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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Tom Murray

Johnny Depp trial: Footage of actor showing a doodle to his lawyer during trial goes viral

STEVE HELBER/JONATHAN ERNST/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Johnny Depp has been spotted doodling during his $50m (£39m) defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard.

Footage of the actor showing his attorney Benjamin Chew what appears to be a portrait of a face has since gone viral on TikTok.

Depp is seen slipping Chew the drawing, which the lawyer puts his glasses on to look at before nodding and smiling while conversing with Depp.

According to The New York Post, the moment occurred while waiting for witness Tara Roberts, Depp’s island estate manager, to join the court via video.

Images captured by press photographers on Wednesday (27 April) show other discernible drawings in Depp’s notepad.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star is suing Heard, who divorced Depp in 2016, for defamation. He alleges that Heard implied that he abused her in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed about domestic violence.

Depp’s sketching was captured by press photographers (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Heard, in turn, has filed a counterclaim, accusing Depp of allegedly orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her and describing his own lawsuit as a continuation of “abuse and harassment”. She has asked for $100m (£78m) in damages, as well as immunity from Depp’s claims.

Depp’s four-day testimony came to an end on Monday (25 April), during which the actor claimed: “The only person that I have ever abused in my life is myself.”

Separately, the Pirates of the Caribbean star testified that Heard “despised” British actor Paul Bettany “mainly because we had become such close friends and, for her, he was a threat”. Heard is yet to testify.

A petition to remove Heard from the forthcoming Aquaman sequel has reached two million signatures amid the trial.

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