Johnny Depp has swapped the courtroom for the stage, just two days after his lawyers delivered closing arguments in his defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard.
The actor joined his friend and rocker Jeff Beck, 77, on stage at Sheffield Town Hall in England on Sunday to perform covers of John Lennon’s ‘Isolation’, Marvin’s ‘What’s Going On’ and ‘Little by Jimi Hendrix.
Footage of the surprise performance posted to Instagram showed Depp on the mic as the lead singer.
The 58-year-old actor and Heard fought in the Fairfax County Courthouse in Virginia after Depp filed a $50million libel suit against his ex-wife over a 2018 op-ed she wrote in the Washington Post, in which she claimed she was the victim of “domestic violence” but did not identify it. Heard is suing him for $100 million.
The outcome of the case went to the jury on Friday afternoon after both sides presented their closing arguments.
“There is an assailant in this courtroom, but it is not Mr. Depp,” said his lawyer Camille Vasquez. “Miss Heard is actually the abuser and Mr. Depp is the abused.”
Heard’s attorneys, meanwhile, called on the jury to protect Heard’s right to free speech.
“This lawsuit is about much more than Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard. It’s about free speech and standing up, protecting it and dismissing Mr. Depp’s claims against Amber,” his lawyer Ben Rottenborn said. .
The jury paused over the long weekend without reaching a verdict, but is expected to return at 9 a.m. Tuesday to resume deliberations.