Johnny’s Depp’s US lawyer was today reprimanded by a High Court judge over an ‘unwelcome’ ‘In Memoriam’ tweet about evidence from Amber Heard’s interior designer.
Adam Waldman had accused Laura Divenere, who also worked for Elon Musk, of twice changing her story about Depp abusing Heard – and slammed her for suggesting he had put her under pressure to sign her witness statement in which she said she hadn’t seen any bruises on Heard after one of her alleged bust-ups with Depp.
Waldman tweeted after Ms Divenere gave evidence on Friday in which she called him ‘the biggest a**hole under the sun’: ‘In memoriam, Elon Musk’s decorator Laura Divenere’.
Adam Wolanski QC, for News Group Newspapers and The Sun today told the court: ‘We would ask that he [Waldman] refrains from posting further macabre, threatening and sinister messages about witnesses whose evidence he does not like.’
However, David Sherborne, Depp’s barrister argued in court that the reason behind the tweet was because Ms Divenere had been found to be backtracking on claims that she had been pressurised by Mr Waldman into making her initial statement supporting Depp.
Mr Sheborne said that the phrase ‘in memoriam’ – a phrase referring to remembering the dead was used by Mr Waldman to illustrate that her evidence on Friday was a lie.
The judge Mr Justice Nicol said the phrase was unwelcome.
Laura Divenere (left) claimed Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman (right) urged her to cooperate with Depp’s legal team or face being subpoenaed
Adam Waldman’s tweet read: ‘In memoriam, Elon Musk’s decorator Laura Divenere’ after she had given evidence on Friday and called him an ‘a**hole’
In her initial statement, Ms Divenere, who furnished the couple’s LA penthouse, claimed that she did not see Heard with any injuries following a fight between her and Depp on 21 May 2016 and that the actress had never reported being the victim of physical abuse.
She also described Depp as always being ‘delightful’ and never aggressive.
However, when giving evidence via video link from Los Angeles last Friday, Ms Divenere claimed that she was pressurised into saying all this by Mr Waldman.
A secret conversation recorded by Heard was also played to the court in which Ms Divenere raged against Mr Waldman for putting her under pressure.
However, in a further twist, she was then challenged by Mr Sherborne, who read out a number of emails sent by Ms Divenere to the Sun’s lawyers and her own US lawyers after the recording was made.
Dated March 2020, Ms Divenere asserts that she was illegally taped by Heard while having a conversation with her and that she was not coerced by Mr Waldman.
In the emails, she also sticks to her original statement that she never saw Heard with any injuries or witness Depp being violent.
The High Court was told that it was the confusion caused by Ms Divenere’s account that prompted Mr Waldman to send out his tweet.
The alleged 2016 row has become a focal point of the Depp’s High Court showdown against The Sun newspaper, who branded the actor a ‘wife beater’ in a 2018 article.
In the conversation that was played to the High Court on Friday, Ms Divenere called Waldman the ‘biggest a**hole under the sun’ after he asked her to abandon Heard’s version of the contentious fight.
London’s High Court was also today read a text from Waldman to Ms Divenere, who was strongly urged to cooperate with Depp’s legal team or face being subpoenaed.
And at the trial, Ms Divenere even conceded she had come under enormous pressure from Waldman to provide her statement, which she had not even written herself.
In one section of her statement, referring to the incidents of May 2016, Ms Divenere claims: ‘On none of those days immediately following the abuse claims did I observe any signs of physical abuse or injury, including any redness, swelling, cuts, bruising or damage of any kind.’
When asked by Ms Wass, representing The Sun, whose idea it was to include this, Ms Divenere replied: ‘Adam Waldman.’
The alleged row has become a focal point of the Depp’s High Court showdown against The Sun newspaper, who branded the actor a ‘wife beater’ in a 2018 article
In the conversation, Ms Divenere called Waldman the ‘biggest a**hole under the sun’ after he asked her to abandon Heard’s version of the contentious 2016 fight
She added: ‘Mr Waldman wrote the declaration, I just approved it and signed it.’ Ms Wass asked Ms Divenere: ‘I suggest that you felt pressurised by Mr Waldman to say things that were unfavourable about Miss Heard?’ Ms Divenere replied: ‘Yes.’
When asked about allegations she made about Heard having an affair with James Franco and Elon Musk, while she was still married to Depp, Ms Divenere said: ‘I did feel under pressure to say something about that.’
When asked about another section of her statement, which refers to Heard having spent a night in jail for attacking her former wife, Ms Divenere said: ‘That was Mr Waldman. I didn’t know about that until he told me.’
A text message from Mr Waldman to Ms Divenere was also read out in court, in which he asks her if she wants to ‘remain on the side of the hoax’ or the truth.
Ms Wass asked her: ‘Prior to this did you want to become involved as a witness between Miss Heard and Mr Depp. As a result of this text did you feel uncomfortable. Put under pressure?’
Ms Divenere replied: ‘I felt pressured.’
The High Court also heard a conversation that was secretly recorded by Heard when she spoke with Ms Divenere after she made her statement last June.
But the High Court in London heard a recording by Ms Heard of a conversation with Miss Divenere after she signed the statement, where she said Depp’s US attorney Adam Waldman drafted the statement and pressured her into signing it.
Ms Divenere said: ‘He thought I was totally conspiring with you, and I. literally took it that I was like this lying person and he was gonna go ahead and subpoena me.’
Ms Heard then told her former aide: ‘It’s not your fault, you didn’t know. I hid it from everybody’.
Explaining his tweet, Mr Waldman said: ‘Despite working for Elon Musk, Ms Divenere’s recent email to her own and the Sun’s lawyers read out in court reaffirmed her sworn testimony that saw no bruises the week of May 21, 2016, was not coerced into anything and completed and signed her own final statement.’