Amber Heard flatly denied viral rumors on Tuesday that she had been cut and recast in the upcoming Aquaman sequel following her loss in Johnny Depp’s defamation suit.
“The rumor mill continues as it has from day one — inaccurate, insensitive, and slightly insane,” a representative for Heard said in response to the initial report from Just Jared.
Entertainment reporter Grace Randolph later confirmed that a source told her Amber Heard has not been cut from the Aquaman sequel “as of now.”
Whether or not Amber Heard will be cut entirely from Aquaman or will simply have her role reduced remains unknown at this time. Regardless, few can deny that Warner Bros. will have to answer to a concerted grassroots effort to oust her from the franchise in the wake of Johnny Depp’s victory over her in court.
As of this writing, the Change.org petition calling for her dismissal from the franchise has reached over 4 million signatures with an intended goal of six million. This past April, the petition stood at just 1.9 million signatures.
The petition said:
Amber Heard has been exposed as a domestic abuser by Johnny Depp. 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. He will bear the scar from that for the rest of his life.
Recalling not only Depp’s abuse allegations against Heard but also abuse allegations from her previous wife in 2009, the petition concluded that Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment should remove her from Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
“As Amber Heard is a known and proven domestic abuser, Warner Brothers and DC Entertainment should and must remove Heard from their Aquaman 2 film project,” said the petition. “They must not ignore the suffering of Heard’s victims, and must not glamorize a domestic abuser.”