Johnny Depp has been ordered to sit for a deposition in his defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard.
Judge Bruce White has told the Pirates of the Caribbean star he can no longer put off a sit down with the actress' lawyers, insisting he should appear for "three successive days" at a venue to be decided by Heard's legal team "from November 10-12, 2020, beginning at 10.00am each day".
The ruling follows a request from Heard's attorneys, insisting they needed to speak with Depp "on or before October 30, 2020" to give them enough time to plan their defence before the rescheduled trial date in May.
Depp previously cited his commitments to filming the latest Fantastic Beasts movie in the U.K. as his reason for delaying the trial, asking the judge to reschedule to mid-2021.
He even had the backing of top Warner Bros. lawyer Wayne M. Smith, who wrote: "We require Mr. Depp to be in the United Kingdom from September 17 through the anticipated end of production in mid-February, 2021."
That prompted Judge White to move the trial from January to May next year.
Earlier this month, the judge ordered Depp to pay his ex-wife close to $7,000 to cover administrative fees and hand over documents her legal team had requested. Meanwhile, Heard filed a countersuit over the summer as she unsuccessfully tried to get the case initiated by her ex-husband dismissed.
Depp launched his suit against Heard in early 2019 after she wrote an article about domestic violence for the Washington Post, in which she claimed to be a victim. The actor insisted the piece cost him a role in a Pirates of the Caribbean film.
The former couple recently faced off in court in London during Depp's libel trial against The Sun newspaper. He sued the publication's bosses over an article that referred to him as a "wife beater". He has always maintained claims he was abusive towards his ex-wife throughout their short-lived marriage are untrue.
A decision in that case was expected last month, but has yet to made public.
