TMZ files motion to protect ex-employee in Johnny Depp lawsuit | Lawsuit Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard

In the papers, TMZ says the company wants to protect a source who gave the site the video of Depp yelling at his ex Amber Heard and slamming kitchen cupboards. Those images were previously used in Depp’s case against Heard. The actor’s team has indicated that it will call a former TMZ employee on Wednesday as a witness. The lawyers have not made it clear what they want to know about this Morgan Tremaine.

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One of Depp’s attorneys accused Heard of having leaked the video itself to TMZ earlier in the process, suggesting that the site paid her for it. Heard denied that.

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In the motion, TMZ states that the identity of a source is protected under the law of Virginia, the state in which the lawsuit takes place. The site also says Tremaine’s testimony is irrelevant to whether Heard has engaged in defamation, the issue at which the case between the two ex-spouses revolves. “TMZ promised the source that it would maintain their confidentiality and not release their name or any other information about them,” TMZ’s attorneys said. “TMZ makes such confidentiality promises from time to time so that it can publish information in the public interest, and we rely on the journalist’s privilege to protect the identities of confidential sources to do so.”

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