It hasn’t been a great year for Amber Heard: first her acrimonious split from husband Johnny Depp amid allegations of domestic violence, and now a lawsuit that could see her in the red AU$13.5million.
The actress is being sued by the producers of her latest film, London Fields, for what they allege was a “misguided and unlawful conspiratorial campaign” against its best interests.
The v. strange lawsuit – filed in Los Angeles court yesterday – accuses Heard of refusing to engage in promotional services, missing the movie’s Toronto premier and refusing to take part in nude scenes that were agreed upon in her contract.
Documentation states that “Heard’s conspiracy, her campaign against the picture, and her contractual breaches… have damaged the picture, causing substantial harm to the plaintiff, the picture, and the picture’s investors.”
“As a result of Heard’s refusal to comply with her contractual obligations – including her improper refusal to act in provocative scenes contained in the pre-approved script – key scenes in the script had to be removed and/or rewritten to accommodate Heard’s behaviour.”
Heard stars in the adaptation of Martin Amis‘ 1989 novel of the same name alongside Cara Delevingne, Billy Bob Thornton, Jim Sturgess and ex-husband Depp (he makes a cameo), playing Nicola Six – a “promiscuous psychic” who knows she’ll be murdered a few minutes after midnight on the day of her 35th birthday and goes hunting for her killer.
This film has been cursed from the get-go; a year ago, it was selected to preview at the Toronto Film Festival but got pulled at the last minute after Mathew Cullen, the film’s director, decided to sue producer Christopher Hanley‘s company Nicola Six Limited for fraud, claiming he and the movie’s producers were pushing a version of the film that had been revised without his knowledge.
Cullen has made it clear he’s deeply uncomfortable with the producers’ cut which, according to his lawsuit, included “incendiary imagery evoking 9/11 jumpers edited against pornography.”
Hanley filed a cross-complaint a few months later, accusing Cullen of breaching his contract to deliver London Fields on budget and on time.
The current lawsuit against Heard alleges that she conspired with Cullen to violate his contractual agreement.
What a bloody mess.
Source: Hollywood Reporter.
Photo: Getty / Fred Duval.
