Warner Bros Reportedly Isn’t Paying Attention to “Artificially Inflated” Petitions to Fire Amber Heard
Warner Bros continues to remain silent on Amber Heard‘s status. Much of the public believes that Warner Bros may be afraid of the public backlash of letting Heard go. According to Screenrant, it’s actually Heard’s contract that prevents Warner Bros from letting her go. As well, it’s being reported that they are ignoring the nearly 1.5 million people petitioning to have her fired.
This all stems from a lawsuit involving Heard, Johnny Depp, and a tabloid. Despite all of the evidence against Heard in her case with Depp, the UK court ruled in her favor. This was a terrible look for Depp, which puts a label on him as an allegedly abusive spouse (again, despite most of the evidence).
Warner Bros then announced that they would be recasting Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts film series without any announcement about Heard’s participation in Aquaman 2, which is also a Warner Bros property. Heard issued a statement that she will reprise her role as Mera in Aquaman 2. Heard said to EW:
“I’m super excited about the amount of fan love and the amount of fan appreciation that Aquaman has acquired and that it has garnered so much excitement for Aquaman and Mera that it means we’ll be coming back. I’m so excited to film that.”
Heard continued, “Paid rumors and paid campaigns on social media don’t dictate [casting decisions] because they have no basis in reality. Only the fans actually made Aquaman and Aquaman 2 happen. I’m excited to get started next year.”
According to Geekosity’s Mikey Sutton, “the answer is the same now as it was then: there are no plans to have Heard fired. Whether Warner Bros. eventually is scared off from the Twitter attacks on Heard and lets her go is unknown. But what I’ve been told is quite the opposite.”
“Warner Bros. removing an actress who was the victim of spousal abuse will create even worse PR, executives fear, despite what she is also being accused of,” says Sutton.
However, that may be part of the reason, but the majority of the reason is that Heard’s contract with Warner Bros makes it almost impossible for them to let her go. Here’s what Screenrant said:
“Typically it is impossible for a studio to break their contract with an actor unless criminal charges have been filed against them. While the court of public opinion may have found Heard guilty of being abusive toward her former husband, the teaming masses have no power in an American civil or criminal court. Likewise, the studio cannot ask Heard to step down as they did Depp, as there has been no civil judgement against her.”
Still, Geekosity’s insider believes that:
“They see it no differently than the boycott of Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel film, which proved to be ineffective as it brought in over a billion to Disney. They believe it’s artificially inflated and most likely politically motivated. They don’t base their decisions on web chatter.”
Screenrant continued, “This could change if Depp wins his civil suit against Heard and proves to the satisfaction of an American court that she lied about him abusing her or that she painted his acts of self-defense as abuse.”
The internet is extremely vocal and demanding that she also resign or be fired. A petition has now reached nearly one and a half million signatures. But it’s starting to appear that it will have little impact on whether or not Heard is kept as Mera.
What are your thoughts on all of the news with Heard and Depp? Let us know in the comments below!
Covering superheroes, anything dark, horror, and more! Lead writer for Fan Fest
