Johnny Depp and Amber Heard reported to court in Fairfax, Virginia yesterday for the first day of their long-awaited defamation trial. Depp, 58, is suing his ex-wife Heard, 35, for $50 million over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in 2018 in which she identified as a victim of domestic abuse but did not mention Depp by name. (She previously accused him of abuse and filed for a restraining order when the couple split in 2016.) Heard, in turn, has filed a $100 million counterclaim against Depp. They may be at odds in the courtroom, but when it comes to fashion, they are surprisingly in sync: both parties dressed up in three-piece suits for the first day of jury selection.
As you can see above, Depp chose a light gray menswear look, which he accessorized with an old-timey tie and a rolled cigarette. Heard took a more subdued approach, with a black three-piece number that complemented her wispy updo. It’s unclear whether the two spoke to each other directly in the courtroom, but their respective fashion choices each say the same thing: this is COURT.
According to legal experts, Depp is likely to lose this case, because he doesn’t have much of one. (He lost a similar case against The Sun in the U.K., where they have much stronger libel laws, in 2018.) But the trial is going to be a circus anyway, with celebrity witnesses set to testify including Elon Musk, Paul Bettany, and James Franco. Crazed Depp fans have lined up outside the courthouse to cheer their hero on his probably doomed quest to further harass and disparage Heard. And the trial is expected to last more than a month, which means Depp and Heard have probably packed several more unintentionally matching outfits to wear. I guess I’ll be watching.
