Amber Heard Fires PR Team Days Before Taking Stand Over 'Bad Headlines' Covered In The Defamation Case

Amber Heard has fired her PR team and has switched to a new firm after getting frustrated with the bad headlines during the defamation trial brought by her ex-husband Johnny Depp.

It is reported that Heard was presented by Precision Strategies before and she suddenly ditched the firm for an LA-based consulting firm Shane Communications.

Heard perhaps ditched her old firm in hopes that the new firm will bring her more favorable changes in the coming week when she is likely to take the stand and testify.

“She doesn’t like bad headlines,” an unnamed source told the New York Post, which first reported the news.

Another source told the newspaper that Heard, 36, is “frustrated with her story not being told effectively.”

The infamous defamation trial started in Virginia on April 11 and is believed to last another three weeks. In the trial so far, Johnny Depp has presented a plethora of evidence proving that during his time with Amber Heard, he had been a victim of domestic violence.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star is suing Heard for $50 million, claiming she defamed him and ruined his career after a 2018 Washington Post article in which she described herself as a 'public figure representing domestic abuse', without naming her ex-husband.

Meanwhile, Heard is countersuing Depp for $100 million and after three weeks of sitting in the courtroom, it is time for her to take the stand and fight back against all the claims. 

The PR firm switch came following several days of court testimony from Depp witnesses that saw the social-media mob suddenly turn against Heard. 

Apart from the domestic violence claims, Heard's credibility as a philanthropist took a blow when it was claimed she had not donated her $3.5 million divorce settlement to charity - something she had promised publicly to do.

It was reported that the actress had donated only $1.3 million and a large portion of it was covered by her ex-boyfriend, Elon Musk.

According to Terence Dougherty, the chief operating officer of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the recipient of Amber's 'largesse', $500,000 came from a Vanguard fund connected to Musk. 

Her contributions dried up by 2019, and Dougherty told the court the ACLU 'learned that she was having financial difficulties'.

Heard's lawyer is arguing Depp abused her both physically and sexually and she hopes to make her point once she takes the stand early this week.

Shane Communications is led by its CEO David Shane, who has briefed against Depp in the past. 

Back in 2017, the firm accused Depp's former business manager, The Management Group, and alleged that Depp needed to hire a shrink for his 'compulsive spending' habit of spending $2 million per month. 

Depp then launched a $25 million lawsuit last month against his business managers, The Mandel Company, claiming 'gross mismanagement' of his affairs.

One crisis communications expert told the Post that they believed the new PR company would have its work cut out in order to change the narrative.

'It's crazy to change teams in the middle of a trial like this because you don't like the headlines,' said Lis Smith, a senior communications director for Pete Buttigieg's 2020 presidential campaign.

'After years of narrative building, you can't change the public's opinion in the three weeks when someone is suing you in a case.'

EPA

It is also believed that Heard never wanted the cameras to be allowed in the courtroom, however, it was Depp's team who pushed for it and eventually won.

This means that if the media was not allowed in the courtroom, then the public wouldn't be able to see the trial from both points of view, instead, the truth would be cherry-picked and presented to the court.

The trial has so far covered all manner of bizarre behavior with shocking allegations levied by both sides.

Depp has even accused his ex of defecating on their bed in an act of revenge. 

Getty Images

Testimony from both sides includes a severed finger, throwing tantrums, hitting, feces on the bed, and even a discussion about the Hollywood star's penis.

Depp denies the allegations of abuse noting how he brought the lawsuit in order to clear his name.

Lawyers for Heard say such denials are not credible because the actor was too drunk and high to remember what occurred. 

The trial in the Fairfax County Courthouse runs Monday to Thursday from 10am to 5pm, and is set to conclude on May 19. 

Judge Penny Azcarate has a prescheduled conference from May 9 to 12 when the trial will pause for a week. 

Reuters