Amber Heard’s lawyer looks visibly defeated in Johnny Depp trial

If Amber Heard is looking for signs how it’s going, she may not want to look too closely at her own lawyers.

If Amber Heard is trying to gauge her chances of success in the bruising civil battle between her and ex-husband Johnny Depp, she may not want to look at her lawyers.

Elaine Bredehoft, part of Heard’s legal team, was captured as appearing exhausted, frustrated and a little defeated.

Bredehoft’s demeanour didn’t go unnoticed by social media users, especially as she was repeatedly interrupted by Depp’s star lawyer Camille Vasquez.

Bredehoft was observed saying “I’m trying, I’m trying” as she examined her client, Heard, on the stand while Vasquez objected to most lines of questions, with the judge sustaining the objections.

Social media users on Tiktok have gone so far as to express sympathy for Bredehoft’s difficult task, especially amid unconfirmed rumours of tension between Heard and her legal team.

Elaine

It follows a dramatic week in an even more dramatic trial as Heard’s lawyers mounted her defence against ex-husband Depp’s defamation lawsuit.

At the core of Depp’s suit is the contention her 2018 Washington Post op-ed, accusing him of physical abuse which he denies, cost him film work. Depp is suing for $US50 million in damages.

This week, Heard’s team put forward testimonies which dented Depp’s argument including that of a Disney executive, Tina Newman, who said the decision to can a potential Pirates of the Caribbean 6 had nothing to do with Heard’s article.

Newman said in her deposition she had “never seen any documentation that referenced the op-ed, never discussed it and did not hear of or partake in discussion of its impact”.

Depp’s former long-time agent, Tracey Jacobs, who represented him for three decades until 2016, testified that the one-time A-lister had been a “difficult” person and had “fundamental anger issues”. She said Depp’s attitude drew multiple complaints from virtually every production on which he worked.

The court heard that Ms Jacobs was forced to travel to Australia twice while Depp was working on Pirates of the Caribbean 5, to “talk to” him in response to complaints about his behaviour made by the film crew.

The Hollywood powerbroker said he “consistently showed up late” on “virtually every movie” he worked on and that she believed that to be the result of his alleged increased use of alcohol and drugs.

Amber Heard confers with her legal team. (Photo by Shawn THEW / POOL / AFP)

“I said to him ‘you’ve got to stop doing this, this is hurting you’, and it did,” Ms Jacobs said, adding that Depp did not take her advice.

“Initially, crews loved him because he was always so great with the crew. But crews don’t love sitting around for hours and hours waiting for the star to show up.

“Word got around. It made people reluctant to use him toward the end.”

She also alleged that on one occasion, the star “demanded” that Ms Jacobs give – not loan – him $US20m ($A28m) from the agency, saying he deserved it because of the money he’d made them over the years.

He ultimately “terminated essentially everyone in his life”, including Ms Jacobs, as his drug and alcohol abuse escalated, she said.

Ms Jacobs also testified that no one at Disney had committed to hiring Depp for the sixth instalment of the Pirates franchise in conversations with her. “(Depp’s) star dimmed,” she said.

“People were talking and the question was out there about his behaviour.”

The court also heard from Depp’s ex-partner, actor Ellen Barkin, about her relationship with the Edward Scissorhands star.

Barkin, 68, did not mince her words in her prerecorded deposition played, calling Depp “controlling” and “jealous.”

Depp, 58, broke up with her when she left him to make a two-day visit to Los Angeles, she said.

Ellen Barkin testifies in the trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. (Photo by Shawn THEW / POOL / AFP)

“He didn’t want me to go,” Barkin testified in the 11-minute recording. “I never heard from him again after that.”

The lawyer asked Barkin what he had said to her that showed possessiveness.

“He’s just a jealous man, controlling,” she said. “’Where are you going? Who are you going with? What did you do last night?’ I had a scratch on my back once that got him very angry, very angry, because he insisted it came from me having sex with a person who wasn’t him.”

Depp and Barkin appeared together in the 1998 film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

“Did there come a time Mr. Depp acted in a way that was out of control with you?” Heard’s lawyer asked.

“Mr. Depp threw a wine bottle across the hotel room in Las Vegas when we were shooting,” she said. “A fight was going on … between Johnny Depp and his friend in the room, the assistant. Honestly I don’t remember.”

He hurled the bottle in her direction and it hit a wall, she said.

The trial is set to continue with closing arguments set for the end of the week. Depp has also been recalled to the stand.

– With New York Post