Crisis public relations specialist Melissa Nathan in the midst of this; she was already well-known for her work with Johnny Depp during his defamation battle with Heard.
The NYT obtained messages that show Nathan contacted a publicist affiliated with Wayfarer Studios and Baldoni, saying, “You know we can bury anyone.” Let’s pause to consider Depp v. Heard.
Depp lost his defamation lawsuit against the Sun in the UK in 2020 after the newspaper referred to him as “a wife beater.” Declaring the statements to be “substantially true,” the court said,
“I have found that the great majority of alleged assaults of Ms Heard by Mr Depp have been proved to the civil standard.” Notably, the US trial, which was held in front of a jury, had a different outcome.
