There has been a tumultuous storm between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp regarding both of their accusations that the other had physically abused them. Their entire relationship created a whirlwind and these accusations and trials in court have turned heads.
Amber Heard was arrested in 2009 for allegedly grabbing and hitting her then partner’s arm in public at Seattle-Tacoma International airport. These charges against her, however, were dropped when her ex-partner Tasya van Ree claimed that the police had misinterpreted and overly-sensationalized a heated conversation.
Fans have picked a side in this ongoing media battle between Depp and Heard and have come to the conclusion that Depp has had no history of being violent but Heard has. They believe that Depp was the victim of physical abuse, following a phone call recording that was leaked in 2020 which included Heard’s admission that she did, in fact, hit Depp. She even says she cannot promise that she would not be able to avoid the same in the future.
Amber Heard was cast as Mera in the upcoming Aquaman sequel which started production in July 2021. It was announced that Heard would be cast as Mera around the same time, which was after Johnny Depp was asked to leave the Harry Potter movies’ sequel Fantastic Beasts 3. Depp played the role of Grindelwald, the villain of the series.
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Warner Brothers Productions also backs most of the DC Extended Universe’s movies and has received backlash and threats as they have gone ahead with the casting of Amber Heard as Mera despite her domestic violence accusations while they had asked Depp to step down from his role as Grindelwald for the same reason.
Fans took to Twitter, an evergrowing opinionated platform, and said that they would boycott the film if Heard was not replaced and were shocked at the gross injustice that was catered to Depp.
Paul Safran, one of the producers from Warner Bros. Production of the Aquaman sequel, has said and I quote “I don’t think we’re ever going to react to, honestly, pure fan pressure. You have to do what’s best for the movie. We felt that if it’s James Wan and Jason Momoa, it should be Amber Heard. That’s really what it was.” He continued to say that the producers and directors are doing what’s best for the film and will not take into consideration what is going on Twitter-verse or react to the fans’ backlash or demands in any way.
Fans were extremely shocked by this and have come out with tweets and statements of their own, causing more backlash, and had created a hashtag specifically to boycott the film– #BoycottAquaman and it had begun trending. Several fans were angry and upset that the producer mentions in his statement that doing what is best for the film does not include what the fans are expecting because who else is going to watch the movie once it is released if not these very fans who are enraged. They have also gone on to claim that Amber Heard would not do the role of Mera in the movie justice.
Producers do not seem too concerned by this hashtag because they believe that even if there is a boycott, it would have to be of epic proportions and seem to be counting on the fans that would not care for the dramaticism of casting an actor.
The film is set to be released in mid or late 2022 and fans as of now seem hellbent on not buying into this production by the Warner Brothers.
