Days before she is set to testify against Johnny Depp in her defamation trial, Amber Heard has switched up her public relations representatives, firing crisis PR firm Precision Strategies for a new team led by PR veteran David Shane.
The actress was frustrated by negative coverage from the testimony given by Depp, who is suing Heard for $50 million over a 2018 op-ed in which she accused the actor of domestic violence and sexual abuse, Shane told TheWrap.
Heard has expressed frustration that Depp’s account of their turbulent relationship has been covered in the press more than her own, and is hoping that a change in representation can flip that. Over the past two weeks, Depp’s testimony defending himself from Heard’s accusations has been accompanied by a slew of psychologists and former employees of Heard and Depp with questions regarding the pair’s mental state along with salacious and sometimes explicit accounts of their public and private life together.
Shane’s firm, Shane Communications, previously represented Depp’s former business managers, The Management Group, when Depp sued them in 2017 in a $25 million fraud lawsuit. The Management Group filed a countersuit, accusing Depp through Shane Communications of a “lack of impulse control” on his spending habits, purchasing hundreds of millions in real estate, wine, vehicles and other luxuries. The lawsuits were settled in July 2018.
Depp has denied all allegations as a media circus has swirled around the trial being held in Fairfax County, Virginia, which has been livestreamed online and aired on cable news networks at the request of Depp’s attorneys. Heard could take the stand as early as Tuesday.
Precision Strategies did not respond to TheWrap’s requests for comment.
