An emotional Amber Heard told a court Monday strident calls for her removal from the Aquaman sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom have increased at the same time her part has been reduced.
Some 4.2 million people had signed on to a Change.org petition to have her cut from the DC Extended Universe film, set to launch in theaters on March 17, 2023. That’s up from 2.3 million, the number of signatures that had been collected on April 28, Breitbart News reported.
The petition launched in the fall of 2020 after Heard was revealed in audio recordings admitting to hitting former partner Johnny Depp while mocking his manhood. Signatures have picked up in recent weeks as Depp testified under oath to being abused by Heard and she has been forced to respond.
Yahoo News reports on Monday, as Heard and Depp’s defamation trial resumed following a one-week hiatus, she testified her role in the upcoming movie had been reduced.
“I fought really hard to stay in the movie,” she said, adding she’d filmed “a very pared-down version” of her role.
“I was given a script then given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it, that depicted my character and another character, without giving any spoilers away, two characters fighting with one another,” Heard testified. “They basically took a bunch out of my role. They just removed a bunch.”
A rep for Heard, who plays Mera, declined to comment on whether there is a causal link between the petition and the diminished role, Yahoo News reported.
What is clear is that Heard denied on the stand she had defecated on Depp’s side of the bed they shared, continuing their public spat that has now gone on for six years.
“I had just been attacked on my 30th birthday by my violent husband with whom I was desperately in love and knew I needed to leave. It was not really a jovial time and I don’t think that’s funny, period,” Heard said in reference to the defecation allegation. “That’s disgusting.”
Depp is suing Heard, his ex-wife, for defamation in a $50 million libel lawsuit, claiming that a 2018 piece she wrote in the Washington Post — in which she referred to herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse” — has harmed his movie career. She is countersuing for $100 million.
Heard’s other upcoming projects include starring in the supernatural thriller Into the Fire and the romantic thriller Run Away With Me.