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The Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard defamation trial resumed on Monday, May 23, and saw entertainment expert Kathryn Arnold take the stand as the last witness of Heard’s team for the day.
Arnold shared her opinion about the impact of the defamation case on Heard’s professional life and claimed that her career could have flourished like Zendaya and other contemporary stars if she was not embroiled in a highly publicized legal battle with Depp.
The expert also discussed the “downturn” of Johnny Depp’s career in the wake of his defamation lawsuit and claimed that the actor’s allegations about Heard faking her domestic abuse made her lose $45 million to $50 million worth of work.
Johnny Depp filed a $50 million lawsuit against Amber Heard after she called herself a domestic violence survivor in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed. His team alleged that the article damaged Depp’s public image and had a negative impact on his career despite his name not being mentioned in the story.
Amber Heard countersued Depp for $100 million and alleged that that he abused her on multiple occasions during their relationship. The much-awaited defamation trial began on April 11 in Fairfax County court.
Everything to know about Kathryn Arnold
Kathryn Arnold is an entertainment expert, award-winning film producer and media executive with more than 20 years of experience in the industry. According to her official bio, she specializes in film development, finance, production, distribution, and international sales.
Arnold has a wide range of experience in both the studio and independent film industry as well as in corporate sponsorship and fundraising. She has garnered immense knowledge after working with several Hollywood talents, crew, financiers, studios and entertainment attorneys.
The entertainment expert has lived in France, Italy and Mexico and graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in Economics. Arnold began her career as an executive at The Maltese Companies and also worked on TV and feature film projects financed by Wall Street ad agencies.
She reportedly oversaw the production of Pound Puppies: The Legend of Big Paw and served as the associate producer of Manhunt Live: The Search For The Green River Serial Murderer. Arnold also worked at Guber-Peters Entertainment Co. and contributed towards the development of feature films made by the company.
The executive was also an associate producer of Pizza Man and The Webers’ Fifteen Minutes. Arnold witnessed a significant shift in her career after partnering with Louis Venosta and launching his directorial career with the acclaimed short film The Coriolis Effect.
Kathryn Arnold went on to produce films like Nevada, Façade, The Velocity of Gary, and Cowboys and Angels. She also played an instrumental role in launching Cineville International’s foreign sales division in 1997 Cannes, where she handled foreign sales, acquisitions, and financing as well as packaging and production responsibilities.
In 2000, Arnold wrote and directed the documentary film Shining Stars: The Official Story of Earth, Wind & Fire. The expert then bagged the role of head of production at MonteCristo Entertainment and oversaw the packaging and development of both English and foreign language films made by the company.
Additionally, Arnold worked in the Corporate Relations Department with the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee. She also went on to work with Internet Studios and Infinnity, Inc and started serving as a consultant and expert witness on entertainment industry related cases using her industry experience for ancillary services.
Prior to her latest testimony in the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard defamation case, Arnold provided expert testimony, reporting, consultation, financial forecasting, and referrals to her clients who experienced economic damage and loss of wages.
A look into Kathryn Arnold’s testimony in Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial
On Monday, entertainment expert Kathryn Arnold took the stand to testify in the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial. She told lawyer Elaine Bredehoft that Aquaman could have been Heard’s “A Star Is Born moment” but negative publicity affected her career:
“It was that moment where not only was she a good actor, but she was now world-renowned because she was in the most successful film… for DC Comics. It was just this extraordinary moment for her, for her career to take off.”
She continued:
“Every time she appears anywhere, the social media negativity campaign starts up again.”
Arnold testified that Amber Heard was excluded from major press events and promotional material for Aquaman and L’Oreal stopped working with her amid her ongoing legal issues with. She said the actress does not even receive press requests any longer.
The entertainment expert went on to say that Heard lost around $45 million to $50 million after Depp and his team accused her of creating an “abuse hoax” and fabricating her domestic violence claims against the Pirates of the Caribbean actor.
Arnold said that Amber Heard “stopped working” and begged not to be cut off from Aquaman 2 instead of having “negotiating power.” She claimed Heard’s career could have skyrocketed similarly to stars like Gal Gadot, Ana De Armas and Zendaya if she did not get involved in the legal controversy with Depp.
The executive alleged that Heard would have received at least four other endorsement deals worth $8 million, earned $20 million from various film projects, and garnered more income in millions from TV projects if she was not involved in the defamation lawsuit.
Arnold also mentioned that Heard’s Aquaman co-star Jason Momoa and director James Wan were “adamant” to retain the actress in the franchise and helped her keep her role in the second instalment of the film.
The expert also said that Heard made $200,000 per episode on The Stand and the fee was likely to rise following the success of Aquaman. However, even her LA Style cover for The Stand was allegedly taken away for the “Depp-Waldman” abuse hoax statements.
However Depp’s team questioned why Arnold compared Amber Heard’s career to prominent stars like Gadot, Zendaya and Momoa:
“She's never been the title character in a movie. She wasn't on TV for years. For the jury to accept your damage analysis, they would have to agree with you that Heard was on the precipice of a meteoric rise.”
In addition to discussing Amber Heard’s career, Arnold also evaluated Johnny Depp’s “career downturn.” She noted that the lawsuit impacted his career alongside his alleged controversial personal behaviour:
“Well, we talked about the erratic behavior, the tardiness, the drugs and alcohol abuse. And the lawsuits have had a really big impact, not just this lawsuit but previous lawsuits that Mr. Depp has been involved with because there’s a lot of publicity around anything he does.”
She claimed that every time Depp filed a lawsuit it “brought to light” several issues:
“Whether it was about, you know, erratic behavior or domestic abuse or drugs and alcohol and even spending habits. So every time a lawsuit has been filed, the press and publicity has just been charged up and brought everything back to light.”
Kathryn Arnold also claimed that Amber Heard’s Washington Post op-ed did not impact Depp’s role in the sixth Pirates movie:
“Mr. Depp is claiming that he lost money on Pirates 6 but Pirates 6 hasn't even made yet. So, I don't know how you lose something that hasn't happened.”
She alleged that the franchise was affected due to a “series of bombs” that Depp faced at the box office prior to Pirates 5.
Monday’s session for the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard defamation trial came to an end around 5:30 pm with Kathryn Arnold’s testimony. The trial is set to continue on Tuesday at 9 am in the Fairfax County Court.
