Will James Franco participate to Depp-Heard process?

Light, engine, action: James Franco will have to testify in the real film that is taking place in the court of Fairfax, Virginia in favor of his friend Amber Heard after the actress has quoted him during testimony in the Depp-Heard trial that is causing so much public talk these days, James Franco is allegedly involved in the affair because he was filmed in the lift with Amber the night before the fateful quarrel between her and Depp that led neighbors to call the police, throwing petrol on a toxic fire already burning with jealousy, violence and misunderstanding. The bond between the two, which arose on the set of The Adderall Diaries, triggered severe bouts of jealousy in Depp towards Franco, a much younger man who is equally interesting professionally but above all with a certain reputation, after allegations of sexual misconduct in 2019 by some of the students at his Studio 4 Acting School. Depp claimed that Heard described Franco as "creepy" and "rapist", but the actress mentioned Franco as an example of his attempt to control her life and career and as an excuse for the alleged physical assault.

In May 2014, Heard claimed that she was on an international flight when Depp assaulted her because she was filming The Adderall Diaries with Franco. The following year, Heard claimed that she and Franco had starred together in a television series. Heard testified that she was surprised to learn that the producers had hired a stunt double for a sex scene with Franco, confirming the actress' claim.  Then, a new alleged assault. The actress recounted that her ex-husband 'almost killed' her on their honeymoon on the Orient Express after the man learned that she had been offered a new role in a film with Franco. 

The entanglement between Amber Heard, Johnny Depp and James Franco has also been at the center of the latest hearings in the trial. The Pirates of the Caribbean star's legal team showed in court an "incriminating" video taken from the lift surveillance camera of the building where the actress lived with her ex-husband. The images show Heard and Franco in affectionate attitudes (at one point he rests his head on her shoulder and vice versa) on their way to her flat. According to the prosecution, the video, which dates back to 22 May 2016, the day before the official divorce petition was filed and 24 hours after an altercation with her spouse in which Heard allegedly suffered a black eye, testifies not only to a betrayal by the actress, but also to the falsity of the alleged violence. When questioned by Depp's lawyer, Heard said that she and Franco, who lived in the same building as her at the time, were just "friends" and that she was "really in need of friendship" at the time. She added that Depp accused her of "having a secret relationship with him. He hated, he hated James Franco." 

What does James Franco have to say about the video and his relationship with Heard? Depp would like to have him on the stand, but at the moment that is unlikely to happen any time soon. Franco, who was among Hollywood's promising young stars in the early 2000s, has fallen into media oblivion in recent times, a bit like what happened to Depp. In 2019, he was swept up in allegations of sexual misconduct by some students at his Studio 4 Acting School, which later resulted in a civil lawsuit that ended in a $2.2 million settlement between the parties. He later admitted that, in addition to a drinking problem, he suffered from a sex addiction that led him to cheat on all his girlfriends, except his current girlfriend Isabel Pakzad.