Elon Musk allegedly came to Amber Heard‘s defense amid talks his former partner would be fired from “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.”

Per a new Variety report, the Tesla and X (formerly known as Twitter) owner is reported to have strong-armed Warner Bros. into keeping Heard cast as Mera in DC’s long-delayed “Aquaman” follow-up.

According to Variety, Warner Bros. and “Aquaman” director James Wan sent a letter to Heard’s attorney Karl Austen after the film‘s 2018 release to share the decision that Heard would be dropped from the sequel, citing a lack of chemistry with star Jason Momoa.

However, per Variety, Warner Bros. decided not to fire Heard after her former boyfriend Musk and his attorney sent a “scorched-earth letter to Warner Bros. threatening to burn the house down” if Heard was not back in the sequel.

DC Studios could not immediately be reached by IndieWire for comment.

Rumors that Heard would be fired from the “Aquaman” franchise resurfaced amid the defamation trial with Heard and her ex-husband Johnny Depp, with the suit filed in 2019 followed by televised court proceedings in 2022. Heard alleged Depp led a PR “smear campaign” against her, resulting in a “very pared-down version” of her original “Aquaman 2” role.

“I fought to keep my job and the biggest movie opportunity I had to date [with] ‘Justice League’ with the option to [star in] ‘Aquaman.’ I had to fight really hard to stay in ‘Justice League’ because that was the time of the divorce,” Heard said while on the stand. “I was given a script [for ‘Aquaman 2’] and then given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it, that depicted my character and another character, without giving any spoilers away, two characters fighting with one another, and they basically took a bunch out of my role.”

Reportedly, Heard appears in only 10 minutes of the sequel. Wan told Entertainment Weekly earlier this year that the sequel was never meant to focus on Heard’s character.

Also during the trial, notes of Heard’s therapy sessions were included in court documents, which Depp fans later paid to access and shared online. Heard claimed while in therapy that “Aquaman” co-star Jason Momoa drunkenly harassed her on set, including, per her point of view, dressing up as Depp.

Heard’s notes read, “Jason said he wanted me fired. Jason drunk — late on set. Dressing like Johnny. Has all the rings too.”

A DC spokesperson told Variety, “Jason Momoa conducted himself in a professional manner at all times on the set of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.'”

An insider who was on the London set in 2021 told Variety, “He isn’t dressing like Johnny Depp. He has always dressed in that bohemian style.”

“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” is set for a December 20 release date.

  • li10@feddit.uk
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    9 months ago

    Heard’s notes read, “Jason said he wanted me fired. Jason drunk — late on set. Dressing like Johnny. Has all the rings too.”

    Something about that really made me laugh.

    It’s peak nut job rambling, making absurd connections and taking offence to random shit.

  • thisbenzingring@lemmy.sdf.org
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    9 months ago

    The more I know about Musk, the more I long for the day he is no longer of this existence. What sucks the most is he will probably live longer than me and I’ll have to learn new and existing things about how his influence has changed the world… Usually not in a better direction.

  • NuPNuA@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    How is the production on almost every DCEU film such a shitshow behind the scenes. We had all the Justice League stuff, The Rock throwing his weight around and cratering Back Adams chances and now this.

    • thisbenzingring@lemmy.sdf.org
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      9 months ago

      He used to go to the same saloon in Seattle that I frequented. I met him right before he started filming Conan. He was a funny guy. I bet he was hilarious mocking Depp to irk Heard. Wish I could have seen that!

  • JokeDeity@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    Musk is a piece of shit and detriment to society, Heard is a run of the mill rich cunt, and Aquaman is a dumb superhero so I was never going to watch anyhow.

  • DeriHunter@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    So instead of changing the name from Twitter to X it was actually changed to X (formerly known as Twitter)… Never seen an article calling it only X

  • stolid_agnostic@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    I can’t imagine what traction Musk could possibly believe he has here. He has no standing. The fact that WB acquiesced means they are idiots.

  • Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social
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    9 months ago

    Imagine how much better Aquaman would have been if Emilia Clarke had been cast opposite Jason again. Those two have so much chemistry.

  • arc@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    This is one of those “wut?” moments. I wouldn’t be surprised if WB just said f it and kept her in because this movie will bookend the current iteration DCEU franchise so it hardly matters one way or the other.

