ACLU admits in testimony that it wrote Amber Heard’s op-ed against Johnny Depp; timed release with ‘Aquaman’

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(Video Credit: Access)

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) revealed in testimony during the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard $100 million defamation trial that it had ghost-written the Washington Post op-ed allegedly accusing Depp of domestic abuse, reportedly timing it for the release of “Aquaman” in which she played a role.

The ACLU also stated that Heard had only donated $1.3 million to their coffers after promising in 2016 to fork over $3.5 million from her divorce settlement with Depp, stating that the actress was having financial difficulties. The organization also contends that Heard’s ex, South African billionaire Elon Musk donated $500,000 of the money that Heard gave to the ACLU, according to the Daily Mail.

The Washington Post op-ed is central to the trial with Heard asserting that she is a survivor of domestic abuse at the hands of Depp.

Jezebel is reporting that email correspondence indicates that Robin Shulman, who is a communications strategist with the ACLU, first drafted the op-ed for consumption in November of 2018 a month before it was published. It is being alleged that Heard’s legal team deliberately edited the piece to make sure it did not outwardly incriminate Depp by name.

In a message to Heard that was dated November 29, 2018, Shulman said that she tried to “gather your fire and rage” for the op-ed piece.

In a follow-up message, Shulman told Heard, “Our lawyers should review this for the way I skirted around your marriage.”

Jessica Weitz, another member of the ACLU communications team, told Heard, ‘I want to make sure nothing was said in here that puts you in jeopardy with your NDA’ with Depp after the divorce.

Terence Dougherty, who is the general counsel and COO of the ACLU, testified that the ACLU was told to pitch the piece to a number of media outlets. The New York Times, Teen Vogue, and USA Today were initially considered but The Washington Post eventually won out and ran the op-ed. He claimed that it was about “gender-based violence issues.”

Stacey Sullivan, who is another member of the ACLU’s communication team, pitched the article to Michael Duffy, an editor at The Washington Post.

The email allegedly said, “Hey Michael, wondering if we might interest you in an op-ed by Amber Heard ‘Who as you may recall was beaten up during her brief marriage to Johnny Depp.'”

Heard emailed her team and the ACLU after The Washington Post picked up the piece, “It’s going to the Washington Post!!!”

Garry Johnson, who is another communications associate, emailed other staff members about the timing of the release of the op-ed in order to promote the premiere of “Aquaman.”

“Since draft turned out pretty strong and Aquaman slated to do large numbers I’m wondering what you think about it?” Johnson wrote.

Another staffer was even blunter concerning the timing of the op-ed and asserted that it should be published as quickly as possible “to capitalize on the tremendous campaign for Aquaman.”

It is unclear whether the ACLU helping Heard had anything to do with the donation that she pledged to them.

Heard never signed a formal pledge prepared for her by the ACLU concerning her vow to donate half of her divorce settlement in 2016 to them. The other half was slated to go to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.

“We reached out to Heard starting in 2019 for the next installment of her giving and we learned that she was having financial difficulties,” Dougherty stated

There were three payments to the ACLU that included a $100,000 check from Heard’s ex-husband Johnny Depp, $500,000 from a donor-advised fund at the Vanguard Group, and $350,000 from a donor-advised fund at Fidelity Investments.

Dougherty testified that the ACLU believes the Vanguard payment was from a fund established by Musk. The Tesla CEO had allegedly emailed Anthony Romero, the executive director of the ACLU, informing him that Heard would donate the total $3.5 million sum over a 10-year period as opposed to a one-time donation.

“Amber, I described your plan to donate $3.5 million to the ACLU over the next 10 years as you very much believe what you were doing,” Musk purportedly wrote in 2016.

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9 thoughts on “ACLU admits in testimony that it wrote Amber Heard’s op-ed against Johnny Depp; timed release with ‘Aquaman’

  1. South African billionaire Elon Musk” is actually African-American (1st generation!). Please correct.

  2. What business of the ACLU is this Depp/Heard affair? Are they trying influence the outcome of this trial?

  3. If Depp had previously given $100,000 to the ACLU, I have no sympathy for him.

    Anyone who in any way assists the ACLU scum deserves to lose. I wish them no good.

    1. You’d be surprised how many clowns here care about this BS!
      P. S. Don’t bring up #SAVEBRITNEY. You’ll see how many…. 😎🤣🤪🤔

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