It was the trial watched, reviewed, and – perhaps – even skewed around the world. And now, the sensational legal battle between Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard will once again be thrown into the spotlight as part of a bombshell new Netflix documentary. 

The April 2022 courtroom tussle between the Pirates of the Caribbean star, 60, and the Aquaman actress, 37, had the nation gripped from the out – with millions tuning in to watch them face off in court over abuse claims that Amber made against Johnny in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed. 

Everything from Johnny and Amber’s outfits to their facial expressions were analyzed by people all across the globe, it seemed as though every gossip site had their faces sprawled across their homepages, and you couldn’t even open apps like TikTok or Twitter without seeing another post about it.

Almost everyone involved became social media sensations – Johnny’s lawyers were turned into celebrities practically over night, and many of those who testified were hailed as heroes by the millions who avidly observed every second.

A wild conspiracy theory even made its away around the web that Johnny and his attorney, Camille Vasquez, were having a secret love affair – which only fueled more interest in the case. 

So what was it that sparked the public’s fierce obsession with the nasty court battle in the first place? Well, aside from involving two of Hollywood’s most elite, the trial contained a slew of bizarre moments that seemed to draw more people in every day.

At one point during the case, Amber’s lawyer accidentally objected to himself. And during another, a witness went viral after he issued an epic clap back to the mother-of-one’s legal team – after they accused him of only testifying because he wanted fame.

On top of the rumored romances, emotional outbursts, dramatic blowouts on the stand, and hilarious mishaps, Johnny and Amber’s bombshell accusations about one another throughout the six-week trial only added to the drama.

Arguably the most shocking moment was when Johnny alleged that Amber had pooped in their bed after they split – and he even provided images of fecal matter spread across his sheets.

The exes took every chance they could to hurl insults at one another. Every day, it seemed as though a another explosive revelation was brought to light and never-before-seen footage and images of the stars gave their fans a brand new look into the tragic and tumultuous relationship.

It was certainly a face-off that felt fit for screens, and now, it has become just that, as Netflix announced earlier this month that a new doc, called Depp v. Heard, will ‘examine the infamous defamation case that captured the world’s attention as the first Trial by TikTok, and question the nature of truth and the role it plays in our modern society.’

As we prepare for the upcoming doc, which will premiere on August 16, FEMAIL went ahead and recapped the most untamed moments from the Johnny and Amber trial – which in the end saw the jury rule in favor of the Edward Scissorhands alum. 

From the most surprising claims that the stars made about one another and the truth surrounding Johnny’s relationship with his lawyer to the star-studded celebrity who took to the stand to defend him and the strange animal that made an appearance – take a look back at the craziest things that went down during the highly-publicized case.

The explosive accusations: Johnny claimed that Amber POOPED in their bed after an argument – while she alleged that he did a ‘cavity search’ on her

Throughout the trial, both Johnny and Amber made a series of shocking accusations about one another.

Arguably the most bizarre was when the actor testified that his ex pooped in the bed they shared after they got into an explosive fight following a dinner for her 30th birthday on April 21, 2016.

He explained that Amber had released a ‘verbal barrage’ against him for being late to the celebration when they got home to their Los Angeles pad.

The star alleged that when he tried to leave, she ‘punched him in the face’ repeatedly before he was able to get out.

He then claimed that the next morning, his bodyguard sent him a photo of ‘human feces’ on the area that he sleeps.

‘On my side of the bed was human fecal matter,’ he told the court. ‘My initial response to that was, I mean, I laughed. It was so bizarre and so grotesque that I could only laugh.’

When he asked Amber about it, he claimed she said that her two dogs, Pistol and Boo, were to blame – but Johnny didn’t believe it.

‘She tried to blame it on the dogs. They’re teacup Yorkies. They weigh about four pounds each,’ he continued. ‘I lived with those dogs. I picked up their funk. It was not the dogs.’ 

A member of Johnny’s security team, Starling Jenkins, also testified that he accompanied Amber on a trip to Coachella the next day, and that he over heard her having ‘a conversation pertaining to the surprise she left in [Johnny’s] bed.’

