How is James Franco embroiled in Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's legal drama?

Amber Heard
Amber Heard Reuters

Johnny Depp's legal team has reportedly planned to subpoena James Franco with respect to a defamation lawsuit filed against Depp's ex-wife Amber Heard. A video has been obtained by The Blast where James Franco allegedly met up with Heard just 24 hours after Depp and her fight where she claimed to have been beaten up by the Pirates of the Caribbean actor.

The surveillance footage basically shows that Amber Heard and James Franco shared the lift of their apartment 24 hours post her blowout fight with Depp. Apparently, the Blast reports that Heard is riding the elevator down to the parking area. She then exits from the elevator but re-enters the elevator a few seconds later with James Franco. While the alleged fight left Amber with a lot of bruises on her face, Depp has refuted the claims. He stated that she "painted on" the wounds to garner "positive publicity."

Furthermore, in the defamation lawsuit that he filed in March, Depp claimed that Heard's testimony was "conclusively refuted by two separate responding police officers, a litany of neutral third-party witnesses, and 87 newly obtained surveillance camera videos." Despite a subpoena that has been sent to Franco, Heard's attorney Eric M. George has deemed in irrelevant. George told E! News in a statement that the video featuring Franco and Heard is irrelevant to the claims. "Amber Heard and James Franco once lived in the same apartment complex and were simply taking an elevator at the same time. Period. Johnny Depp and his team have been trying—and failing—to place a salacious story based on this irrelevant footage for weeks. It's pathetic," he stated.

Depp's attorney is not far behind with the war of words as the attorney shared a statement which reads, "We are interested in James Franco and Elon Musk as fact witnesses because we have evidence they are men who saw Amber Heard's face in the days and nights between when she claimed Mr Depp smashed her in the face on May 21 and when she went to court with painted on 'bruises' to obtain a Temporary Restraining Order on May 27." So far James Franco or his rep have not responded to the subpoena or the claims made by Johnny Depp and his attorney.

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