I, Amber Heard of---------, LA CA 90067 WILL SAY AS FOLLOWS
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I am making this statement in support of the Defendants’ efforts to ensure the trial goes ahead next week. I am informed that the Claimant has raised concern about the trial going ahead if I am not physically present to give evidence.
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I am a witness and not a party to these proceedings. I didn’t file this case. Since I filed for divorce, all I have wanted to do is move on. I obtained a restraining order from a judge in 2016 to protect myself and then settled our divorce on terms which meant the details of our relationship – including the abuse I suffered – would not be discussed in public, or so I thought. Since then, I have continued to want nothing more than to be left alone. I find myself saying the same thing today that I was saying in 2016 when I got that restraining order: I just want him to leave me alone. It is Johnny who started giving public interviews claiming I lied and it is Johnny who brought these proceedings. Four years later, I am still having to participate in costly litigation and give public testimony about some of the most upsetting and painful events in my life.
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I am very eager for this trial to proceed. In the lead-up to trial, Johnny and his lawyers have engaged in a press campaign to selectively leak materials, spin them in every way possible, and embarrass and harass me and the people around me, including potential witnesses. This campaign has affected my professional life, my personal life and my well-being. It has been extremely upsetting. Johnny is so much more powerful than I am, in every way: physically, financially, and professionally. By leaving him I escaped the physical abuse, but for the past four years he has used his power and resources to continue the harassment and abuse through the various legal proceedings he has dragged me into and the publicity campaign his team has run alongside those proceedings.
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Following this publicity, I have been subjected to a campaign of targeted online abuse on social media, as well as online petitions calling for me to be removed from any future sequel to Aquaman and from my association with L’Oreal. This has not been limited to my professional and commercial projects. It has also been aimed at what is most important to me: my humanitarian work, including my partnerships with the United Nations (UN) and non-governmental organisations, like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and many others, and the important work that these organisations do.
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I believe that only the truth coming to light after the presentation of evidence in a legal proceeding will put an end to this four-year long campaign of abuse. I am deeply concerned that any extension of these proceedings will only prolong that campaign.
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I will travel to London to ensure that this trial can proceed as scheduled, provided I am legally permitted to do so, notwithstanding the travel warnings and restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential risk to my health and safety. If I am not able to travel, I very much hope the trial can proceed with my evidence being given by video-link. I will make myself available at whatever times necessary to enable the trial to go ahead, to make efficient use of the court’s resources, and for justice to be done.
Signed:
Amber Heard
19 March 2020
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