He claimed her heard her call the incident a ‘horrible practical joke gone wrong.’ 

When Amber took the stand herself days later, she denied the allegations and again insisted that it was caused by one of the canines. 

‘First of all, I don’t think that’s funny. I was not, also, in a pranking mood,’ she said. ‘I don’t know what grown women does… That’s disgusting.’

She added that Boo has ‘bowel control issues’ and that it was Johnny who had ‘attacked’ her during their argument, not the other way around.

Another surprising moment came when Amber claimed that Johnny performed a ‘cavity search’ on her.

She said the incident occurred while they were on vacation together at a trailer park in Hicksville, California, near Joshua Tree, while the actor was searching for drugs.

‘He was looking for something. I went into the bathroom and as I come out he asked me where it is, and how long I’d been hiding it. I was like, “What you talking about?”‘ she testified.

‘[He said], “You know what I’m f**king talking about, be honest with me. Where are you hiding it.”

‘He starts patting me down, he ripped my dress. He’s grabbing my breasts, he’s touching my thighs, he rips my underwear off and then he proceeds to do a cavity search. He said he was looking for his cocaine, his coke. 

‘He just shoved his fingers inside me. I just stood there staring at the stupid light, I didn’t know what to do. He twisted his fingers around. I didn’t stay stop or anything.’ 

Some of the other explosive allegations made during the trial included Amber accusing Johnny of sexually assaulting her with a liquor bottle, and him claiming that she severed his finger after she threw the glass container at him. 

‘Let’s drown her before we burn her’: A series of very-dark texts sent from Johnny to actor Paul Bettany were brought to light during the trial, as well as shocking images of the actor passed out

When Johnny was on the stand, Amber’s lawyers brought up a series of very-dark texts that were sent from him to actor Paul Bettany, in which he claimed he wanted to ‘drown’ his ex before ‘burning her.’

The messages, which were sent in June 2013, read, ‘Let’s drown her before we burn her. I will f**k her burnt corpse afterward to make sure she is dead.’

‘You wrote that about the woman who would later become your wife,’ Amber’s attorney Benjamin Rottenborn asked Johnny, to which eh replied, ‘Yes.’

During the trial, Amber also shared a series of shocking pictures she said she took of Johnny while he was passed out due to intoxication.

‘He’d pass out, get sick, lose control of himself. People would pick him up and clean it and fix it,’ she said. 

‘And he wouldn’t either remember, or he would deny it, or he would accuse me of saying that this had happened when it didn’t. 

‘There was no one to back me up. [It was] just him, his employees, and everyone who had been taking care of him versus my word, and so I started to take pictures [to] say: “Look, this is happening.”‘ 

The jury was also shown a video that Amber had secretly recorded of her ex-husband smashing up his own kitchen cabinets in a drunken rage. 

The actor said of the footage: ‘Clearly I was having a bad time. I don’t know what with regard to, but being illegally recorded by your chosen other is quite fitting with the rest of the photographs and tape recordings.’

‘You’re the one who asked it’: Amber’s attorney was fiercely mocked online after he objected to his own question – leaving Johnny and his lawyers in stitches

One of the most talked about moments of the trial was when Amber’s lawyer Adam Nadelhaft actually objected to his own line of questioning.

The awkward incident occurred while Adam was asking Johnny’s house manager, Ben King, about the finger incident.

‘You didn’t know what could cause damage to Mr. Depp’s hand while you were there on March 8, correct?’ the attorney asked Ben.

But when Ben started to answer, he was quickly cut him off by Adam, who interrupted and said, ‘Objection, hearsay.’ 

‘Wait – you asked the question,’ Judge Penney Azcarate responded, clearly confused. ‘Next question.’

‘Oh, OK,’ a stuttering Adam added, before continuing on with his questioning. 

Johnny and his own lawyers appeared amused by the gaff and chucked to one another. 

It resulted in an uproar of social media posts from people who mocked Adam over his mishap. 