  • possibly a cat@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    Super hero movies and the efforts of everyone involved with them are a detriment to this planet as much as they are to art.

    • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      no need to hate on union riggers, drivers, gophers, sparkies, chippies, LX, steadycam ops etc

      they’re just doing their job. and a good one

      • possibly a cat@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        No hate because it’s the working class plight, but technically… their efforts are still acting as a detriment guided by rich investors. I chose that word somewhat carefully, you see.

        Some of my own work has been detrimental to a sustainable planet - there’s nothing wrong with recognizing the rat race we are stuck in, the bullshit jobs we occupy, or the harm it causes.

        • keefshape@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Stop counting your debt, start counting that of others who profit from your efforts.

          • possibly a cat@lemmy.ml
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            9 months ago

            Are you saying I should focus my efforts where I can’t make any change? That’s what got us all into this pickle in the first place.

    • arc@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      no need to hate on union riggers, drivers, gophers, sparkies, chippies, LX, steadycam ops etc

      they’re just doing their job. and a good one

      Super hero movies are just a fad that overstayed its welcome and studios are going to have to think of something else now. No need to read anything more into them than that.

      • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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        9 months ago

        Superhero movies date back to 1937 with The Shadow Strikes, featuring The Shadow

        It is neither a fad, nor will it go anywhere. They are here to stay.

        They might just become less prevalent, like the Cowboy movies of the 1980’s.

        • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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          9 months ago

          They were not what they are now until the Iron Man movie, or the Batman trilogy.

          • arc@lemm.ee
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            9 months ago

            Yes they are a fad. Yes there have been superhero movies on occasion. But what has happened in the last 15 years is a fad. Studios saw it as a cheap and easy way to produce a summer blockbuster and it is clear in the last few years that people are getting seriously bored of them.

            Exactly. There have been superhero movies prior to this, but the last decade of DC / Marvel is something else and it’s clear people are getting bored with it. It’s a fad. A bit like how Hollywood had fads about 3D, or natural disasters, or scifi, or cowboys & indians. At some point audience viewers get fed up with it and they have to come up with something new. I’m sure there will be Batmans & Spidermans and other reboots from time to time, but not a constant production line.

        • arc@lemm.ee
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          9 months ago

          Yes they are a fad. Yes there have been superhero movies on occasion. But what has happened in the last 15 years is a fad. Studios saw it as a cheap and easy way to produce a summer blockbuster and it is clear in the last few years that people are getting seriously bored of them.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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      9 months ago

      I don’t agree they have to be, but I do agree they almost universally are, especially modern ones. None of them do anything new or interesting, and none of them try to address complex topics.

  • Margot Robbie@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    Maybe I should pull a Josh Brolin and play Mera too, just to annoy Musk.

    Zero explanation on the replacement, it’s not like the recent DCEU movies are doing great right now, might as well as try something crazy.

    Plus, it’ll be really funny.

    • Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social
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      9 months ago

      Part of me hopes this is really Margot Robbie but most of me knows it’s not.

      Just in case: You kicked ass in Barbie

      • Margot Robbie@lemm.ee
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        9 months ago
        1. Of course I am. I did like a whole promotional campaign for that movie here before the strike and everything.
        2. Of course I did. I’m the best part of literally every movie I’m in, especially for the movie I am not allowed to promote right now.
        • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
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          9 months ago
          1. You can’t promote the movie, but can you talk about it? It’s just friendly talk among friends, you know, like colleagues complaining of working on “project x”, stuff that’s definitely not going to become public at all
        • Margot Robbie@lemm.ee
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          9 months ago

          As a real, professional actor and also as a contributing user of Lemmy, I resent being compared to a reddit novelty account with only one non-sequitur joke that wasn’t even that funny (even to wrestling fans) to begin with.

    • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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      9 months ago

      There is going to be a reboot after the next Flash movie. You should audition!

  • neutron@thelemmy.club
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    9 months ago

    Honestly, i don’t care if it’s him wasting his money on shit like this that doesn’t cause harm (except for the poor guy having to craft a response letter) on other people. His money, his and Warner Bros’ problems.

    Now if he could simply fund Tesla, SpaceX and Starlink quietly without going retard for once…