Elon Musk shouldn’t testify in Johnny Depp’s defamation case against Amber Heard

Musk has been listed as a potential witness for Heard in the trial, to appear remotely. He dated Heard shortly after she and Depp ended their marriage.

Depp is suing Heard for $50 million over a 2018 op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic violence.” Although Depp was not named in the article, he claims it cost him a lucrative acting job.

Heard and Depp, who met in 2009 and were married from 2015 to 2016, accuse the other of acts of physical abuse during their relationship. They both denied the other’s claims.

The former couple settled their divorce in August 2016, releasing a joint statement that read in part, “Our relationship was intensely passionate and volatile at times, but always bound by love.”

Terrance Dougherty, general counsel for the ACLU, testified Thursday that Musk contributed $500,000 from a donor-advised Vanguard fund on behalf of Heard to the ACLU as part of the $1.3 million she had donated to the organization. Heard had pledged to give $3.5 million of her $7 million divorce settlement with Depp to the ACLU, but payments stopped around 2019, Dougherty said.

“We contacted Ms. Heard from 2019 for the next installment of her donations. We learned that she was struggling financially,” Dougherty said.

Dougherty said he had no indication that Heard did not intend to pay the remainder of his pledged donation. She is still considered an ambassador of the organization.

The trial, which began on April 11, is expected to last six weeks. Depp concluded his testimony on Monday and Heard has yet to testify.