Courtroom romance? Many speculated that Johnny was having a secret love affair with his lawyer, Camille Vasquez, who became an internet sensation after she ‘annihilated’ Amber on the stand

Throughout the trial, many people on the internet became obsessed with Johnny’s lawyer Camille – thanks to her bold behavior in the courtroom, as well as her personal chemistry with the actor. 

Fans even started to wonder if romantic feelings had developed between her and Johnny after they noticed a slew of flirty interactions between them – including whispering in each other’s ears, giggling together, and sharing coy smirks with one another. 

Rumors of a budding romance were fueled after a video of the Pirates of the Caribbean star helping the lawyer untangle her iPhone charger went viral on TikTok. He was also spotted pulling out her chair for her. 

However, body language expert Judi James explained exclusively to DailyMail.com during the trial that the amorous moments between them were most likely not due to a secret affair, but instead, were all part of a plan to make Johnny seem like a ‘romantic hero.’ 

She said that linking him to a ‘fresh, smart, fragrant, and confident-looking woman’ like Camille would ‘destroy’ Amber’s recount of their toxic relationship. 

While Camille is very private when it comes to her personal life, some people on social media also pointed out that she appeared to wear an engagement or wedding ring during her court appearances.

In addition to her rumored romantic connection to Johnny, Camille received a lot of positive attention online after she cross-examined Amber on the stand, with some claiming that she ‘annihilated’ and ‘obliterated’ the star with her questions.

Camille accused Amber of ‘lying’ and pressed her on numerous inconsistencies she had made in her statements, and she even became short with the actress at one point when she started to talk to the jury.

‘There is no question pending so I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t make an argument to the jury. It’s inappropriate,’ Camille snapped at Amber. 

‘Camille Vasquez is definitely one of the best lawyers I’ve ever seen. She’s absolutely annihilating Amber Heard,’ wrote one person afterwards. 

‘That was an obliteration,’ agreed someone else. ‘Camille Vasquez you queen.’ 

Another added, ‘This is what a real strong independent woman looks like. Camille’s intelligence and talent is so inspiring for women everywhere. She is a true example of strength facing evil.’

‘Camille Vasquez gave Johnny Depp the voice he never had against Amber Heard’s vicious claims,’ gushed a different user. ‘You can tell how much she feels for him and how much she wants justice for him.’ 

After the trial, she landed a job as NBC’s legal analyst. 

The nail in Amber’s coffin: Famous supermodel Kate Moss delivered a sensational blow to the actress’ case against Johnny when she took to the stand to defend her ex

When Johnny’s ex Kate Moss took to the stand to defend him, it was said to be the final nail in the coffin for Amber.

Notoriously-private Kate put aside her infamous hatred of interviews and the media in order to rush to Johnny’s aid in court, delivering a sensational blow to Amber’s case by squashing the actress’ claim that Johnny once pushed her down a flight of stairs.

Amber made the claim while discussing an argument that she allegedly had with Johnny at the top of a staircase, when she said her sister, Whitney Heard, stepped in between them. 

‘She threw herself in the line of fire. She was trying to get Johnny to stop. Her back was to the staircase, and Johnny swings at her,’ she said.

‘I don’t hesitate and wait – I instantly think of Kate Moss and stairs, and I swung at him.’ 

But Kate, who dated the Hollywood heartthrob from 1994 to 1998, testified that Johnny actually helped her after she accidentally slipped and fell down the stairs during a trip they took to Jamaica together. 

‘We were leaving the room and Johnny left the room before I did. There had been a rainstorm and as I left the room I slid down the stairs,’ she recalled. ‘I hurt my back, and I screamed because I didn’t know what had happened.’

She said Johnny came running back to help her, adding that he ‘carried her to her room and got her medical attention.’ 

When asked directly by Johnny’s team if the Pirates of the Caribbean star ever pushed her down the stairs, Kate replied, ‘No.’ 

‘No, he never pushed me, kicked me or threw me down any stairs,’ she told the court. 

The actor and the British entrepreneur were together for just over three years in the ’90s, and when Johnny dumped Kate so he could focus his full attention on his career, she admitted she was devastated for ‘years’ over the breakup.

