Amber Heard grimaces on day two of Johnny Depp’s defamation trial

A perfectly coiffed Amber Heard looked miserable as she grimaced while speaking to someone in the courtroom while attending day two of the trial in the US, where her ex-husband and Hollywood star Johnny Depp is suing her for defamation

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Depp-Heard defamation case: the second day of the trial begins

Amber Heard grimaced in a candid moment at the multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit she is fighting ex-husband Johnny Depp in the US today.

The trial has begun its second day in Virginia, with the jury being selected Monday and the ex-couple confronting each other for the first time at yesterday’s hearing, with witnesses testifying today.

Cameras court the Aquaman actress, 35, dressed in a black and gold buttoned suit and tie, grimacing and appearing unhappy as she listened to another woman.

Johnny, 58, is suing Amber, who he divorced in 2017, for defamation over a 2018 article she wrote in the Washington Post in which she discussed her “experiences with domestic violence.”

Mr Depp’s lawyers say the article falsely implied that Ms Heard, 35, was physically and sexually abused by him when they were married.

The article does not mention Mr Depp by name and, according to Ms Heard’s lawyers, falls under the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which protects freedom of speech.

Yesterday, Benjamin Rottenborn, who represents Amber, said the actress also suffered “sexual violence at the hands of Depp.”

“You are being asked to decide a very simple question: Were the words Amber used in the 2018 opinion piece published in The Washington Post protected by the First Amendment or not?” he said in his opening statement.

“The question is whether the words were protected by the First Amendment, and the answer is clearly yes.”

He continued, “The evidence for Mr. Depp isn’t pretty… You’ll see who the real Johnny Depp is behind the fame, behind the pirate costumes.

“We’re going to focus on those words…whether you look at them individually or in the context of the play doesn’t matter because they’re true.

“Tragically, it’s true. Amber suffered sexual violence at the hands of Depp.”

Mr Rottenborn added that the actress “never wanted to show the public who Johnny Depp was, but that will come out,” he said.

“He wanted to make her life miserable, he wanted to ruin her life. He wanted to destroy her. And he did.

However, Mr Depp’s lawyers argued that Ms Heard’s allegations were false and that the actress was “preparing to give the performance of her life” during the trial.

Camille Vasquez, representing Mr Depp, said the actor would “go to his grave knowing there will always be people who believe he abused a woman”.

“Ms. Heard took on the role of her life, she couldn’t back down,” she said.

“She’s been living and breathing that lie for years.

Ms. Heard’s article in The Washington Post was titled “I Speak Out Against Sexual Violence — and Faced the Wrath of Our Culture.”

The case is being brought in Virginia and not in California, where the actors live, because the Washington Post’s online editions are published through servers in Fairfax County.

The process goes on.