Actress Amber Heard’s compulsive dishonesty finally caught up with her, as her lies recently triggered an FBI investigation.
Though she had played roles in a variety of films and a couple of television series, it was her relationship with famed actor Johnny Depp that ultimately bolstered Amber Heard into the public spotlight–and not necessarily in the best way.
Since 2006, she has played roles in the horror film All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006), The Ward (2010), Drive Angry (2011), London Fields (2018), Pineapple Express (2008), Never Back Down (2008), The Joneses (2009), The Rum Diary (2011), Paranoia (2013), Machete Kills (2013), Magic Mike XXL (2015), and The Danish Girl (2015). Heard has also been part of the DC Extended Universe franchise, playing Mera in Justice League (2017) and Aquaman (2018). Her television series involvement includes Hidden Palms (2007) and The Stand (2020).
It was on the set of The Rum Diary that Heard met Johnny Depp in 2009. The two starred in the film about American journalist Paul Kemp who accepts a freelance job in Puerto Rico for a local newspaper in the 1960s and the challenges he faces in attempting to find balance between the Puerto Rican island culture and the expatriates who call the island home.
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But according to court records, Heard and Depp wouldn’t begin dating until 2012. But rather than a match made in Heaven, their relationship–according to testimony in a defamation trial that began in April 2022–could be more accurately described as hellish.
Johnny Depp filed suit against Amber Heard after she penned an opinion piece for The Washington Post in 2018 in which she claimed to be the survivor of domestic abuse, domestic violence, and sexual violence. The piece ultimately led to the loss of acting roles for Depp, as well as the loss of respect for Depp by many. The trial began in April 2022 in Fairfax County, Virginia, and concluded on June 1. Six weeks of grueling and graphic testimony told the story–some of it true, some of it false–of the former couple’s relationship, from their chance meeting, dating, marriage, divorce–and everything in between. When all was testified and done, the jury’s verdict was that Heard had only proven one of her claims against Depp but that Depp had proven all of his claims against Heard.
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Jury members simply did not believe much of the wild testimony from Amber Heard, and her so-called “performance” on the stand seemed to seal her fate. Heard appeared to cry several times throughout her time on the stand, but for all her acting credits, she was unable to produce a single tear.
Her credibility certainly wasn’t helped by testimony given by witnesses called by Depp’s legal team or by stories that resurfaced about Heard’s less-than-honest moments in the past. More than one of those “moments” became part of official testimony in the case, including one that took place thousands of miles away in 2015.
In the spring of that year, Heard traveled to Queensland, Australia, to visit Johnny Depp while he was filming a movie down under and failed to declare her two terriers named Pistol and Boo, thus breaching biosecurity laws in the country.
According to a former Johnny Depp employee named Kevin Murphy, Amber Heard had been told “repeatedly” that it was illegal to bring her canines with her to Australia. Murphy further said that Heard insisted that he make false statements about the dogs and told him to ask another assistant, Ms. James, to “lie under oath” in a Gold Coast courtroom.
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“Specifically, wanted Ms. James to give a false statement that was unaware that it would be illegal for her to bring her dogs into Australia,” Murphy said. “ was aware that this was illegal because I had informed her repeatedly by email, telephone, and in person.”
According to The Guardian, Murphy explained to Amber Heard that she couldn’t bring her Yorkshire terriers into Australia because “the relevant paperwork and permits were not complete and the required 10-day quarantine arrangements had not been put in place.”
In October 2015, Heard was charged with making a false statement on her immigration card as she checked ‘no’ to the question of importing anything into the country that ought to have been declared.
In June 2022, following the conclusion of the Depp v. Heard defamation trial in Virginia, the FBI opened an investigation related to Heard’s canine carry-on catastrophe:
While bringing pets along with you on a trip or vacation isn’t illegal, not doing the right paperwork with them in mind certainly is. Australia has strict quarantine laws, and any animals brought into the country must be quarantined for ten days. Heard checked the box “no,” which would have indicated the dogs were with her. Now, the FBI seems to be working with the Australian government to investigate this matter further.
Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Water, and the Environment (DAWE) has reportedly pursued Heard on allegations of perjury. DAWE claims that Heard lied under oath during the Johnny Depp defamation trial when she said that the discrepancy in her declarations paperwork was her fault because she was sleep-deprived and was experiencing jet lag. Her alternate story was that Depp was responsible in some way.
“Part of their [Canberra, Australia office] mission is liaison and assistance,” explained retired FBI agent and attorney Bobby Chacon. “So if the Australians needed something from here in the U.S., they would certainly contact the FBI’s Australia office, and the FBI would likely assist.”
Previously, Heard admitted to falsifying passport documents with respect to declaring her dogs, thus avoiding conviction at the time. But now, the DAWE is seeking her out based on allegations of perjury, which could land the Aquaman actress in even more hot water.
It remains to be seen what will come of the investigation in Australia.
