A fund set up by tech billionaire Elon Musk is believed to have donated $500k as a charity donation in Amber Heard’s name.
A deposition given by Terence Dougherty, the chief operating officer and general counsel of American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) revealed that Amber Heard did not fulfil a pledge she made to donate $3.5 million to the charity.
Johnny Depp launched a defamation lawsuit against Heard in 2019, after the Aquaman star described herself as a victim of domestic abuse in a 2018 article she penned in The Washington Post. The trial began Monday 11 April in Fairfax, Virginia.
Dougherty gave his deposition on 28 April in a pre-recorded clip filmed in December 2021.
Watch below:
Terence Dougherty, the general counsel and COO of the #ACLU, said in a prerecorded testimony that #AmberHeard did not donate $3.5 million to the organization but only $1.3 million. @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/n0a2N2v8Yo
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) April 28, 2022
The chief operating officer told the court the actress had been put forward as an ambassador for the ACLU as a result of her pledge to donate $3.5 million to the charity.
This promise came after Heard divorced Depp in 2016.
Watch below:
The first witness called today, via video deposition, is Terrance Dougherty of the ACLU. Benjamin Chew indicates the first part of Dougherty's questions will be asked by Depp's attorneys. #JohnnyDepp #AmberHeard @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/V9pOv41TAG
— Sierra Gillespie (@sierragillespie) April 28, 2022
Dougherty said:
“Ms Heard spoke with such clarity and expertise on issues of gender-based violence, that [ACLU representatives] decided she would be an appropriate person to ask to become an ACLU ambassador,”
He added, however, that the full amount that was pledged by Heard had not been seen at the time of his deposition.
Dougherty added that the foundation believed that a donation of $500,000 came from a fund that was set up by Musk, who the actress met on the set of the filming of Machete Kills in 2013.
After the actress pledged to donate $3.5m (and the foundation had only received $1.3m) the Tesla CEO emailed the executive director of the ACLU, Anthony Romero, citing that the actress would donate the total amount over a 10-year period.
Musk allegedly wrote:
“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.”
Dougherty said the actress never signed the pledge form and the organization did not receive its next instalment of the supposed donation in 2019.