However, when she took the stand to defend her ex in court, it appeared as though she had nothing but warm feelings towards him, smiling at the mere thought of her past love with the movie star.

Johnny also struggled to contain his joy, letting out a small grin as she spoke to the court room about their ’90s romance.

Many viewers of the trial were quick to notice the exes’ happy compositions throughout the testimony, and they started to suggest that the pair should date again.

Some social media users became convinced that they were going to reignite their former flame, and the internet was flooded with tweets from enthralled Twitter users who called Kate his ‘true love.’

Witnesses turned into celebrities: Many of the people who took to the stand became viral sensations – most notably, the ex TMZ reporter who delivered a ‘savage burn’ to Amber’s lawyer

The trial saw tons more witnesses take to the stand to defend each side, including doctors, experts, friends, and family members – and there were a few other standouts who went viral for the things they said or did while testifying.

Ex TMZ reporter Morgan Tremaine was branded as a ‘king’ by people on the internet after he clapped back at Amber’s lawyer when she accused him of only taking the stand to seek ’15 minutes of fame.’

Morgan, who worked as TMZ’s former field assignment manager, was called by Johnny’s team to discuss a series of photos taken by the gossip site of Amber in 2016.

The pictures in question showed the actress leaving court after filing for a restraining order against Johnny, with what appeared to be a bruise on her cheek. 

According to Morgan, they were tipped off about the photo op – but he didn’t specify who gave them the tip. 

During her cross examination, Amber’s attorney Elaine Bredehoft accused Morgan of speaking out about the matter in an attempt to get attention, but he quickly shut those rumors down.

He insisted that he ‘gained nothing’ from speaking out, and fired back at the lawyer by telling her that he could ‘say the same thing’ about her taking Amber as a client.

‘You know this case is being televised, right?’ Elaine asked Morgan during her cross examination.

‘I am aware that there are cameras,’ he responded.

‘So this gets you your 15 minutes of fame, doesn’t it?’ she then suggested. 

‘I stand to gain nothing from this. I’m actually putting myself in the target of TMZ, a very litigious organization and I’m not seeking any 15 minutes here,’ he fired back.

‘But you’re welcome to speculate. I can say the same thing – by taking Amber Heard as a client – for you.’ 

The journalist’s ‘savage burn’ quickly went viral, and many social media users started vehemently supporting the former TMZ staffer.

Another viral moment came when clinical psychologist Shannon Curry took to the stand, and had to beg Amber’s lawyer to stop questioning her about muffins during a bizarre turn of events. 

The actress’ attorney Elaine tried to claim that Dr. Curry, who was hired to evaluate the stars’ relationship in 2021, was ‘so excited’ to work with the stars that she told her husband about it despite it being ‘highly confidential.’

Elaine said she could prove that Dr. Curry broke the confidentiality rules because she brought Amber some muffins that she said were courtesy of her husband when they met up in December 2021.

‘May I clarify what occurred so that we can stop talking about the muffins?’ the psychologist snapped to Elaine after she made the accusation.

‘What happened was, I was getting ready that morning, I frequently bring muffins to the office. 

‘My husband did happen to know that there was going to be a celebrity client coming in because on the morning that that occurs, which often occurs, we have to actually clear the office and move the staff to the other office.

‘So yes, on the one hand, he was aware of that. I was getting ready, I asked him to go to the bakery near our house and pick up the muffins for me because I was running late – he often has to do that because I often do run late.

‘He brought the muffins back to the house, I brought them into the office, Ms. Heard and I enjoyed the muffins together.

‘I think I made a comment to her along the lines of “my husband got these for us today,” meaning he purchased the muffins we are now enjoying them because of him.’

The internet was also entertained when Johnny’s doorman started vaping and driving his car in the middle of his testimony, which was done via video chat.

‘The REAL stars of the trial’: Johnny’s supporters brought live alpacas to the courtroom to show their support for the actor 

A very bizarre animal even made an appearance at the trial. Every day, a slew of supporters lined up outside the courthouse in the hopes of getting a glimpse of Johnny – and some even brought live alpacas with them. 

