Just friends? Amber Heard and James Franco’s relationship was brought up during her defamation trial with Johnny Depp on May 17, 2022. Johnny’s lawyer, Camille Vasquez, cross-examined the Aquaman star with security footage from the night before Amber filed for divorce from Johnny.
“That’s you and Mr. Franco on May 22, 2016, right Ms. Heard?” the attorney asked, referring to the footage captured on May 22, 2016. Heard replied, “That’s correct.” Camille further interrogated the actress, “And it’s past 11 p.m. at night … You knew Mr. Depp was out of town the week of May 21, 2016.” However, Amber denied that she knew of Johnny’s schedule.
Amber was rumored to be having an affair with James, who was her next-door neighbor. During the trial—in which Johnny is suing his ex-wife for $50 million over the publication of a 2018 op-ed in which she described herself as a victim of domestic abuse—Amber went on to explain the real relationship between her and James Franco.
What was Amber Heard and James Franco’s relationship?
Amber confirmed that the relationship between her and James was strictly platonic. “He was my friend and he lived next door, quite literally next door, and I had frankly exhausted my support network with my usual friends and was happy to welcome as much friendship at that time as I could possibly get,” she shared during the trial.
However, she expressed that Johnny has a disdain for The Disaster Artist actor. “He hated James Franco. He was accusing me of having a thing with him in the past since we had done Pineapple Express together,” Amber said on May 5, 2022. The Danish Girl actress then explained that Johnny would get jealous easily when it came to Amber and her co-stars. “I had spoken to Johnny — I’m in Boston, he’s in New York. He had already been upset at me and accused me in many arguments about not telling him about scenes I had. If I had a kissing scene, any sort of romantic scene, and I wasn’t explicit about what I was going to do. I was accused of hiding information from him.”
She further explained what the Pirates of the Caribbean star did when he found out about these scenes.”I didn’t want the fight, of course, but I had to kind of eggshell, tip-toe around how to tell him when I had any sort of scene like that, and I did tell him in this occasion. He was upset with me, but he didn’t sound coherent on the phone. He was yelling at me, ‘How could you! How could you tell me this when I’m filming this scene, when I am working.’ I told him as soon it was relevant, but he said, ‘How could you just tell me this.’ It was like I told him I was having an affair. He started to sound less connected to reality as these arguments would happen on the phone.”
Johnny sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for defamation in 2020 after Amber wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post in 2018 about domestic abuse. Though she did not mention a name, it was speculated that the allegations were directed toward Johnny, to whom she was married from 2015 to 2017. Johnny claimed in court that the op-ed tarnished his career and made him lose his roles such as his Pirates of the Caribbean role.
Their trial started in April 2022 and has garnered much attention from the public eye. As of this article being written, the trial is expected to end at the end of May 2022. Many of Johnny’s exes have reacted to the allegations, such as Winona Ryder, Vanessa Paradis and Jennifer Grey. A source close to Johnny told HollywoodLife in May 2022 that the actor “is extremely grateful for his fans being so vocal on social media and in-person throughout this entire case. It has given him a renewed energy to keep fighting for what he feels is right.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-SAFE (7233) for confidential support.