Actress Ellen Barkin will testify on behalf of Amber Heard when the defamation trial with her ex-husband Johnny Depp resumes next week.
The 68-year-old actress is a former girlfriend of Depp and will testify against the Pirates of the Caribbean star via video link.
Barkin previously testified for Heard after Depp brought a libel lawsuit against British tabloid The Sun for labeling him a ‘wife-beater.’
Depp is suing Heard for defamation, arguing that her 2018 article for The Washington Post about her experience with domestic violence tarnished his reputation
Ellen Barkin joins the list of new witnesses in the defamation trial
Amber Heard is yet to finish her testimony and will return to the stand on May 16.
Actress Ellen Barkin will join Heard’s sister, Whitney Henriquez, to take the stand in her defense.
Barkin dated Depp while they filmed the 1998 movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
During the U.K. defamation case, she testified that Depp threw a wine bottle in her direction during an argument in a hotel room.
Depp denied the accusation, arguing that Barkin held a grudge against him and he did not have an anger management problem, per Reuters.
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and actor James Franco both appear on Heard’s witness list. However, a source told The Independent neither will take the stand.
Amber Heard’s sister set to appear in court
Heard’s sister, Whitney Henriquez, is scheduled to take the stand to support the actress in the defamation trial.
The Aquaman star brought up her sister while describing the first time she claims she hit her ex-husband.
During a heated argument in March 2015, Heard testified that Depp swung at her sister when she tried to get between the couple during an altercation.
“[Whitney’s] back was to the staircase, and Johnny swings at her,” she testified on the stand, continuing, “And I swung at him. In all of my relationship to date with Johnny, I hadn’t landed a blow. And I, for the first time, hit him — like, actually hit him. Square in the face.” She added, “He didn’t push my sister down the stairs.”
During the libel case against The Sun, Whitney claimed she had seen bruises on her sister’s face and had only seen her violent against Depp once, according to Page Six.
Depp’s lawyers showed a video from a reality TV series that they say contradicts Henriquez’s testimony that Amber had never been violent and that she was not afraid of her.
In the video, Whitney is seen being quizzed by other women about bruises they say Amber inflicted on her after an argument.
Despite the video, Whitney denied that her sister was violent towards her.