The mammal was symbolic in the case since it was used in a quote from Johnny about his relationship with Disney after Amber released her op-ed about him in 2018. 

Days after the article came out, he was dropped by the company, and the actor reportedly claimed at the time that he would not return for another Pirates movie even if Disney offered him $300 million and a million alpacas. 

So fans decided to bring the animal to court in an attempt to show their support – and many people on the web were very entertained by it.

‘The real stars of this trial… the ALPACAS,’ joked one Twitter user. 

Another said, ‘I hope that we can learn at least one thing from this trial: Don’t underestimate the power of one man and a few alpacas.’

Johnny’s lawyer was even spotted bringing a stuffed alpaca with him into the courtroom.

‘I’ll sure miss the alpacas,’ read a third tweet after the trial came to an end.

‘[The alpacas were] the best moment of the entire thing,’ agreed a different user.

ALEX BRUMMER: Adverts send amber signal

By Alex Brummer for the Daily Mail

Updated: 16:50 EDT, 4 August 2023

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The social services department involved in the case of tragic Amber Gibson has ‘blood on its hands’, according to relatives of the young girl murdered by her elder brother.

The accusation came as it was announced that an independent review of the circumstances of Amber’s death while under the care of South Lanarkshire Council will be completed after further interviews with witnesses in the criminal case.

Connor Gibson, 20, was yesterday convicted of attacking his sister Amber, 16, in woodland in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, in November 2021.

He removed her clothing, sexually assaulted her with the intention of raping her, inflicted blunt-force trauma to her head and body, and strangled her.

Even after her death, the sickening ordeal was not yet over as Stephen Corrigan, 45, the man who discovered the body in woodland violated her remains and was convicted of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by intimately touching and concealing the body, instead of contacting the emergency services.

Amber and her brother had spent much of their lives in care, but a source from their extended biological family today told MailOnline that social workers from South Lanarkshire Council blocked their maternal grandparents’ efforts to have the children stay with them.

‘The social work department has blood on its hands,’ claimed the family member who asked to remain anonymous.

‘Ambers’ grandparents, Mr and Mrs Adams, are lovely people and did their best for the children, but they needed more help from the authorities and didn’t get it.’

‘It put an enormous financial strain on the Adams, when they had the kids, but they were offered no help. The council seemed to prefer to spend hundreds and hundreds of pounds placing Amber and Connor with foster parents, rather than their own family.’

Mr and Mrs Adams refused to comment when approached by MailOnline.

Amber was aged just three, and her brother five, when they were removed from an abusive family household where they would witness their father Peter Gibson beating their mother Anne-Marie Adams black and blue, dragging her by the hair, putting his hands around her throat.

Peter Gibson was jailed for 10 years only a few months ago for a litany of violent sexual crimes.

Now his son Connor also awaits a life sentence for the brutal killing of his own sister. By the time she was murdered, blameless Amber had spent almost all her life in the care system and had already been a victim of rape.

Amber, said foster parents Craig and Carol Niven, was the ‘most giving, caring, loving supportive and admirable person’ who had ‘the most amazing outlook on life’.

The devastated couple said they believed the siblings had been ‘let down throughout their lives by the system’.

Just five months before her death, Amber had been raped by 20-year-old Jamie Starrs at his home in Bothwell and her statement proved crucial in bringing the rapist to justice.

Giving evidence at the trial of Connor Gibson, Mr Niven described the siblings as ‘not a good mix’ and said that he wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving them in each other’s company.

It was while they were together in November 2021 that Gibson pounced on his little sister, strangling and attacking her. He had also ripped off her clothes.

Her story began on New Year’s Day 2005 at Wishaw General Hospital in Lanarkshire where her brother and eventual killer had been born two years earlier.

Her parents, Peter Gibson and his much younger partner Ann Marie Adams, are believed to have met online and, by the time Amber arrived, a pattern of abuse was well-established. At their home in North Berwick Crescent, East Kilbride, Gibson inflicted appalling violence on the mother of his children – punching her in the face and kicking her in the body – between August 2001 and August 2007.

