Witness Claims Jason Momoa Protected Amber Heard From Aquaman 2 Firing

According to NBC News, these statements described Heard as consciously orchestrating a "hoax" by accusing Depp of domestic violence in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed that did not name him.

And while Depp's lawyers have argued that these allegations brought irreparable harm to his own career, entertainment industry consultant Kathryn Arnold disputed these claims and said Depp did more harm to Heard's career than vice-versa.

But as Variety reported, Arnold maintained that Heard's star was on the rise before Waldman's statements prompted sudden and overwhelming online backlash every time a major studio was looking to work with Heard.

As Arnold put it, "In the industry, they like her work. But they can’t work with her right now."

She went on to compare Heard's potential career trajectory to the careers now enjoyed by Jason Momoa, Ana de Armas, Gal Gadot, Zendaya and Chris Pine.

In Arnold's words, "It would have been very reasonable to believe her career would have been on an upward trajectory of those other actors."

But as she testified in court statements reported by The Wrap, that wasn't as possible when her name was immediately followed by intense backlash and those circumstances nearly cost her the opportunity to reprise her role as Mera in Aquaman 2.

As Arnold said, "Her management team fought very hard and they ultimately ended up hiring her, but not only because of what her management did, but also because star Jason Momoa and director James Wan committed to her."

As Arnold saw it, this was just a drop in the bucket in terms of what Heard should have been able to earn over the last two years, which Arnold estimated as between $45 million and $50 million.

But since public opinion has clearly turned against Heard, Arnold said her "world has been silent in terms of opportunities."

In her words, "The only time her career slowed down and stopped was at the same time those defamatory statements came out."

h/t: NBC News