Johnny Depp suit against Amber Heard starts with jury picks

Jury selection has begun in a long-anticipated libel lawsuit filed by Johnny Depp against his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard.

The proceedings started Monday in a courthouse in the city of Fairfax, Virginia.

Depp sued Heard over an op-ed piece she wrote in The Washington Post in 2018 in which Heard refers to herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”

The article doesn’t mention Depp by name, but he says it clearly refers to her allegation that she suffered physical abuse at his hands.

Depp denies the allegation.

The lawsuit brought a little bit of Hollywood to a courthouse that has a long history of dealing with high-profile crimes — just not those involving movie stars.

The judge overseeing the case has laid down some guidelines, including that neither Depp nor Heard is prohibited from posing for photos or signing autographs in the courthouse or on the courthouse grounds, the Associated Press reported.

According to the AP, Heard’s lawyers tried to move the case to California but were unsuccessful.

This isn’t the first time the former couple has faced each other in court.

In November 2020, Depp lost his libel case against a British tabloid newspaper for labeling him a “wife-beater.”

The AP reported that the trial would probably last more than a month.