It’s the second time Heard has been accused of failing to honour donations pledges
The CEO of an art charity has claimed that a $250,000 donation Amber Heard claims to have made to them actually came from Elon Musk.
In an attempt from Depp’s legal team to undermine the credibility of Heard, they suggested she had lied about making the donation.
The actress had previously told the court that she donated $250,000 to the Art of Elysium, a children’s arts charity.
But Depp’s lawyers called a rebuttal witness on Tuesday to bring that claim into question, Insider reports.
In a pre-recorded deposition from March 3, 2022, Jennifer Howell, the CEO of the Art of Elysium, said the charity received one anonymous donation of $250,000 in Heard’s name – but that they believed it to be from Elon Musk.
Heard and Musk had dated for a number of weeks after Heard split from Depp in 2016.
The trial has already heard accusations of the Aquaman star failing to honour donation pledges.
Depp’s legal team has previously provided evidence to show Heard failed to follow through on a commitment to donate her full $7 million divorce settlement from Depp to two charities – the ACLU and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
“Ms. Heard — respectfully, that’s not my question”: #JohnnyDepp’s attorney repeatedly told #AmberHeard “that’s not my question” during a tense back-and-forth about her non-fulfilled pledge to donate her $7 million settlement to charity. @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/PXZHR3SQbp
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) May 16, 2022
On Tuesday, a representative for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles said the organisation only ever received $250,000 directly from Heard, much less than the $3.5m she had promised them.
A representative for the ACLU had previously told the trial they received three payments totalling $950,000, but that only one of these was from Heard. They said the other two donations were from Depp’s money manager and Elon Musk.
Heard claims she had planned to pay both charities in full, but that she had to stop the payments when Depp began legal action against her in 2019.
Depp is currently suing his former wife Heard for defamation over an op-ed she wrote in 2018 in which she discussed the subject of domestic abuse.
Depp and his lawyers argue that the Washington Post piece falsely implies that Heard was physically and sexually abused by Depp while they were married from 2015 to 2017. He is seeking $50m in damages.
Heard is in turn suing her former husband, accusing him of orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her and labelling his lawsuit as a continuation of “abuse and harassment.”
She has asked for immunity from Depp’s complaint, and $100m in damages.
The court is now in its sixth week of hearing the case with closing arguments set to take place on Friday, May 27. It will then be up to the jury to decide the outcome.
Related links:
- Johnny Depp fans leave bad reviews for psychiatrist after he was called as witness for Amber Heard
- Amber Heard could face perjury probe over not honouring $3.5m charity donation, experts claim
- Ricky Gervais finally says what we’re all thinking about the Johnny Depp Amber Heard case
