The Johnny Depp-Amber Heard Defamation Trial Will Be Televised (And Will Elon Musk Actually Testify?)

Johnny Depp’s delayed defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard will begin on April 11, and it will be televised. That’s a lot already, so let’s back up a bit.

This U.S.-based trial is entirely separate from Depp’s 2020 U.K.-based libel trial against The Sun, which did not end well for Depp. That court shut down Depp’s claim and (devastatingly) ruled that the tabloid’s “wife beater” claim about him was “substantially true.” Not to be deterred from his lack of desired “vindication,” Depp forged ahead with his U.S. civil trial, in which he’s sued Amber for $50 million.

Depp alleges that Heard defamed him while penning a Washington Post op-ed (in which Depp is not named) about her history as a domestic abuse survivor. After a few years of pandemic-and-schedule-related setbacks, this trial’s about to happen in Fairfax County, Virginia, and Court TV will air the proceedings. Via Deadline:

The network will be the pool feed provider for the trial, and plans to provide coverage of the proceedings.

Ethan Nelson, Acting Head of Court TV, said in a statement, “Court cases that are as high-profile as this one often create a lot of noise, and it can be difficult for viewers to break through these distractions to have a clear picture of the facts, but that’s where we come in.”

Both TMZ and Deadline have both reported word on the apparent (virtual) witness lists for the trial. It seems, well, wild, but Heard is apparently calling Elon Musk and James Franco to testify on her behalf while Depp is calling upon Paul Bettany’s testimony.

Hmm. Musk previously seemed to challenge Depp to a “cage fight” while denying allegations that Musk had an affair with Heard while she was married to Depp. In other words (and if Elon is really going to testify), this trial could be a real (televised) circus.