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Tag: defamation trial

  • Amber Heard is back in ‘Aquaman 2’ despite rumors she was cut out of the movie

    Amber Heard is back in ‘Aquaman 2’ despite rumors she was cut out of the movie

    Hollywood star Amber Heard is in the anticipated sequel to “Aquaman.”  

    The first trailer of “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” was shown at CinemaCon, the annual movie-theater convention, on Tuesday during a presentation by Warner Bros, attended by Insider.

    Heard, who played Mera, the love interest of Aquaman (Jason Momoa) in the hit 2018 original movie, is featured in two brief shots during the trailer in which she’s doing battle underwater. She has no dialogue in the trailer. 

    In June of last year, a now-deleted post on Just Jared reported that Heard was being “cut out” of the sequel.

    “The rumor mill continues as it has from day one — inaccurate, insensitive, and slightly insane,” a spokesperson for Heard told Insider in response to the post.

    Heard’s Mera character was first introduced in the 2017 film “Justice League” before becoming a protagonist in 2018’s “Aquaman” alongside Momoa.

    During her defamation trial with her former husband, Johnny Depp, Heard said her role was heavily reduced in “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.”

    “I fought really hard to stay in the movie — they didn’t want to include me in the film,” Heard said on the stand, adding that she performed “a very pared-down version” of the role that took away action scenes between herself and another character. 

    If the trailer is any indication, Heard’s Mera is not the main supporting character she was in the first movie. Instead of Aquaman and Mera teaming up for most of the movie, in the sequel, it’s Aquaman and his half-brother Orm Marius, played by Patrick Wilson. 

    “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” opens in theaters on December 20.

  • Alex Jones to pay $473 million in additional damages for his ‘fake Sandy Hook’ claim

    Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist, has been ordered to pay an additional $473 million (£405 million) for falsely claiming the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.

    The Connecticut judge’s order brings Jones’ total obligation to pay after the defamation trial to $1.44 billion.

    Plaintiffs sought additional compensation, citing Jones’ “utter lack of repentance” and “historic” wrongdoing.

    Jones now admits that the 14 December 2012 attack that killed 20 children and six adults was “100% real.”

    The case in Connecticut is one of three Jones is facing over the claims that the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, was a “staged” government plot to take guns from Americans and that “no-one died”.

    He had called the parents of victims “crisis actors” and argued that some of them never actually existed.

    In the Connecticut defamation trial, families of eight victims, and an FBI agent who responded to the attack, had sought at least $550m. They alleged the right-wing radio host’s misinformation led to a decade of harassment and death threats.

    The trial follows a similar case in Texas in August that saw Jones ordered to pay $49.3m in damages to other Sandy Hook parents.

    Judge Barbara Bellis imposed the extra punitive damages on the Infowars host and his company on Thursday.

    In a separate order, the judge temporarily blocked Jones from moving any personal assets out of the US after the plaintiffs claimed Jones was trying to hide some.

    A lawyer for the families, Chris Mattei, said the ruling served “to reinforce the message of this case: Those who profit from lies targeting the innocent will face justice”.

    It is unclear how much money the families will actually receive, with Jones saying on Wednesday there “ain’t no money”.

    He and his company have filed for bankruptcy protection in Texas, where a forensic economist has testified that he and his company are worth around $270m. Jones has disputed that figure.

    Jones broadcast himself watching last month’s verdict and scoffing at the court proceedings.

    His lawyer Norm Pattis has argued for a new trial.

    Jones still faces a third defamation trial over the Sandy Hook shooting that begins in Texas later this year.