The love triangle we can't get enough of

The messiest defamation case just got that bit messier.

Artwork: Emilia Tortorella

The messiest defamation case just got that bit messier.

The tech billionaire of the moment, Elon Musk, has been dragged into the celebrity court case of the moment.

The defamation trial brought by Johnny Depp against his ex-wife Amber Heard, which began 16 days ago, learned on Thursday via private texts that Heard rebounded with Musk and that she did not love him.

Sad for Musk, but also we can’t imagine he’s got the time to pay attention to the case, having just purchased Twitter and all.

Johnny Depp's former agent Christian Carino testified that Heard just used Musk to "fill space". 

In a petty move, disgruntled Depp even gave the Tesla CEO a spiteful nickname.

Depp at the time referred to Musk as “Mollusk” which gives major Kanye West vs. “Skete” Davidson vibes. There's just something about threatened men belittling their opponent through un-funny nicknames.

Our artist Emilia Tortorella's impersonation of Elon Mollusk.

When Depp attempted to sue UK tabloid The Sun for defamation in 2020 (that's right folks, two defamation cases in two years) he accused Heard of striking up a relationship with Musk before they had broken up. Cheating!

He also threatened to “slice” off Musk's penis.

“Let’s see if Mollusk has a pair, comes to see me face-to-face,” Depp’s August 2016 text to Heard read.

“I will show him things he’s never seen before, like the other side of his dick when I slice it off.”

The Pirates of the Caribbean star also accused Heard and Musk of having a threesome with model Cara Delevingne in his Los Angeles home while he was away in Australia filming a movie. 

Anyway.

Carino, the former fiancé of Lady Gaga, took the stand on Thursday in the latest case Depp has brought against Heard in Virginia. He's suing her for a 2020 op-ed in the Washington Post in which she alleged she'd suffered domestic violence. 

She never mentioned Depp but he says the article was obviously about him. So Depp, 58, is suing for damage to his reputation and career. He claims the article was the reason he was let go from The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. 

Heard, 35, filed a countersuit, seeking US$100m in damages, which will also be decided throughout the six-week trial.

The jury were shown private text messages between Carino and Heard in which she admitted to never loving Musk.

“Dealing with break-up. I hate when things go public. See, I’m so sad,” Heard said in a message about the end of her relationship with Musk.

“You weren’t in love with him and you told me 1,000 times you were just filling space,” Carino replied. “Why would you be sad if you weren’t in love with him to begin with?”

Heard responded: “I know but I wanted time to grieve and recover in my own time.”

Carino also backed up Depp’s claim that he was dropped from the Pirates franchise because of the domestic abuse allegations made by Heard.

“My opinion is that it was related to the accusations that Amber has made,” Carino said in a video played for the court.

Carino with former-fiance Lady Gaga.

Musk and James Franco will not testify

Musk and actor James Franco had been featured on Heard's witness list for the trial, but will not take the stand, according to the New York Post.

The 127 Hours actor was wrapped up in the 2020 case when Heard testified that he had asked her “what the f..k” happened to her face after Depp allegedly threw a phone at her.