Amber Heard Rejects ‘Slightly Insane’ Rumors She’s Been Cut from Aquaman 2
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Amber Heard denied a rumor she was cut from Aquaman 2 after unconfirmed reports on the film circulated online.
“The rumor mill continues as it has from day one — inaccurate, insensitive, and slightly insane,” a Heard representative told Fox News.
Heard’s rep issued the comment after a report from celebrity gossip site Just Jared claimed she had been replaced as Aquaman’s Mera by Nicole Kidman.
“Warner Bros. decided to recast Amber Heard‘s role after screen testing the movie. They are going to be doing reshoots with Jason Momoa and Nicole Kidman,” Just Jared reported, quoting an “insider source.”
The source added that Kidman would portray Mera in any future DC films.
The site has since appended an update to its story from “sources close to the Aquaman production,” saying, “Amber has not been completely cut from the film. She still has a small role.”
While on the stand, Heard already testified that her role as Mera was “pared down” due to her legal battle with ex-husband Johnny Depp.
In a pre-taped deposition played during the defamation trial, Walter Hamada, President of DC Films, also said Heard and Momoa were not a good onscreen match.
“They didn’t really have a lot of chemistry together,” Hamada said in a video recorded on March 15, 2022. “I think editorially they were able to make that relationship work in the first movie, but there was concern that it took a lot of effort to get there.”
Hamada also testified that while there were discussions about replacing Heard in the franchise, the studio decided to move forward with the actor and did not reduce her screen time.
Roughly two weeks ago, the jury in Depp and Heard’s defamation trial determined Heard did defame her former spouse in a 2018 op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post.
Depp had sued Heard for $50 million in connection with the op-ed, and the jury awarded him $15 million.
The jury specifically awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million dollars in punitive damages, but because Virginia law caps punitive damages at $350,000, Depp was awarded $10.35 million total.
The jury also awarded $2 million to Heard in compensatory damages in regards to her $100 million countersuit, as the jury determined Heard had also proven elements of defamation against Depp’s former attorney Adam Waldman.
The Aquaman sequel, titled Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, is set for a 2023 release.
