Johnny Depp and Amber Heard: Opening arguments in US trial against ex-wife

Jurors at the defamation trial of Johnny Depp will hear opening arguments Tuesday in the movie star's legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard.

Depp, 58, is suing Heard, 35, for $50m (£38m) over an article she wrote in which she claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse.

Heard is suing back, with a $100m counterclaim against Depp.

Hordes of fans have flocked outside the courthouse for the trial, expected to last six to seven weeks.

It will be broadcast live and involves a number of high-profile witnesses.

Among them will be Elon Musk and James Franco, appearing on Heard's behalf, and British actor Paul Bettany, who will take the stand for his friend Depp.

Depp and Heard were married for 15 months before the latter filed for divorce and a restraining order in May 2016, alleging "emotional, verbal and physical abuse". Depp has denied the accusation.

At issue in the trial is Heard's 2018 opinion piece in the Washington Post, describing herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse".

"I felt the full force of our culture's wrath for women who speak out," she wrote. "I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse."

Although she did not mention her ex-husband or any other alleged perpetrator by name, Depp argues the implications are clearly defamatory, and have derailed his career.

The trial is being held in Virginia - home to two Washington Post offices and where the paper is physically published.

It is a sequel to Depp's 2018 libel suit in London against the publishers of The Sun tabloid over an article that referred to him as a "wife beater". He lost that case.

Both legal teams settled Monday on a jury of seven, with four alternates.

At the scene - David Sillito, BBC News, Virginia

Yvonne de Boer had flown in from Los Angeles.

"I am here only for Johnny… make him know we love him," she says. "I believe this time he will get justice, he did not get justice in London."

Debbie Debowski was here from Houston.

"We believe he is a good guy, we don't believe what he's been accused of," she tells me. "We don't believe he did those things."

One fan had arrived from Australia. Others had been queuing from 3 o'clock in the morning.

Johnny Depp's fans are here in force, outside the courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, confident they are going to see their hero's reputation restored. The fact that Amber Heard's account of assault and abuse was judged to be "substantially true" in a high profile libel trial in London in 2020 has done nothing to dent their faith in his innocence.

Meanwhile, standing near the back of the line in to court are Christina Taft and her friend Daniel, both supporters of Amber Heard and concerned that her side of the story is not receiving a fair hearing online and in social media. Indeed, she was worried about attending given the level of feeling online against Amber Heard.

"The social media operations is so high volume, it's scary online," Taft says. "It's scary, it's violent and there's a lot of intimidation."

However, on a chilly Tuesday morning as everyone filed in to court there was not much sign of the emotions this case has generated. There is though, a long way to go - the jury was warned that this could take seven weeks.