NEWSEllen Barkin Set To Shake-Up Johnny Depp Trial As Veteran Hollywood Actress Becomes 'Independent Witness' To Corroborate Amber Heard's Claims
May 13 2022, Published 5:17 p.m. ET
Next week, Ellen Barkin will take the stand in the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial, as she dated the actor in the '90s after meeting him on set of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
This is not the first time the 68-year-old has testified against Depp — in 2020, when he sued The Sun for calling him a "wife beater" due to Heard's abuse allegations, Barkin claimed Depp threw a bottle across a hotel room during a fight. However, Depp denied this ever occurred, explaining that Barkin made up the story as he felt she was holding a "grudge" against him for not wanting to be in a serious relationship with her.
"A sexual element began with Ms. Barkin which lasted for months on and off, really because she was making the film I was making at the time, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," Depp said in court, the Daily Mail reported. "She wanted a proper relationship with me and I did not want that. I didn't feel the same about her as she did me and I suppose from that moment on she became very, very angry and since then I have not spoken to Ms. Barkin."
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Now, it seems like “Ellen’s testimony will be critical to Heard’s [case],” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told The Daily Beast, adding that Heard “needs independent witnesses to corroborate her story.”
Heard's sister Whitney Henriquez will also appear in court, and her testimony will be vital, as Heard claimed her sibling was present during one of their scuffles. "[Whitney] threw herself in the line of fire. Her back was to the staircase, and Johnny swings at her," the mom-of-one recalled.
"I don't hesitate, I don't wait — I just, in my head, instantly think of Kate Moss and stairs ... I swung at him," she continued. "In all of my relationship to date with Johnny, I hadn't landed a blow. And I, for the first time, hit him — like, actually hit him. Square in the face. He didn't push my sister down the stairs."
