Fans of actor Johnny Depp are going to extremes to witness his showdown with ex-wife Amber Heard at a court in Virginia in the United States.
One of them, 56-year-old Ivan De Boer, is using her paid leaves to travel from Los Angeles to Virginia for the days the court is in session, People magazine reported. Boer said she has so far incurred expenses amounting to $30,000.
The woman told People magazine she travelled so she “could be here for Johnny”. "I'm the same age as Johnny (Depp),” she added. “I'm single, so I do what I want to, basically."
Boer said she had no regrets about spending the hefty sum. “I'd regret it more if I wasn't here,” she added.
Another Depp fan, 52-year-old Sharon Smith, has flown in from the UK to witness the trial. She has set up a base in Los Angeles.
Many others told People magazine they reach the court premises early morning to get wristbands that will permit them to sit in the courtroom.
Depp has sued Amber Heard for an opinion piece she wrote in The Washington Post in 2018, in which she referred to herself as a public figure representing domestic abuse, news agency AP reported. Depp was not named in the article but his lawyers claimed that he had been defamed.
The trial in the case, being held at the Fairfax County Circuit Court, is now in its fifth week. The dramatic proceedings saw Heard accuse Depp of sexually assaulting her with a liquor bottle, breaking her nose and pulling out her hair, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, Depp claimed that he had never hurt his ex-wife, and instead, accused her of demeaning and bullying him.
(With inputs from AP and Reuters)
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