Paul McCartney has played a clip of Johnny Depp from an old music video during a concert in Orlando – prompting speculation about whether the singer has given his support to the actor amid his defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard.
The former Beatles singer, 79, played the 2012 music video for his track ‘My Valentine’ – which features Depp, 58, and actress Natalie Portman – as he performed the song at the Camping World Stadium on Saturday night.
The visual, which features Portman lip syncing to the music while Depp strums an acoustic guitar, showed on the big screens at McCartney’s ‘Get Back’ tour.
McCartney did not address Depp’s $100million court case against Heard directly during the concert but as soon as the images of the actor appeared on stage, the crowd cheered.
It comes as the jurors deliberating the duelling defamation claims from Depp and Heard are set to resume their deliberations on Tuesday after failing to reach a resolution in the widely watched six-week trial on Friday.
Depp also left the libel trial in Fairfax, Virginia, and jetted to England where he surprised concertgoers by performing a cover of John Lennon’s ‘Isolation’ with Jeff Beck at the guitar legend’s show on Sunday.
Paul McCartney has played a clip of Johnny Depp from an old music video during a concert in Orlando – prompting speculation about whether the singer has given his support to the actor amid his defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard
Paul Mccartney, Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller And Johnny Depp at the charity Recording Of Help Album As Aid For Bosnia At Abbey Road Studios, London, Britain, in 1995
The former Beatles singer, 79, played the 2012 music video for his track ‘My Valentine’ – which features Depp, 58, and actress Natalie Portman – as he performed the song at the Camping World Stadium on Saturday night
Paul McCartney showed a video Depp filmed for the Beatle in 2012 at his concert in Orlando Saturday
During McCartney’s concert, he was seen playing the piano when two large screens either side of the stage showed the black and white images of Depp and Portman from the 2012 music video.
The crowd cheered and clapped as soon as the images appeared – but McCartney did not react and carried on playing ‘My Valentine’.
It’s unclear if the move was intentional, though McCartney has been playing the song with this visual treatment frequently on his 2022 tour, his first in three years.
TMZ said that the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Famer has not used the video during previous tours.
Some are suggesting that the use of the video featuring Depp was a sign of support.
One Twitter user wrote: ‘The first thing I noticed was that Paul McCartney supported Johnny Depp enough to put him on his own stage.
‘The next thing I noticed is the crowd cheering. The court of public opinion has spoken. Justice for Johnny Depp.’
Meanwhile, Depp spent Sunday night onstage after apparently flying straight to Sheffield City Hall to rock with Beck, performing a cover of John Lennon‘s ‘Isolation’.
An Instagram user who caught a shot of the Pirates of the Caribbean star wrote: ‘Wasn’t expecting this… I thought he was in court but turns out he’s in Sheffield with Jeff Beck.’
The song, released officially by Depp and Beck in 2020, has recently gained notoriety due to the publicity from the trial.
Depp also left the libel trial in Fairfax, Virginia, and jetted to England where he surprised concertgoers by performing a cover of John Lennon’s ‘Isolation’ with Jeff Beck at the guitar legend’s show on Sunday
Meanwhile, Depp spent Sunday night onstage after apparently flying straight to Sheffield City Hall to rock with Beck, performing a cover of John Lennon ‘s ‘Isolation’
The duo also performed covers of Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ and Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Little Wing,’ according to The Hollywood Reporter.
‘Mr. Depp is in the United Kingdom, as he was a few weeks ago, to adhere to his previously scheduled work obligations,’ a source close to Depp told CourtTV.
Depp and Beck, 77, frequently recorded together during lockdown in the initial wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He plays guitar in a band with Alice Cooper and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry called the Hollywood Vampires.
Both Depp and Heard’s legal teams delivered closing arguments Friday in the blockbuster defamation trial that has raged on for six weeks.
Depp’s all-star attorney Camille Vasquez began by labeling Amber Heard an ‘abuser’.
‘There is an abuser in this courtroom but it’s not Mr. Depp. There’s a victim of abuse in this court but it’s not Miss Heard,’ Vaquez said. ‘Miss Heard is in fact the abuser and Mr. Depp is the abused.’
Vasquez noted expert accounts that diagnosed Heard with borderline personality disorder and called the actress a ‘deeply, troubled person’ who is ‘desperate for attention and approval.’
It is six years ago to the day that Amber Heard filed a restraining order against Depp, which Vasquez said ‘ruined’ the actor’s life.
‘On May 27th 2016 Miss Heard walked into a courthouse in Los Angeles, California to get a no notice ex parte restraining order against Mr. Depp and in doing so ruined his life by falsely telling the world she was a survivor of domestic violence against Mr. Depp.
‘Today on May 27 2022, exactly six years later, we asked you to give Mr. Depp his life back by telling the world that Mr. Depp is not the abuser Miss Heard said he is and hold Miss Heard accountable for her lies.’
At 3pm local time the jury in the case went out to deliberate.
Closing arguments are underway in the blockbuster defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. Depp’s all-star attorney Camille Vasquez began by labeling Amber Heard an ‘abuser’
‘There is an abuser in this courtroom but it’s not Mr. Depp. There’s a victim of abuse in this court but it’s not Miss Heard,’ Vaquez said. ‘Miss Heard is in fact the abuser and Mr. Depp is the abused’
It is six years ago to the day that Amber Heard filed a restraining order against Depp, which Vasquez said ‘ruined’ the actor’s life
Depp waved to his adoring fans as he left the courtroom, while Heard was more subdued after closing arguments
Depp gave his attorney Vasquez a hug after she spoke during rebuttal of closing arguments on Friday
‘What’s at stake is this man’s good name, what’s at stake is a man’s life that he lost when he was accused of heinous crimes and the life he could live when he’s finally vindicated,’ Vasquez said.
In his own summation, Heard’s lawyer Benjamin Rottenborn said, ‘If you didn’t take pictures it didn’t’ happen. If you did take pictures they’re fake. If you didn’t tell your friends they’re lying. If you did tell your friends they’re part of the hoax.’
‘Failure to seek medical attention meant you were not injured,’ Rottenborn said. ‘If you do seek medical treatment then you’re crazy and if you do everything to help your spouse rid himself of drugs and drink then ‘you’re a nag.’
Rottenborn continued, ‘And if you decide enough is enough and you have to leave to save yourself you’re a gold digger. That’s the message Mr. Depp is asking you to send.
He said that in Johnny Depp’s ‘world’ you don’t leave him, and if you do ‘he will start campaign of global humiliation against you.
‘He will do everything he can to destroy your life, to destroy your career. That’s what they’re trying to get you to be an accomplice to.’
‘Mr. Depp cannot and will not take responsibility for his own actions.’
Taking the floor Friday, Heard’s lawyer Benjamin Rottenborn said, ‘If you didn’t take pictures it didn’t’ happen. If you did take pictures they’re fake. If you didn’t tell your friends they’re lying. If you did tell your friends they’re part of the hoax’
Heard’s legal team told the jury in closing arguments to ‘think about the message’ Johnny Depp and his legal team are sending Heard and ‘by extension every victim of domestic violence’
The circus trial began when Depp sued Heard, claiming three counts of defamation and $50million in restitution.
Heard – who was married to the actor from 2015 to 2017 – is counter-claiming for $100million.
Depp sued his ex-wife in February 2019 after she wrote an op-ed published by the Washington Post in December 2018 which Depp claimed left him with extensive financial loss to his career.
He added that he felt he could no longer act due to her allegations.
In the op-ed, Heard had described becoming ‘a public figure representing domestic abuse’ and ‘seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.’