A seemingly ordinary photo taken at Raffles Hotel in Singapore has unexpectedly become a central piece of evidence in the ongoing defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.
The photo, believed to have been taken in 2015, shows Depp with a discoloration beneath his eye, which Depp’s legal team used to challenge Heard’s claim that an earlier photo of him with bruises on his face was altered. The image was shared by Singaporean celebrity photographer Russel Wong on May 20, accompanied by the hashtag #justiceforjohnnydepp.
However, Wong clarified on Instagram that while the photo was posted by him, it was not taken by him, as many initially assumed. He explained that he had referred to it as “my post,” not “my photo,” throughout the trial.
The photo’s inclusion in the trial came after Heard’s statement that a different photo showing Depp with visible bruises had been “photoshopped.” That photo, taken during the couple’s troubled honeymoon on the Orient Express in 2015, was part of the evidence presented in the defamation case. Wong, triggered by Heard’s accusation, began searching for similar images and eventually found the Raffles Hotel photo, which he recalled seeing in blogs and recognized as featuring a similar bruise.
“I shared it on Instagram with the caption ‘Happy Honeymoon’ as a tongue-in-cheek comment,” Wong explained. The post quickly gained attention, and Depp’s legal team reached out to him. Wong expressed his surprise upon seeing the post mentioned in the trial and Depp reading the text he had written, calling it a “surreal” experience.
The case revolves around Depp suing Heard for $50 million over an op-ed she wrote in 2018, in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse,” a statement Depp claims falsely implied he was a domestic abuser. Heard countersued, seeking $100 million in damages.
As the defamation claims continue, jury deliberations were paused last Friday and are expected to resume shortly.