Elon Musk will testify in the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial

In the never-ending legal battle between exes Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, we thought we heard it all.

They were married, they divorced, they sued each other. There have been serious allegations of domestic abuse from both parties, and wins and losses in libel suits.

This most recent court proceeding is related to a 2018 opinion essay in The Washington Post, penned by Amber, wherein she called herself a survivor of domestic abuse. Johnny is now suing her in a Virginia court for that article, saying she defamed him. But now there’s a new detail that is raising eyebrows.

A lot of high profile names in Hollywood have been  called up to testify on both Johnny and Amber’s behalf. There’s James Franco (odd choice, but okay). There’s Paul Bettany. Actress Ellen Barkin. And now there’s Tesla and Space X CEO (and Kanye ‘Ye’ West’s bestie), Elon Musk.

Considering the timeline of events, it is understandable that we might have missed the news that Amber and Elon were actually an item from 2016-2017, and then briefly again in 2018. Johnny has alleged that she cheated on him with Elon as early as a month after they were married in 2015. For his suit, Johnny has subpoenaed all email and text communications between Amber and Elon for that time period.

Amber, for her part, has called on Elon to testify on her behalf, and during the libel trial, texts between the two were read out, where Elon offered to provide Amber “24/7 security” to protect her from Johnny’s alleged violent outbursts.

James Franco has also been called to testify on Amber’s behalf for having allegedly seen Amber’s bruises after a reported domestic dispute with Johnny and being concerned for her welfare.

Another possible witness is Paul Bettany, who would testify on Johnny’s behalf, but provide texts between himself and Depp that Heard's camp put on their own exhibit list. Alson on the list are text messages between Amber and Jason Momoa.

What’s most interesting about Elon’s involvement in this trial is Johnny’s reaction in court, which was caught on video, at the mention of the Tesla CEO’s name.

When attorney Elaine Bredehoft said, “Now, in addition to that, [Heard] was also dating Elon Musk by this time... you'll find out that Mr Depp is obsessed with Elon Musk," Johnny had a very visceral reaction, where he smirked, and made it obvious. 

In 2018, Amber told The Hollywood Reporter that despite their breakup she still had a lot of love and respect for the Space X CEO, and spoke very highly of him.

“Elon and I had a beautiful relationship, and we have a beautiful friendship now, one that was based on our core values. We just bonded on a lot of things that speak to who I am on the inside. I have so much respect for him.” 

For Elon’s part, he has refrained mostly from commenting publicly on his time with Amber, but he did release a statement denying that Amber cheated on Johnny with him.

“Elon and Amber didn’t start seeing each other until May 2016, and even then it was infrequent,” his 2020 statement to Vanity Fair read. “Their relationship didn’t become romantic until some time later.”

In 2020, Johnny lost a UK defamation suit against The Sun who labeled him a “wife-beater” with the judge determining the label was accurate. Johnny then was removed from the Fantastic Beasts franchise and his Grindelwald character was recast.