During her continuing defamation suit with Johnny Depp, Amber Heard has shifted to a new crisis management business.
PEOPLE has confirmed that Heard, 36, has severed ways with Precision Strategies, an East Coast-based agency where she is presently battling Depp, 58, in court.
Heard has just recruited the services of The Management Group, a Beverly Hills-based firm, according to NBC News.
The reversal comes after Depp testified for three days in Fairfax, Virginia, to give his side of the story. Heard has yet to testify, but it is likely this week.
PEOPLE reached out to Heard, Precision Strategies, and The Management Group for comment, but no one responded right away.
According to a crisis communications specialist, “For weeks, Depp’s team has been pushing their case on national television and in court. Obviously, this will result in some coverage, which I’m sure Amber Heard would despise — but that’s the reality of a scenario in which the plaintiff gets to speak first. You need thick skin to get through crisis circumstances like this, which she appears to lack by making this adjustment at an inopportune moment when she should be going on offensive.”
Depp is suing Heard for defamation after she penned an op-ed for The Washington Post in 2018 in which she talked about surviving domestic abuse, albeit she didn’t identify him by name.
The couple met while filming The Rum Diary in 2011 and married in 2015. Heard filed for a domestic violence restraining order against him in May 2016, alleging him of beating her. Depp rejected the allegations, and the couple reached an out-of-court settlement in August 2016.
Depp has stated that his “objective is the truth” as he works to clear his reputation in the trial, which is being broadcast live on many platforms. Heard said in a statement before the trial that “Hopefully, after this matter is over, both Johnny and I will be able to move on. I’ve always had feelings for Johnny, and it hurts me a lot to have to live out the events of our prior lives in front of the public.”
Heard’s lawyer, Ben Rottenborn, said during the opening comments that evidence will reveal she was subjected to domestic abuse by Depp that “took many forms,” including physical, emotional, mental, and psychological assault, as well as “sexual violence at Depp’s hands.” Depp’s spokeswoman has denied the allegations.
In the trial, Rottenborn said, “Amber was subjected to sexual aggression at the hands of Depp. You will learn about the violence she endured in the most detailed and terrible ways. That’s something she’ll tell you straight. She’ll take the witness stand and tell you that. It took place.”
Depp, who has repeatedly stated under oath that he has never struck Heard or any woman, claimed earlier this week that he has lost “nothing short of everything” as a result of Heard’s claims against him.
Depp lost his widely publicised U.K. libel action against British newspaper The Sun for labelling him a “wife-beater” in November 2020. The outlet’s statements were found to be “basically truthful” by the court, and Heard testified to support them.
Read more on Latest Entertainment News on Pakistanlounge.pk
