• Day 20 of the Amber Heard vs. Johnny Depp defamation trial kicked off Monday in Fairfax, Virginia 
• Kathryn Arnold, a former Hollywood producer who is now an entertainment industry consultant and expert, took the stand Monday afternoon 
• According to Arnold, Aquaman was Heard’s ‘a star is born moment’ but instead of it being a springboard for her career, she was nearly cut from the sequel
• Heard only kept her role in Aquaman 2 because Jason Momoa, Heard’s co-star, and the film’s director James Wan ‘committed to her’ and were ‘adamant she was in the film,’ claimed Arnold
• Heard’s reputation has been ‘very negative’ among the public and in Hollywood ‘they like her work but they can’t work with her because every time her name is mentioned the negativity flares up again,’ Arnold said 
• Arnold said that Heard’s total estimated loss was between $45million and $50million 

Amber Heard only kept her role in Aquaman because its star Jason Momoa and the film’s director fought for her, the jury in Depp’s defamation trial against the actress heard. 

Heard’s witness Kathryn Arnold, a former Hollywood producer who is now an entertainment industry consultant and expert, took the stand Monday afternoon. She evaluated Depp’s claims for damages as a result of Heard’s op-ed as well as Heard’s claim for damages based on comments from Depp’s lawyer that her allegations were a ‘hoax.’

According to Arnold, Aquaman was Heard’s ‘a star is born moment’ but instead of it being a springboard for her career, she was nearly cut from the sequel.

Heard only kept her role because Jason Momoa, Heard’s co-star, and the film’s director James Wan ‘committed to her’ and were ‘adamant she was in the film,’ claimed Arnold, who spoke with Heard as part of her preparation for testifying.

Related

Surgeon testifies that Johnny Depp’s sliced fingertip after blowout fight with Amber Heard is ‘not consistent’ with being cut off by a vodka bottle, as the actor has claimed

According to Arnold, the first draft of Aquaman 2 her character Mera had a ‘strong romantic arc the entire film and some great action sequences.’

Heard trained five hours a day for several months to do the sequence but when she got to the set a costume designer told her that her role had been ‘diminished.’

The action sequence had been ‘cut out’ and her role was ‘radically reduced,’ Arnold said.

Reports have claimed that the lack of chemistry between Heard and Momoa was to blame for her role being reduced but Arnold denied this.

While Momoa was able to renegotiate his salary for Aquaman 2 from about $3million to $15million, Heard was unable to do the same.

She was ‘fighting for her life’ to be in the film and was paid the same $2million as stated in her original contract.

According to Arnold, Heard should have been able to renegotiate her fee to as much as $6million.

Heard’s reputation has been ‘very negative’ among the public and in Hollywood ‘they like her work but they can’t work with her because every time her name is mentioned the negativity flares up again,’ Arnold said. 

Arnold said that right now it ‘doesn’t make sense’ for Hollywood to currently hire Heard and ‘her world has been silent in terms of opportunities.’

Heard’s losses from statements by Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman that her allegations were a ‘hoax’ would have been between $45million and $50million, Arnold testified.

She said that over a period of around five years, Heard would have earned at least $4million per movie, though it would have likely been more than that.

Related

Kate Moss expected to be called by Johnny Depp’s legal team as a witness (she is not supportive of Johnny)

That would come to at least $20million, Arnold said.

Heard would have got around four other deals like her contract with L’Oreal, which brought her $1.5million, making a total of $8million.

On top of that would have been TV deals and Heard’s last such production was The Stand where she earned $1.8million for nine episodes.

Arnold said that Heard’s total estimated loss was between $45million and $50million.

For her analysis she looked at contemporaries of Heard such as Momoa, Zendaya, Gal Gadot and Chris Pine.

All of them had a ‘meteoric’ rise after their ‘star is born’ moment and got lucrative endorsement deals and massive paychecks, Arnold said.

Asked who caused the damage to Depp between Dec 18 2018, when the op-ed was published, and Nov 2 2020, the period she had been asked to examine, Arnold said it was Depp

She said: ‘Filing lawsuits, bringing to light the issues is Mr. Depp doing that of his own accord

‘Any statements by his team are associated with Mr. Depp.

‘He’s causing his own demise by bringing these lawsuits forward and continuing to ignite the fire of negative publicity around both of them’.

According to Arnold, after Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman accused Heard of making a ‘hoax’ against him, it damaged her career.

Depp’s fans began a ‘negative social media campaign’ that used Waldman’s words as hashtags against her.

That included a petition to have Heard removed from Aquaman 2 which has gained more than 4million signatures.

Arnold said that Depp had an ‘extraordinary’ career covering many years dating back to the late 1980s when he was a rising star.

Depp began to breakthrough when he began to work with the director Tim Burton on films like Edward Scissorhands.

Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates movies was a ‘world renowned character’ and Depp himself was ‘well-liked critically and within the industry and with the public’.

Arnold said: ‘At the same time his behavior on and off the set in his personal and professional life started to interfere with his great talent. It started in 2006 to 2010 when his behavior started affecting his work in terms of lateness on set’.

Depp’s agent found it harder for him to get roles because of Depp’s ‘drinking and drug abuse and other issues in his personal life.’

According to Arnold, things became especially hard after 2010 when Depp was doing films like Mortdecai and Murder on the Orient Express.

When Depp looked drunk at the 2014 Hollywood Film Awards his former agency Tracey Jacobs received calls from directors and producers asking: ‘What is going on with your client, can we get him under control?’

According to Arnold, the mood in Hollywood ‘really started to shift’ against Depp during filming of Pirates 5 in 2015.

Lawsuits against Depp had a ‘big impact’ on his reputation including one which alleged he punched a location manager on the set of the movie City of Lies.

Depp didn’t attend a press conference in Japan to promote his film Mortdecai because he was asleep, Arnold said.

Pirates 5 did not do as well at the box office as the previous films and even before then Depp had starred in four or five ‘bombs’ – films that did not do very well – such as The Lone Ranger

Arnold said: ‘As many hits as he’s had he’s had a lot of failures.’

The trial in London in 2020 where Depp sued a British newspaper for libel for calling him a ‘wife beater’ was a ‘really tough one’ on him, Arnold said.

After a highly publicized trial a judge ruled the claim was ‘substantially true’

Arnold said that it was hard for studios like Disney to be ‘connected to a star who has texts about burnt corpses and (does) violent behavior on video.’

The texts in question were messages between Depp and his friend, the actor Paul Bettany, about what should happen to Heard.

Arnold said: ‘Someone who talks about a burnt corpse does not coincide with the brand of Disney’.

Addressing Depp’s claims he has lost money from listing the role of Jack Sparrow in Pirates 6, which has not filmed yet, Arnold was dismissive.

She said: ‘I don’t know how you lose something that hasn’t happened.’

During cross examination Arnold got snarky in response to questions from Depp’s lawyer Wayne Dennison. 

When Dennison pointed out that Momoa had starred in Baywatch for years, suggesting he was not a comparable actor to Heard, Arnold said: ‘I didn’t watch Baywatch but he certainly had the physique.’ 

When Dennison brought up Momoa’s character in the movie Dune and said that he will come back from the dead in the sequel, which isn’t out yet, Arnold was disappointed. Dennison said: ‘That might be a bit of a spoiler.’

Arnold said: ‘Oh man – dude.’

Dennison brought up Ben Affleck and said that he had starred in Batman, along with several other actors. 

When Dennison said that Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer had also played Batman, Arnold said: ‘You’re a movie buff.’ Asked if George Clooney played Batman, Arnold said: ‘Definitely.’

 1,247 total views