Remember that petition pushing for Amber Heard to be removed from Aquaman 2 we reported on some time ago? It’s still going, accepting signatures, and now it’s back with a vengeance thanks to Johnny Depp’s defamation suit that is being televised everywhere.
The Change.org petition directed at DC Warner Bros. recently reached 2 million signatures and has also surpassed that number. It stands at over 3 million as of this writing. Taking Depp’s side, the campaign says “Amber Heard has been exposed as a domestic abuser by Johnny Depp.”
It continues, “In his $50 million lawsuit, Johnny Depp describes many incidents of domestic abuse that he suffered at the hands of his (then) wife Amber Heard, including one incident where she punched him twice in the face and another where she shattered his finger with a vodka bottle, and his finger had to be surgically reattached.”
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It also cites her “repeated pattern of abuse” tracing back to her relationship with and arrest for domestic abuse against Tasya Van Ree. This is in addition to her various accusations, which are denied by witnesses, that Depp abused her and cut off his own finger.
Depp sued The UK Sun for libel after a headline called him a wife beater but he lost that suit as well as his job playing Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts franchise once Warner became aware of how the case turned out.
A separate petition wanting to see Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clark replace Heard reflects testimony from DC Films President Walter Hamada.
It emerged during the defamation trial that allegedly Hamada wanted Heard gone from Aquaman 2 and didn’t think she had chemistry with Jason Momoa. Moreover, Hamada supposedly preferred someone who did.
According to insiders, that person was Clark and it was added Hamada was in some stage of negotiation with the actress but he was overruled by either Warner Chairman Toby Emmerich or former Warner studio head Ann Sarnoff – if not both.
Amber Heard was asked about the petitions in an interview and she laughed the campaigns off as nothing more than astroturf launched by fake fans paying for clicks.
Aquaman and DCEU producer Peter Safran sides with her, saying petitions have no impact on his decisions. “I don’t think we’re ever going to react to, honestly, pure fan pressure,” he said last July. “You gotta do what’s best for the movie.”
RELATED: Rumored Testimony Claims Walter Hamada Wanted Amber Heard Recast In Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom
Safran added, “We felt that if it’s James Wan, and Jason Momoa, it should be Amber Heard. That’s really what it was. One is not unaware of what is going on in the Twitter-verse, but that doesn’t mean you have to react to it or take it as gospel or accede to their wishes.”
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was moved to March 17th, 2023, to hone the visual effects so it will be another year before we learn if it is any good. However, it is said we can make do with less Amber Heard who has a rumored 10 minutes of screen time.
The world could end up seeing more of her during the trial coverage than in all her movies put together, especially when she takes the stand this week. Things are sure to get interesting.