A new report appears to confirm past rumors that Warner Bros. did not initially want to bring Amber Heard back for the Aquaman sequel and that when they eventually did she did not receive a commensurate bump in pay.
This new report comes from Matthew Belloni at Puck who claims, “Warner Bros. initially declined to pick up Heard’s option for Aquaman 2, I’m told, despite the first film grossing $1.1 billion.”
Belloni went on to reveal this revelation might actually become public record as Johnny Depp’s defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard is set to begin. He specifically points to the possibility of a deposition given by President of DC Films Walter Hamada being introduced that will prove this point.
According to Belloni, “Hamada is said to have testified that Heard was initially not picked up because there were concerns about her chemistry with star Jason Momoa. Indeed, the duo have publicly referenced issues on set during the first film. But Heard’s team believed the Depp scandal was the real cause of the reluctance.”
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On top of this report claiming that Warner Bros. initially did not want to bring Heard back, Belloni also claims that the actress “wasn’t able to negotiate a fee increase commensurate with co-stars like Momoa, as might be expected on the follow-up to such a runaway hit.”
Belloni goes on to claim Heard and her people believe this lack of fee increase commensurate with Momoa is a “direct financial consequence of the Depp lies.”
It’s unclear what lies Belloni is referring to. Depp has accused Heard of being the actual perpetrator of domestic violence in the defamation lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges, “Ms. Heard committed multiple acts of domestic violence against Mr. Depp during their marriage. Ms. Heard’s physical abuse of Mr. Depp is documented by eyewitness accounts, photographs, and even Ms. Heard’s owned admissions under oath.”
The suit then details one such instance, “In one particularly gruesome episode that occurred only one month into their marriage, Ms. Heard shattered the bones in the tip of Mr. Depp’s right middle finger, almost completely cutting it off.”
“Ms. Heard threw a glass vodka bottle at Mr. Depp—one of many projectiles that she launched at him in this and other instances. The bottle shattered as it came into contact with Mr. Depp’s hand, and the broken glass and impact severed and shattered Mr. Depp’s finger. Mr. Depp’s finger had to be surgically reattached.”
The suit also alleges, “Ms. Heard even has used one of her attacks on Mr. Depp to push her false narrative that she is a domestic abuse victim.”
It goes on to state, “Ms. Heard—angry with Mr. Depp because he was late to her birthday celebration due to a business meeting — punched Mr. Depp twice in the face as he lay in bed reading, forcing him to flee their penthouse to avoid further domestic violence at the hands of Ms. Heard.”
A leaked conversation between Depp and Heard obtained by The Daily Mail back in 2020 showed Heard admitting to being physically violent with Depp.
One part of their conversation sees Depp saying, “I’m not the one who throws pots and whatever the f****** else at me.”
Heard replies, “That’s different. That’s different. One does not negate the other. That’s irrelevant. That’s a complete non sequitur. Just because I’ve thrown pots and pans does not mean that you come and knock on the door.”
It continues with Depp saying, “Vases and f******…”
Heard responds, “Just because there are vases does not mean that you come and knock on the door.”
The clip continues with Depp admitting that he did throw an object at Heard, but claims it was after Heard threw a number of cans at him.
Depp says, “The only time I ever threw anything at you was when you f****** threw the cans at me in Australia.”
Heard responded, “Why are you trying to justify who throws things based on whether or not you come knocking on the door? I don’t get why one informs the other.”
Another clip of the conversation sees Depp saying, “You f***ing hit me last night. You f***ing…”
Heard answers, “What about all the other times you split? C’mon you cannot act like that’s about that.”
Depp says, “Well on a plane, I can’t split.”
Heard replies, “No, and you hit back. So don’t act like you don’t f**king participate.”
Depp says, “I pushed you.”
Heard answers, “I’m not going to get into the details of that fight. You and I both know that you split when there is no physical violence involved and that you do it… like at the very beginning of fights these days. And if you split and you go into a different room and you don’t actually leave that house, it does nothing but perpetuate the fight and you don’t actually do it respectfully.”
Depp then says, “You were f**king screaming at me.”
Heard replies, “I’m not going to validate my actions last night. I feel very bad about what I did.”
Depp says, “No, I’m talking about Toronto.”
Heard then answers, “I did not start screaming until you had f**king said all the s**t – you poke an animal enough, it is eventually, it doesn’t matter how friendly it is, it’s not cool.”
As their conversation continued they began discussing an incident where Depp accused Heard of punching him in the face.
She says, “I didn’t punch you. I didn’t punch you, by the way.”
Depp responds, “You punched me.”
She then says, “I’m sorry that I didn’t, uh, uh, hit you across the face in a proper slap, but I was hitting you, it was not punching you. Babe, you’re not punched.”
Depp answers, “Don’t tell me what it feels like to be punched!”
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Heard then says, “I know, you’ve been in a lot of fights, been around a long time. I know, I know. Yeah.”
Depp says, “No! When you have a f**king closed fist.”
Heard then admits, “You didn’t get punched. You got hit. I’m sorry I hit you like this. But I did not punch you. I did not f**king deck you. I f**king was hitting you.”
Depp says, “You can’t deck me.”
Heard answers, “I don’t know what the motion of my actual hand was, but you’re fine, I did not hurt you, I did not punch you, I was hitting you.”
At the end of the conversation Heard says, “All I’m saying is we need to take whatever time we need you. You need, I need, to kind of let things settle for a minute. So that we don’t f***ing kill each other or f***ing worse, you know, f***ing really kill each other or f***ing break up or whatever.”
Depp replies, “If the fight escalates to the point of where it’s just insulting for both of us, uh, or if it gets to that physical f***ing s**t, the violence, that’s when we just said, look, let’s go to our corners, man, you hang wherever you want, baby. I’m going in the office and I’m just gonna f***ing sit there and try and de-jellify my f***ing brain.”
Heard concludes, “I can’t promise that it will all be perfect. I can’t promise you I won’t get physical again. God I f***ing sometimes I get so mad I lose it. I can f***ing promise you I will do everything to change. I promise you. I’m not going to throw around divorce I not say divorce unless I really mean it.”
Depp then finishes, “I love you and I want you to be my wife. And I want to be your husband. And I wanna be a good husband. If I haven’t been, I’ll do everything I can to find out how to be a good husband.”
What do you make of this report that Warner Bros. initially declined to pick up Amber Heard for Aquaman 2 and that she didn’t receive a commensurate pay increase?
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