surveillance footage show she did not possess each day of the preceding week. I will continue to deny them for the rest of my life. I never abused Ms. Heard or any other woman."

Heard had previously petitioned a judge to dismiss the lawsuit, but she was denied. This came after Depp lost a libel case against U.K. tabloid The Sun, after the publication referred to him as a "wife-beater." Heard cited the U.K. case in her plea to have Depp's suit dismissed, arguing that it should carry weight in the U.S. defamation case against her. Fairfax County Chief Judge Penney Azcarate seems to have disagreed, however, stating that there are noticeable differences between the evidence in each case. 

"[Heard] argues she was in privity with The Sun because they both had the same interest in the case. However, for privity to exist, [Heard's] interest in the case must be so identical with The Sun's interest such that The Sun's representation of its interest is also a representation of [Heard's] legal right," Judge Azcarate wrote in her ruling. "The Sun's interests were based on whether the statements the newspaper published were false. [Heard's] interests relate to whether the statements she published were false."

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