Johnny Depp traded the courtroom for the stage, just two days after his lawyers delivered closing arguments in his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard.
The actor joined his friend and rocker Jeff Beck, 77, on stage at Sheffield City Hall in England on Sunday to perform covers of John Lennon’s “Isolation,” Marvin’s “What’s Going On,” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Little.”
Footage of the surprise performance posted to Instagram showed Depp up at the microphone in the role of lead singer.
The 58-year-old actor and Heard have been battling out at Fairfax County Courthouse Virginia after Depp filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife over a 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post, in which she claimed that she was a victim of “domestic abuse” but didn’t identify him. Heard is countersuing him for $100 million.
The outcome of the case was placed in the jury’s hands Friday afternoon after both sides delivered closing arguments.
Johnny Depp rocks out with Jeff Beck at Sheffield City Hall in England.Instgram
Johnny Depp joined Jeff Beck onstage at a concert in Sheffield, England.EPA“There is an abuser in this courtroom, but it is not Mr. Depp,” his lawyer Camille Vasquez said. “Miss Heard is in fact the abuser and Mr. Depp is the abused.”
Heard’s lawyers, meanwhile, called on the jury to protect Heard’s right to free speech.
“This trial is about so much more than Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard. It’s about the freedom of speech and stand up, protect it and reject Mr. Depp’s claims against Amber,” her lawyer Ben Rottenborn said.
The jury broke for the long weekend without reaching a verdict, but is set to return at 9 a.m. Tuesday to resume deliberations.