The children were taken out of their parental home and put into care and in 2008 the Nivens were approached to look after the pair in another Lanarkshire town. Amber and her brother moved into their Larkhall home but concerns about the older sibling’s behaviour soon arose.

For a time they attended separate schools. Amber went to Moore House Academy, around 25 miles away in West Lothian’s Bathgate, while her brother was a pupil at Kear Campus in Blantyre, Lanarkshire – a secondary school for those with social, emotional and behavioural needs.

Former school friends described him as a loner who was prone to sudden fits of rage.

‘He would talk about killing other pupils which, to be fair, I saw as an over-exaggeration, but looking back on it now maybe the stuff he said wasn’t exaggeration at all,’ one classmate said.

A former female pupil described him as a ‘disgusting human’ who ‘threatened to rip’ her baby from her while she was pregnant.

Ultimately, the foster care arrangement broke down and Amber moved into Hamilton-based Hillhouse children’s unit when she was 14. Her brother remained with the Nivens until his 18th birthday in 2020.

It was while in the care of the state that Amber was raped by 20-year-old Jamie Starrs, who attacked her in June 2021 after being released on bail for another sex attack.

At the time of her murder, her brother was a resident at Hamilton’s Blue Triangle project, a hostel for homeless youngsters in Lanarkshire, while she was living at the Hillhouse unit.

Angel McKean, 19, a friend of Amber’s there, said the siblings’ relationship was turbulent.

But she said when she last spoke to Amber, hours before she was killed, she had been looking forward to seeing her brother.

Care home manager Ian Currie, 55, said Connor Gibson called the Hillhouse unit to speak to his sister on the day she was killed.

A short time later, Amber left with him, despite Mr Currie’s attempts to discourage her from doing so. She was never seen alive again.

Four days later, Gibson wrote a tribute to his sister on social media: ‘Amber. You will fly high for the rest of time. We all miss you. Especially me. I love you ginger midget, GBNF [gone but not forgotten] xx.’ Hours before he was arrested for her murder, he shared another post in which he urged townsfolk to ‘leave a light on’ for Amber.

It was while Connor Gibson was awaiting trial for murder that his natural father, aged 62, was jailed for physical and sexual abuse.

The High Court in Glasgow heard how he had raped a woman in East Kilbride, after tying her up and blindfolding her. He also grabbed this victim by the neck restricting her breathing.

Peter Gibson was also convicted of indecently assaulted a young boy and punching and kicking him to his injury. Other convictions included lewd and libidinous behaviour towards another boy.

Mr and Mrs Niven were in court yesterday to hear the guilty verdict on their former foster son. In a statement, they said: ‘When they arrived at our home, Amber was three and Connor aged five.

‘Connor stated “We are safe” – they were until he took the safety away.’

They added: ‘Amber deserved to live a life of hope and opportunities.

‘As a family, we will never be able to get over how this was taken from her. We are relieved the people involved in what happened to her are now behind bars.’

South Lanarkshire Council described the case as ‘truly tragic’ and confirmed that in 2021 it established an independent review of the circumstances, which can now conclude since the court case has been closed.

Professor Soumen Sengupta, Director of Health and Social Care for South Lanarkshire, said: “This has been a truly tragic case, and our thoughts remain with all those who knew and loved Amber. There are established procedures in place for tragic events of this nature which are designed to ensure that events are fully understood and, if necessary, learned from.

‘In this case, after Amber’s death the Care Inspectorate and the Chair of the Child Protection Committee (CPC) were informed. The CPC acted to establish an independent review under an extremely experienced independent expert in the field. They have already carried out most of the work involved and will now be able to conclude the review, including interviewing people who were witnesses in the criminal case.

‘The results of the review will be delivered to the CPC once complete and then shared with the Public Protection Chief Officer Group. It is anticipated that the findings will be publicly reported in an appropriate format.’

South Lanarkshire Council declined to comment on the family’s claims but a source with knowledge of the case insisted there had never been an application from members of Amber’s family for custody of her or her brother.